In a wide-ranging interview about what it means to be a man, Barack Obama said that you don't need women "twerking around you" if you are "very confident about your sexuality".
During a town hall in Oakland, California as part of the former president’s My Brother’s Keeper programme, Mr Obama engaged in a candid conversation with Golden State Warriors basketball star Steph Curry.
The two touched on a range of topics including the importance of male role models, music, and how police and minority communities interact. When it came to self-confidence, Mr Obama suggested that those who know who they are do not always flaunt it.
“If you are really confident about your financial situation, you’re probably not going to be wearing an eight-pound chain around your neck. Because you know: 'Oh I got bank, I don't have to show you how much I got. I feel good,'” Mr Obama said. “If you are very confident about your sexuality, you don’t have to have eight women around you twerking.”
My Brothers Keeper is an alliance launched by Mr Obama following the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. The initiative represents a call to arms to “adopt innovative approaches, strengthen support, and build ladders of opportunity for boys and young men of colour."
The shooting of Trayvon — an unarmed African American teen — sparked widespread outrage, and a national discussion about the persistent violence inflicted on men and women of color in the United States.
The alliance’s community challenge has been accepted in nearly 250 cities, as well as Native American tribal nations, according to the non-profit’s website.
The event attended on Tuesday featuring Mr Obama and Curry marked the 5th anniversary of the programme.
