Former President Barack Obama offered advice to demonstrators during a virtual town hall on Wednesday in his first on-camera remarks as growing unrest against police brutality continues across the country.

"To bring about real change, we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable," Obama said. “But we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that can be implemented.”


The event was organized by the Obama Foundation, which featured a discussion about nationwide police reform, in the wake of national unrest sparked in large part by the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
In previous speeches, Obama offered veiled condemnation of President Donald Trump’s administration for its response to the coronavirus outbreak but in this address offered counsel as protest continues across the nation amid the pandemic.

"I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in this country," he said. "I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter. That your dreams matter."

Obama said in his address that this moment is politically advantageous for protesters who are calling for widespread police reforms and large-scale institutional change, unlike similar moments of unrest in the nation’s history.

For instance, the former president said he rejected comparisons to the 1960s when the nation was at war overseas while the Civil Rights Movement was happening domestically amid police violence and the assassinations of political and community leaders.

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