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Former President Barack Obama blamed"the politics of White resistance and resentment" as the reason why he didn't pushfinancial reparations for Black Americans during his presidency.

On Monday, Obama and rock and roll legend Bruce Springsteen released the second episode of their new podcast,"Renegades: Born in the USA," where they spoke about race relations in the United States.

Towardthe end of the episode, the two hosts spoke about reparations to Black Americans and whether or not the controversial policy would come to fruition.

Obama said he believes reparations are "justified" and that "theres not much question that the wealth the power of this country was built in significant part not exclusively, maybe not even the majority of it, but a large portion of it was built on the backs of slaves."

REPARATIONS COMING? SHEILA JACKSON LEE REINTRODUCES BILL FOR EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE

The former president claimedthat a reparations proposal didnt make its way through the lawmaking process during his presidencydue to "the politics of White resistance and resentment."

"And what I saw during my presidency was the politics of White resistance and resentment. The talk of 'welfare queens'and the talk of the 'undeserving'poor. And the backlash against affirmative action," Obama said.

"All that made the prospect of actually proposing any kind of coherent, meaningful reparations program struck me as, politically, not only a nonstarter but potentially counterproductive."

REP. BURGESS OWENS: 'UNFAIR AND HEARTLESS' FOR DEMOCRATS TO RAISE BLACK AMERICANS' HOPES FOR REPARATIONS

Obama went on to say it was "perfectly understandable why working-class White folks, middle-class White folks, folks who are having trouble paying the bills or dealing with student loans, wouldn't be too thrilled" about the prospect of "a massive program that is designed to deal with the past but isn't speaking to their future."

Obama appears to have changed his position on reparations over the years. He opposed reparations during his 2008 presidential campaign, arguing that "the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed."

Bills regarding reparations have been introduced to Congress for over three decades, with the most recent being a proposal from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

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Jackson Lee introduced H.R. 40 to the House of Representatives, which aims to set up the Committee to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. According to the bills summary, the committee "shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies."

President Biden hasn't endorsed reparations outright, but he has voiced his support for forming a commission to study the issue. White House press secretary Jen Psaki reaffirmedthis position last week to reporters.

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Obama says reparations 'justified' but 'politics of White resistance' made it 'nonstarter' to propose - Fox News

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The St. Petersburg Main Library is getting a new name.

Back in 2018, city officials said the building will be renamed the President Barack Obama Main Library. Three years later, it will be dedicated this Friday as part of the city's Black History Month celebrations, and to honor the country's first African American president.

"Highlighting Barack Obama's extraordinary story and history-making presidency in this way will inspire generations of young people," Mayor Rick Kriseman said in a statement. "I believe the President Barack Obama Main Library will not only complement city buildings bearing the name of local trailblazers, but will serve as an example to other cities."

RELATED:MacDill ceremony honors long-lost African American cemetery

A dedication ceremony will take place Friday, Feb. 26 at 11 a.m., with the installation of a sign bearing the library's new name. It's the first step of the planned $6 million in renovations for the 55-year-old building, located at 3745 9th Avenue North.

"Penny for Pinellas" sales tax revenue funded the renovations, which will include reconfiguration of interior spaces, an upgraded rear patio and outdoor gathering space, more parking spaces, ADA-compliant restrooms and HVAC improvements.

The main library will be temporarily closed for renovations beginning Thursday, April 1, 2021. The renovations are expected to be completed by late 2022 to early 2023.

RELATED:Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen team up for intimate podcast on life, fatherhood and friendship

Library patrons will be able to return items checked out from the main library at other St. Pete library system locations, and will be encouraged to visit those other buildings while work is done to the main library.

"Our main library has always been an exciting hub for learning in our city," Kriseman said. "It is made all the better by honoring President Obama."

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St. Pete's main library to be renamed after former President Obama in dedication on Friday - FOX 13 Tampa Bay

Last summer, when he rescued a man at a London protest that had turned violent, Hutchinson unwittingly stepped onto the world stage. It wasn't something Hutchinson, now 50, had planned -- but now he is using the newfound fame for good.

"I didn't see color," Hutchinson said. "I just saw somebody who needed help."

It was June 13 and Hutchinson was at home, babysitting his grandchildren, when a friend called him. Fearful that a demonstration involving a far-right group and Black Lives Matter protesters could turn violent, the friend, Pierre Noah, asked him for help.

"Pierre twisted my arm," Hutchinson said. "The idea was to stop any of these young protesters from doing anything that they're going to regret later on. When you're Black, especially, and you end up in front of the criminal justice system, you don't always get a fair shout."

Noah, Hutchinson and three other friends went to the demonstration not as protesters, Hutchinson said, but as unofficial overseers. The men saw themselves as "more experienced individuals of the community," he said -- men with one common goal: to keep the peace.

Hutchinson said there was tension from the get-go -- "a lot of unrest (and) frustration." The men defused several incidents that were not caught on camera before they spotted some BLM protesters and "some of the far-right guys," he said, in an altercation. They made their way to the scene, where they found a White man, Bryn Male, lying in the fetal position, injured.

Hutchinson, a personal trainer and athletic coach, picked Male up, put him over his shoulder and carried him through the crowd to safety. Soon after, the violence subsided and crowds began to disperse. And before Hutchinson and his friends even made it back home, images of the rescue started going viral.

"It was during the lockdown, so we were all outside having something to eat ... sort of talking over the events of the day," Hutchinson said. "And then I had a message ping up on my phone from my sister, saying, 'Is this you?'"

Overnight, Hutchinson's image went viral and interview requests flooded in. In the days and weeks to come, he appeared on many major news outlets as well as in Vogue magazine and on the cover of Men's Health.

"It's been an amazing, amazing journey," Hutchinson said. "I've spoken to the likes of Rev. Al Sharpton, Prince Harry. I've been nominated a GQ Hero and received a humanitarian award. I've had Michelle Obama write a message on her Instagram. It hasn't stopped, and it's still going."

"We want to use our platform and make a change in our community for the young people especially that really need our support and help at this moment in time," Hutchinson said.

"We're inspiring other people to be the change in the world that you want to see. Go out there and do what's right. Don't stand by and watch certain things unfold when you know that you have the ability to do something about it."

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His rescue at a London protest inspired Michelle Obama and Prince Harry. Now, Patrick Hutchinson is turning his moment into a movement - CNN

Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen to host Spotify podcast

Updated: 11:47 PM EST Feb 22, 2021

Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen have teamed up to host a new podcast about masculinity, race, fatherhood and their professional and personal journeys. The podcast, called "Renegades: Born in the USA," is part of the multiyear partnership between Spotify and Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.Spotify revealed the new show on Monday, along with dozens of other announcements as part of its virtual event, Stream On. The streaming platform that was once just home to popular music is continuing its expansion into podcasts and will soon include more exclusive shows on race, religion, politics and superheroes.Spotify's deal with Higher Ground, announced in June 2019, was one of its early big bets in the podcast industry. Earlier that same year, Spotify acquired podcast studio Gimlet Media and podcast creation platform Anchor. The company later bought Bill Simmons' podcast empire, The Ringer, and signed exclusive licensing deals with other big names such as Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Related video: Super Bowl Jeep Springsteen commercialHigher Ground and Spotify previously produced "The Michelle Obama Podcast." It launched in July and was Spotify's top show globally in July and August, Spotify reported in its third quarter of 2020 earnings.Also in partnership with Higher Ground, Spotify is releasing a new season of the podcast "Tell Them, I Am." The series is hosted by Misha Euceph, a first-generation Pakistani-American who was an executive producer of Michelle Obama's podcast. Spotify said it will feature stories from Muslim voices, including activists, artists, actors, performers and athletes.Spotify also announced on Monday a new podcast from its partnership with filmmaker Ava DuVernay's arts and social impact collective ARRAY. The unscripted podcast is based on ARRAY'S Law Enforcement Accountability Project, launched after the murder of George Floyd, and will investigate officers who committed murder.Spotify reported in its fourth quarter earnings that it had 2.2 million podcasts, up from 1.9 million the prior quarter, and said that 25% of its monthly active users have listened to podcasts, up from 23% the prior quarter. Spotify also reported that the total consumption hours of podcasts have nearly doubled from the fourth quarter of 2019 to 2020."It's no coincidence that the world's best creators are embracing Spotify as a key platform for their podcasts we have the reach, infrastructure and dedicated teams to take their stories to the world and we're committed to growing their audience on Spotify," Courtney Holt, Spotify's head of studios and video, said in a statement.Spotify is expanding into new markets, which could grow its reach to more than one billion people. The platform is available in 93 markets but plans to grow to 178, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria.

Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen have teamed up to host a new podcast about masculinity, race, fatherhood and their professional and personal journeys. The podcast, called "Renegades: Born in the USA," is part of the multiyear partnership between Spotify and Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.

Spotify revealed the new show on Monday, along with dozens of other announcements as part of its virtual event, Stream On. The streaming platform that was once just home to popular music is continuing its expansion into podcasts and will soon include more exclusive shows on race, religion, politics and superheroes.

Spotify's deal with Higher Ground, announced in June 2019, was one of its early big bets in the podcast industry. Earlier that same year, Spotify acquired podcast studio Gimlet Media and podcast creation platform Anchor. The company later bought Bill Simmons' podcast empire, The Ringer, and signed exclusive licensing deals with other big names such as Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Related video: Super Bowl Jeep Springsteen commercial

Higher Ground and Spotify previously produced "The Michelle Obama Podcast." It launched in July and was Spotify's top show globally in July and August, Spotify reported in its third quarter of 2020 earnings.

Also in partnership with Higher Ground, Spotify is releasing a new season of the podcast "Tell Them, I Am." The series is hosted by Misha Euceph, a first-generation Pakistani-American who was an executive producer of Michelle Obama's podcast. Spotify said it will feature stories from Muslim voices, including activists, artists, actors, performers and athletes.

Spotify also announced on Monday a new podcast from its partnership with filmmaker Ava DuVernay's arts and social impact collective ARRAY. The unscripted podcast is based on ARRAY'S Law Enforcement Accountability Project, launched after the murder of George Floyd, and will investigate officers who committed murder.

Spotify reported in its fourth quarter earnings that it had 2.2 million podcasts, up from 1.9 million the prior quarter, and said that 25% of its monthly active users have listened to podcasts, up from 23% the prior quarter. Spotify also reported that the total consumption hours of podcasts have nearly doubled from the fourth quarter of 2019 to 2020.

"It's no coincidence that the world's best creators are embracing Spotify as a key platform for their podcasts we have the reach, infrastructure and dedicated teams to take their stories to the world and we're committed to growing their audience on Spotify," Courtney Holt, Spotify's head of studios and video, said in a statement.

Spotify is expanding into new markets, which could grow its reach to more than one billion people. The platform is available in 93 markets but plans to grow to 178, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria.

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Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen to host Spotify podcast - WXII The Triad

This is an opinion column.

It was early November 2008, a few days before the U.S. Presidential election. I lived in New York and was at lunch with a friend. There was much anticipation and optimism in my circles about the possible election of then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to Americas highest officeand concern.

For his safety.

I just hope, my friend said, her voice trailing off. The words needed not be said.

I sought, best I could, to ease her fears, to change the subject.

If hes elected, I said, I guarantee you two things will happen: One, hell have the best Secret Service in history, and two, hell make white folks crazy.

We laughed out loud.

Funny thingor not so much, reallythats exactly what happened.

Now, nowbreathe. Not all white folks, of course. It was hyperbole. So, chill.

Still, it happened. The election of the first Black President of the United States turned up the burners beneath the simmering stew of racism percolating in the darkest crock pots of our nation. And for the next eight years, a whole bunch of folks sat down at the table and indulged.

Until their bellies overflowed. Until they were enraged. So much so that .

congressional leaders of the opposing party flat-out said theyd lend zero to support his policiesno matter whom they might benefit.

those same lawmakers petulantly refused to consider an Obama Supreme Court nominee during the final days of his presidency even, defying the very Constitution they haughtily claim to defend.

a president was elected whose primary policy seemed to be to simply unObama Americaoh, and enrich himself and already-enriched friends.

his zealots stormed the U.S. Capitol, an act of insurrection none of us has seen, and hopefully will never see again.

our own states leadersAlabama Republicans, lets be clear, led by Gov. Kay Iveyfor years steadfastly and petulantly refused to expand Medicaid, refused to access millions of federal dollars to help provide more Alabamians with health insurance coverage. Coverage that might improve their lives. Coverage that might incentivize them to go to the doctor before theyre gripped by a life-threatening illness.

All because, well, degummed, it was Obamas idea. It was part of Obamacare, the term they tried to derisively deploy to stain the Affordable Care Act, the flawed but what-else-you-got effort to create affordable healthcare options for Americans most in need. (The former president ultimately flipped the deriders and laughingly embraced the term.)

Now, here we are, more than 12 years since 2008, and Im grateful. Grateful that, according to a new poll, most Alabamians have finally come around on expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income adults, mainly working adults whose employers do not provide insurance or who still cannot afford it.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents to the poll from Cover Alabama, a group of 90 organizations that support Medicaid expansion, either strongly or somewhat support it, too. Even a smidge more than half of Alabama Republicans (50.6 percent) support expansion after staunchly railing against it because, frankly, it was part of the ACA.

Some, including Gov. Ivey, guise their opposition as fiscal. Whenever the subject arises, she usually responds with some derivation of, Can we afford it?

We blew our chance at a rare federal freebie and it cost the state millions. When expansion was launched in 2014, the federal government paid 100 percent of the cost for the first three years. We had a winning lottery ticket lost it in the washer.

After the first three years, the feds still paid 90 percent of any increased costs to states. Now, theyre about to pay more. As my colleague Kyle Whitmire pointed out earlier this week, the Democrat-crafted stimulus percolating in the U.S. House includes a provision boosting federal coverage to 95 percent of costs.

The question Gov. Ivey and other holdouts should be asking: Can we not afford it?

Especially now, as Alabamians contend with the disastrous effects of COVID-19. Effects that shined a light on embarrassing, long-ignored racial and socioeconomic disparities. Effects likely to manifest themselves for years, maybe decades, among Alabamians who survived the virus.

Its estimated Medicaid expansion would touch more than 200,000 low-income residents. Individuals earning up to $17,609 and families with incomes of about $30,000 would qualify.

As Donald Trump failingly tried to dismantle Obamacare, six more states approved Medicaid expansion during his presidency, including ruby-red Oklahoma and Missouri.

Now, were one of only 12 states still stubbornly without Medicaid expansion. Aint we proud?

Give up the ghost, Gov. Iveythe Obama ghost. Or risk being haunted by something far more frightening: failing, once again, to help Alabamians struggling to help themselves. Especially so now.

Thats truly nuts.

A voice for whats right and wrong in Birmingham, Alabama (and beyond), Roys column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as in the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com and follow him at twitter.com/roysj

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Johnson: Give up the Obama ghost Governor, expand Medicaid now - AL.com