- Former President Obama reunited with the young boy who touched his hair in the Oval Office in 2009.
- Pete Souza captured a photo with Obama and then-5-year-old Jacob Philadelphia, which went viral.
- Jacob is now 18 years old and last week graduated from high school in Uganda.
In May 2009, a few months after then-President Barack Obama entered the White House, five-year-old Jacob Philadelphia stepped into the Oval Office, unaware that he would become part of the legacy of America's first Black commander-in-chief.
As Jacob took in the presidential visit alongside his father, then-National Security Council staffer Carlton Philadelphia, his mother, Roseane, and his older brother, Isaac, he quietly asked a question.
"I want to know if my hair is just like yours," he said to Obama in a tone so low that the then-president asked him to repeat his question.
After hearing the question, Obama remarked: "Why don't you touch it and see for yourself?"
The president bent over, but Jacob hesitated to move his hand.
"Touch it, dude!" Obama said.
Then-White House photographer Pete Souza quickly captured what would become an iconic shot; he named the image "Hair Like Mine" as an affirmation of the power of representation.
After Obama asked Jacob how it felt to touch his hair, he replied: "Yes, it does feel the same."
On Friday, Obama reunited with Jacob via Zoom to congratulate the now-18-year-old on his graduation from the International School of Uganda, located on the outskirts of Kampala.
"I think the White House visit clearly inspired you, I hope," the former president told Jacob.
"Yes — it really has," he replied.
—Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 27, 2022
Obama during the video call with Jacob remarked on the personal significance of the photo.
"I think this picture embodied one of the hopes that I had when I first started running for office," the former president said.
He continued: "I remember telling Michelle and some of my staff, you know, I think that if I were to win, the day I was sworn into office, young people, particularly African-American people, people of color, outsiders, folks who maybe didn't always feel like they belonged, they'd look at themselves differently. To see a person who looked like them in the Oval Office. It would speak to Black kids and Latino kids and gay kids and young girls — how they could see the world open up for them."
Jacob, who plans to study political science at the University of Memphis, opened up about what the White House visit all those years ago meant to him.
"When I was younger, I just thought the President was just my dad's boss," he said. "I didn't know how powerful he was, but I was slightly intimidated. It was a really big room — the Oval Office — so I was a little shy."
He continued: "I kind of remember touching his hair and him towering over me. That was a pretty big highlight of my life. It is very wonderful to see representation in the government because if I get to see another Black man be at the top, be at that pinnacle, then I want to follow that lead."