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An open letter to Barack Obama regarding that first post-presidency speech.

Oh hey, Barack!

Former President Barack Obama arrives for a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing on April 24, 2017. Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP.

Can we call you Barack now?

Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP.

Anyway, you look good! Tan and well-rested.

Photo by Jim Young/AFP/Getty Images.

You earned that time off.

Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images (left); Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images (top right); and Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images.

We saw your speech in Chicago the other day.

Photo by Scott Olsen/Getty Images.

You still got it with the jokes!

GIF via Time/YouTube.

Man, that was a good speech. So good it made us cry. Not sure it was a happy cry.

A man reacts to protesters at the Women's March in January. Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images.

Gotta be honest, when you left the White House, our emotions were not in a good place.

An emotional Gerardo Ruiz reacts to results of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016. Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

In the back of our minds, we secretly hoped that you'd come galloping back atop a golden unicorn, laminated copy of the Constitution in hand, and tell us to follow your lead with those famous words you ... uh, never really said.

And we know you were worried about us when you left...

GIF via Time/YouTube.

...that we might not be up to the challenge.

A Hillary Clinton supporter reacts to the presidential election swing on Nov. 8, 2016. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

But life is funny.

When you went away, something kind of weird happened.

We didn't fold like a cheap card table.

We didn't shut the door, pull up the covers, and go to sleep for 500 years.

Protesters outside the National Press Club and the Deplorable Ball in Washington, D.C., in January. Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images.

We got up, and we got organized.

People rally against Donald Trump. Photo by Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images.

And we handled this protesting stuff on our own. Because we had no other choice.

Protesters hold anti-Trump signs in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2017. Photo by Derek Henkle/AFP/Getty Images.

In a way, peaceing out to Fiji was one of the best things you could have done for us.

While you were enjoying a well-earned restorative kitesurf with Branson...

...we were marching.

Protesters settle in at the Women's March on Washington. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

While you were regaining your sense of style...

...we were piling into airports to protest an unjust Muslim ban.

Demonstrators at O'Hare Airport protest the executive order that refuses admittance to refugees and places a ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

We were chanting in the cold.

People gather to protest the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.

We were putting our law degrees to work on a chilly terminal floor at 4 a.m.

Volunteer attorneys and legal advisors offer to help travelers at O'Hare Airport in February 2017. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

And we were winning.

Syrian refugee Baraa Haj Khalaf cradles the U.S. flag as she leaves O'Hare International Airport with her husband and father in February 2017. Photo by Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images.

While you were hanging out in the South Pacific with Oprah and Springsteen...

...we were organizing in our communities, calling our elected officials, and holding their feet to the fire.

Crowd members respond to a woman supporting Donald Trump at a town hall meeting in March 2017. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images.

We got Paul Ryan to admit that "Obamacare is the law of the land."

U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks after Trump's health care bill was pulled from the House of Representatives on March 24, 2017. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.

Tens of thousands of women decided to run for office.

From left, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Maxine Waters. Photos (from left) by Zach Gibson/Getty Images; Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images; and Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images.

A new generation of activists was born, and an older generation came roaring back to life.

(From left, in back) Ginny Suss, Carmen Perez, Gloria Steinem, Linda Sarsour, and Tamika Mallory and (in front) Mia Ives-Rublee appear onstage at the Women's March on Washington. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images.

We remembered what you said when you left office. You warned us what was at stake.

Obama delivers his farewell speech Jan 10, 2017. GIF via ABC News/YouTube.

You encouraged us to get out and fight for our values. In person.

You reminded us what democracy requires of us. Specifically ... us. And not just when there's a big election on the horizon.

We thought you'd have to hold our hand through it. But here's what we learned:

It turns out, we're pretty good at this stuff on our own.

People take part in a protest called No Ban! No Wall! Get Loud! at Grand Central Station in March 2017. Photo by Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images.

When the chips are down, we can pull ourselves together and fight back.

The crowd reacts to U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz at a town hall meeting in Utah in February. Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP.

We don't always need you to show us the way after all.

The March for Science on April 22, 2017, spanned many cities, including Los Angeles. Photo by Sarah Morris/Getty Images.

But we're glad you're back and down to help.

Photo by Scott Olsen/Getty Images.

In the words of our all-time favorite meme of you...

Photo by Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images.

Thanks for the pep talk.

Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP.

Glad to have you on the team. Let's do this.

Love, America.

Joy

Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

Best. Host. Ever.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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nature
Pop Culture

Mississippi meteorologist paused for a 'human' moment while reporting on devastating tornado

"Oh, man. Dear Jesus, please help them."

WTVA 9 News/YouTube

Meteorologist Matt Laubham prays for the people in the path of a deadly tornado.

Broadcasters who have to report on tragedies as they are happening have a tough job. On the one hand, they have to maintain their professionalism and inform the public of what's happening in a factual way. On the other hand, they're still human and sometimes humanity trumps the traditional perception of what's "professional."

Such was the case for WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan, who found himself live on the air staring at a radar scan of a deadly tornado as it moved towards the small town of Amory, Mississippi. He, more than anyone, understood the severity of the situation, and he did his best to convey that to his viewers.

"This is a strong, life-threatening tornado that's going to move either extremely close to Amory or in through the northern part of the city of Amory."

He added, "Y'all trust me too much," explaining that people sometimes take his predictions of where the tornado will go as hard fact, but the reality is that tornados can change directions at any time. "So Amory, we need to be in our tornado safe place," he said.

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humanity
Family

Dad found out his son bullied a kid at school and came up with a brilliant teaching moment

"I told him that we have the opportunity to make things right."

@thehalfdeaddad/TikTok

Dad on TikTok shared how he addressed his son's bullying.

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again.

Single dadPatrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution.


The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.
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fatherhood
Pop Culture

Rick Astley covered Foo Fighters' 'Everlong' and it's shockingly great

Consider yourself Rick-Grohled.

Rick Astley/YouTube

Rick Astley rocking his Foo Fighters 'Everlong' cover.

Rick Astley has to be the luckiest '80s musician on the planet. The whole "Rickrolling" phenomenon has given his hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.

(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they're being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video instead as a joke. It's a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that's been going since 2006.)

But what people may not realize, because his most famous song has become an internet joke, is that Rick Astley is actually a really freaking great musician. The man can saaaang and it seems he's only gotten better with age.

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Education

People are raving about how much easier it is to read with 'bionic reading' font

This viral tool could be a game-changer for some.

Photo via Canva, @WhattheADHD/Twitter

The 'bionic reading' font is designed to help keep you focused and read faster.

Reading is a fundamental tool of learning for most people, which is why it's one of the first things kids learn in school and why nations set literacy goals.

But even those of us who are able to read fluently might sometimes struggle with the act of reading itself. Perhaps we don't read as quickly as we wish we could or maybe our minds wander as our eyes move across the words. Sometimes we get to the end of a paragraph and realize we didn't retain anything we just read.

People with focus or attention issues can struggle with reading, despite having no actual reading disabilities. It can be extremely frustrating to want to read something and have no issues with understanding the material, yet be unable to keep your mind engaged with the text long enough to get "into" what you're reading.

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Family

Badass bikers show up for abused children, offering advocacy and protection

They become an abused child's "biker family," and they let the child—and everyone else—know that NO ONE messes with their family.

Bikers Against Child Abuse/YouTube

When you are a child who has been abused by people who are supposed to protect you, how do you feel safe?

That question is the heart of Bikers Against Child Abuse International (B.A.C.A.), an organization dedicated to creating "a safer environment for abused children." With specific training and extensive security checks, the frequently big and burly members of B.A.C.A. serve as protectors of chid abuse survivors, giving vulnerable children people to call on when they feel scared, and even showing up in court when a child asks them to.

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bikers
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