This last Thursday saw the opening of a place that has been almost ten years in the making. I am of course talking about the opening of the Obama Presidential Center. There are few presidents through history that have taken a road so improbable and against the odds to the American presidency than Barack Obama. But there is something delightfully unconventional about this place.
Yes, it opened to the public on Juneteenth. Yes, it is located on the South Side of Chicago. Yes, it has an amazing design, an extraordinary campus that includes a basketball court and outdoor grills. Yes, it has exhibits that showcase what a great man the 44th president was and the story of First Lady Michelle Obama who stood by his side during this unexpected journey. But none of that is what makes this place unlike any other.
What I meant about it being unconventional starts with the name. The name is the Obama Presidential Center…it’s not the Obama Presidential Library like his predecessors. It was an intentional decision that was meant to show the Center is for everyday people, not just people who are smart and know their history.
Traditional presidential libraries are usually shrines that all about one man. However, the permanent exhibit in the museum space doesn’t even open with Obama’s childhood in Hawaii, Indonesia or Kansas or his early life in politics. Instead, the museum exhibit begins with the painful contradictions embedded in America’s founding and its early conflicts. After all, the Declaration of Independence speaks of universal equality in a country that legalized slavery. Barack Obama was elected president of a country that did not allow Black people to vote in many states the year that he was born.
Despite the Center being meant to for the ordinary people of America, the list of people that came to see the opening on Thursday were anything but ordinary. Amazing and talented singers came to the event: Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Bono and U2, Stevie Wonder, and the boss himself…Bruce Springsteen. There were other celebrities and big names there as well. We had David Letterman and Stephen Colbert. We had famous filmmakers Tyler Perry, Steven Spielberg, and even George Lucas. We also had two of the biggest names in the entertainment world there: Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks. And an invited crowd of 3,000 watched the opening event, along with thousands more around the center’s campus.
The most heartwarming thing about this is that every living former President was there with Obama: Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Joe Biden. It was a remarkable showing of a united America. Former President Obama said in his speech not to be nostalgic about the past when he was President, but to look forward. But to hear him talk on Thursday with his wife and two daughters Malia and Sasha nearby, I had only one thing to say: he hasn’t lost his touch at all.
Check out these photos to see all the incredible people that were at this event:
For more information about planning your visit and ticketing, please go to the Obama Presidential Center website: Visit the Center | The Obama Foundation
