The Obama Presidential Center (OPC) is buzzing with hope this week as the 19-acre museum campus officially opens its doors to the public. Today, the Obamas greeted the first visitors to enter the eight-story museum. They also spent time with families, reading Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are during a special story time for kids — a tradition stemming from their time in the White House.
The opening day celebration and programming comes a day after hundreds of dignitaries, celebrities, politicians and community leaders gathered in the John Lewis Plaza on campus for the OPC’s grand opening ceremony. Some likened the emotion and spirit of the day to election night in 2008, when hundreds of thousands of people flocked to downtown’s Grant Park to celebrate Obama becoming the first Black president of the United States. His historic victory speech — along with the warmth of watching South Side native Michelle Obama and their Black children stand beside him on stage — brought many people in attendance, and those watching at home, to tears.
“There was such optimism in the country at that time. It feels like we’re in a different space,” U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14) told The TRiiBE at Thursday’s star-studded ceremony.
Obama’s new presidential center is opening at a time when the country doesn’t feel as hopeful as it did during his eight years in the White House. In Chicago, specifically, many communities are still reeling from President Donald J. Trump sending masked federal immigration agents to the area last fall. One of the Trump Administration’s militaristic raids took place at an under-resourced apartment building in the predominately Black South Shore neighborhood not too far from where the OPC stands. Some people living in the building disappeared that night; others eventually were forced to vacate the building under a judge’s order.
Not to mention, country-wide, the cost of living and Black unemployment rates have increased, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been weakened, and the Trump administration has turned DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) into a taboo term.
“There’s a lot of folks who are feeling hopeless. They’re really discouraged. Everything’s so expensive: gas is high, rent is high, groceries are high, people can’t afford their health care,” Underwood said.
The Obama Presidential Center, though, is a reminder that this country deserves better, Underwood explained.
“We need to be reminded that we deserve better… that we can have a decent president who loves our country, who cares for his family. We can have an inspirational leader that brings us all together, and that’s the politics that we embrace. That’s the policy of hope.”
At Thursday’s grand opening ceremony, The TRiiBE team interviewed attendees about the hope they felt in 2008 compared to today’s political climate.
Below are responses from entrepreneur and Eventnoire Co-founder Jeff Osuji, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Westside Justice Center Executive Director Tanya D. Woods, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood and Ken Bennett, who worked on Obama’s staff in the White House and in the Illinois State Senate.
Interviews were conducted by Morgan Elise Johnson and Rome J., and have been edited and condensed for clarity.
How do your feelings from Obama’s election night in 2008 compare to your feelings for the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center?
Jeff Osuji: I was a part of Young & Powerful for Obama for both elections. A lot of the same people that are here were people who were very instrumental in that movement, just people coming together for a common purpose. Whenever we come together for a common purpose to make some positive things happen, the world could change. This reminds us of that.
Tanya D. Woods: Hearing the first lady and the president talk about 20 years ago. You’re like, “What? 20 years ago?” That [election night victory speech] in Grant Park, all those years ago, seems like it was just yesterday. We have to feel optimistic in this moment, even despite all of the challenges that we face. It is our moral imperative, because we know the shoulders that we stand upon. It doesn’t all just get easier. We’re supposed to meet the challenges at the top of the road. We’re supposed to continue to look higher. That doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate the successes of the past, but there’s no time to rest. We have to keep pressing forward.
Ken Bennett: It’s a similar energy, but that was the door opening to where we are today. So I think this is just that next phase of it. It’s amazing.
Rep. Lauren Underwood: It is just extraordinary to see the progress and the change that the Obamas and his administration has brought to the world. This is a new home for hope, and it’s wonderful that they have opened it up to the community. We’re just steps away from a branch of a public library on the campus of a presidential center. I just think it speaks to the way that they made it the people’s house. This is the people’s center.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle: I think it’s important for us to remember that things have been better, and things have been worse, and it’s the obligation of each and every one of us to try to make this country a better place. We know that it was a better place during President Obama’s tenure, and it can be a better place again. So, although there are lots of discouraging things about this moment, I think it’s important to remember that, with hard work and determination, this can be a different country, and we shouldn’t despair
What does it mean to have the Obama Presidential Center right here on the South Side?
Ken Bennett: I’m hoping what it’ll do is help in terms of inspiration, but also in an economic [sense] as well. Bring us more investments, business, and provide more opportunities.
Rep. Lauren Underwood: Our community, Chicago, has been an important part of the president’s legacy and the first lady’s origin story, [so much so] that they wanted to come home and put our city in a bright spotlight.
Jeff Osuji: If somebody used to live in Woodlawn back 20 years ago, before all the property went up, there wasn’t a lot out here, but it was a lot of people who always saw what Chicago could be, what the South Side could be, and so with this being here, bringing [in] commerce, bringing the people to see how beautiful the South Side of Chicago is, it’s a beautiful thing.
We know there’s still great people doing good work here in the city. There’s still hope for the South Side of Chicago. This building will serve as a physical representation of that hope.
