Inside the Obama Presidential Center’s opening week

By Victoria Mejicanos 
AFRO Staff Writer 
vmejicanos@afro.com 

The Obama Presidential Center welcomed its first public visitors and hosted its inaugural event after opening July 19 on Chicago’s South Side, bringing together hundreds of leaders, advocates and educators focused on improving outcomes for children worldwide.

In collaboration with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the center hosted the Every Child Thrives Festival, a global conference that encouraged attendees to reimagine the future through the lens of children. More than 500 participants from several countries attended the gathering.

The center, years in the making, is intended to serve as a civic, educational and cultural hub for Chicago and visitors from around the world.

One day ahead of the June 19 public opening, President Obama spoke about the location and the vision of the center. 

“More than 40 years ago, on a late summer afternoon in 1985, I arrived here in Chicago, entering the city through the very spot where this center now stands,” said Obama, on June 18. “I can still picture myself heading down what was then Cornell Drive in a janky used car that I’d bought in New York, with all my worldly possessions stuffed in the trunk and the back seat, so I really couldn’t see out of the rear view mirror, and I was a safety hazard.” 

“We designed the center not to be some lifeless mausoleum – I am too young for that – not just a place to see Michelle’s dresses, although I understand that will be the top attraction,” he said, drawing laughs. “We wanted it to be a vibrant, living celebration of community, where we can learn together and share the joys of art and music and sport and play, because it’s in those moments that we’re reminded of our common humanity and strengthen the bonds of trust that not only make our lives richer, but make our democracy stronger.”

Visitors could explore the new branch of the Chicago Public Library, the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, and tour the museum that centers on the lives and careers of the former first couple.

Aside from Michelle Obama’s dresses, exhibits on the Obama White House and a replica of the Oval Office are also on view for visitors seeking to see themselves behind the Resolute Desk. Other galleries trace Barack and Michelle Obama’s lives before the presidency, the Civil Rights Movement that shaped their political journeys and the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. Exhibits also examine the administration’s legacy on issues including health care, civil rights and gun violence prevention.

Among those attending the festival was Eartha Robinson, a member of the Heartfelt Education Through the Arts Foundation, a nonprofit in North Hollywood, Calif., that provides an arts education to youth from diverse backgrounds. After an exclusive tour of the museum, Robinson shared her impressions with the AFRO.

“What I love about it is that we are in politics, we’re in real life, we’re in real time, we’re telling history, we’re in the future, we’re in the present,” she said of the museum’s exhibits.  “The energy of the place is just incredible, because as you walk along, everything is just thought out, everything was placed, love is placed in it, and you can feel that energy resonate.” 

Robinson expressed appreciation for the aspects of the museum that explore the country’s history. 

“You have everyone that has made a difference in America, and you have the remembrance of why we are Americans,” she said. “We are reminded that we are the people who run this. The people have the power, and if the government can support that, we’d all be in a better place.”

Another attendee, Guards Jean, shared that she was inspired by how the surrounding community was kept in mind and hopes to mirror that with her community advocacy. 

Jean was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Naples, Fla. She is vice chair of the Board of Advisors at Womenful Voice, an organization that invests in women and girls in Haiti through providing resources for education, health and wellness, mentorship and gender equality.

“What I love the most about the Obama Presidential Center is that it’s very encompassing,” she said. “I just feel like in every aspect it really just considers the community that it serves, the South Side of Chicago, and I love that.”

She said the center demonstrates what communities need more of: accessible spaces where families can gather, learn and thrive together.

“I think spaces like this are important because they’re lacking,” Jean said. She explained that she imagined how an entire family could enter the center and find that there is something for everyone. 

Jean also praised the museum for its architecture and inclusion of Black artists and designers. What impacted her most, though, was the vegetable garden. 

“Seeing the vegetable garden, the way that they harvest, and they send it out to local pantry, that  made me happy, made me feel proud about what the work that I’m doing with Womenful Voice, because with Womenful Voice, we do have in our future plans to build a communal garden for the community of Northeast Haiti, which is underserved, and having everything from communal garden be completely for that community,” she said.  “So it just made me happy to confirm that I’m doing the right work, and it felt fulfilling. I felt like I’m doing what God has called me to do.” 

For Jeremy Reed, one of the center’s tour guides, the excitement surrounding the opening is clear in interactions he has with visitors and coworkers each day.

“The energy here is so positive,” Reed said. “Everyone is so nice.”

Reed said one of his favorite parts of working at the center is watching guests leave inspired by what they experienced.

“The history and knowledge that this place contains is very contagious,” he said. “If you have not visited the Obama Presidential Center, make this a summer trip, a fall trip, maybe even a winter trip. Put this on your to-do list, and I’ll see you when you get here.”

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