Thousands attended the dedication and opening of the Obama Presidential Center located on the south side of Chicago and I would guess that, along with myself, millions watched it on TV. Needless to say, it was inspiring and uplifting. But even more, it was a concrete example of what “WE” as a nation can be if we so choose.
Starting with President Obama’s words that are captured on the side of the building and are excerpted from his 2015 “You Are America” speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches:
“You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
Then moving on to First Lady Michelle Obama’s famous words at the 2016 Democratic National Convention: “When they go low, we go high.”
And ending with excerpts from the most memorable description First Lady Michelle Obama could ever have said about President Obama that had him dabbing his eyes:
“Eight years in the crucible, and not once did you melt from the heat, not once did you let it harden you.
Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence, your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage, your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency, your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.
And to do it all as a first, and the higher standard that comes with all that, the claims that a U.S. Senator and constitutional law expert wasn’t qualified for the job, the lies about your birthright, your faith, your patriotism, the outrage when you stated the biological fact that if you’d had a son, that he, too, would be Black. Yet, you were unflappable at every turn, always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view.
How absurd it is to even imagine that you might have buckled under the pressure, even once, lashed out in frustration, lost your temper. How absurd it is to imagine that you might have done anything but make our family and this entire country proud.
You were doing the people’s work, rescuing our economy, expanding health care, ending a war, ordering the bin Laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a peace prize.
Keeping us safe from Ebola, regulating the banks, standing up for marriage equality.
Listening to science, and comforting an entire nation in the face of unspeakable tragedies. And you did it all with such grace and class and cool that you made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.
Barack, there are no words to express how proud I am of the way you showed up and continue to show up every single day. It has been an honor to be by your side. You have made me a better person and have given us all an example that we should strive to emulate. And I hope you know, oh, there is truly no higher calling than that.
All right, to all of you joining us today, our invited guests, and everyone listening and watching from afar, the Obama Presidential Center was created as a beacon of hope, a monument to our unshakable values, the ones my husband has exemplified his entire life, equality, empathy, honesty, inclusion, fairness.
And especially during these anxious and divisive times, it is so important that we remember that those values are not unique to my husband. They are the same ones that your husbands and wives, your parents and children, your friends and neighbors exhibit and pass on.” ■