Former First Lady Michelle Obama began her speech at the grand opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center Thursday with a warning that people in the audience were going to need tissue to dry their eyes.
“I got my tissue in hand,” she said. “I don’t know about all of you.”
She did not disappoint. Mrs. Obama delivered a powerful speech that left President Barack Obama and many of the in attendance in tears, as she paid tribute to the strength he showed not only during his eight years in the White House, but throughout their lives together.
“You told me all those years ago that you couldn’t promise me the world, but you could promise me an interesting life, and of course you outdid yourself and managed to give me both,” Mrs. Obama said.
Mrs. Obama described her husband as a resilient person who did not let adversity change his strong moral character and said that even she was often in awe as she watched him remain focused, calm, “always looking at the long view.”
“Eight years in the crucible, and not once did you melt from the heat,” she said. “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.”
She said that even as President Obama’s detractors spread lies about his birthright, his religion, and his patriotism, he remained calm and pushed on because he was too busy working for the American people.
“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,” Mrs. Obama said, followed by laughter as people caught on what appeared to be a veiled jab at President Donald Trump’s belief that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. “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.”
At nearby Midway Plaisance Park, where thousands of supporters who couldn’t get into the main ceremony gathered to watch it livestreamed on two giant screens, many could be seen sobbing and wiping tears as the former first lady spoke.
Athenia Deanes, a retiree who has lived in South Side Chicago since she was 11 years old, said Mrs. Obama’s speech drove her to tears because it reminded her why Americans voted for President Obama twice.
“I am so proud to say that that’s my former President Obama,” Deanes said. “I am so proud. I’m just— as you can see, I am really just full. I’m full. And I just thank God for him.”
The event brought together elected officials, former U.S. presidents, and other leaders from around the world and featured performances by a long list of Grammy Award-winning artists like Stevie Wonder, Eddie Vedder, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Marc Anthony, Bruce Springsteen, Common, John Legend, Tems, and The Roots.
Located in the city’s historic Jackson Park, the Obama Presidential Center will be open to the public on Friday. The sprawling campus, which sits on more than 19 acres of land and cost $850 million to construct, features multiple facilities including a presidential library and museum, a civic auditorium known as The Forum, an athletic center with an NBA regulation-size court, and the newest branch of the Chicago Public Library.
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About Edwin Okong'o - Mshale Contributing Editor
Edwin Okong'o is a Mshale Contributing Editor. Formerly he was the newspaper's editor.
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