Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Trump Peace Prize controversy — watch the viral moment that has everyone talking as Michelle’s words leave Barack Obama visibly emotional.
A stunning and emotional moment is going viral after the Obamas TROLL Trump With Peace Prize Jab during a high-profile public appearance. In this FULL Video, Michelle Obama delivers a heartfelt tribute that appears to reference Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize legacy, sparking immediate comparisons and reactions involving Donald Trump. The result? A viral political moment that has ignited debate across social media, news platforms, and political circles worldwide.
#BarackObama #MichelleObama #DonaldTrump #TrumpPeacePrize #NobelPeacePrize #ObamaSpeech #MichelleObamaSpeech #BarackObamaTears #ObamaVsTrump #TrumpControversy #PoliticalNews #USPolitics #BreakingNews #ViralPolitics #ObamaViralMoment #TrumpNews #MichelleObamaViral #PoliticalDebate #WhiteHouseNews #AmericanPolitics #ObamaLegacy #TrumpReaction #PoliticalCommentary #TrendingPolitics #FullVideo
A stunning and emotional moment is going viral after the Obamas TROLL Trump With Peace Prize Jab during a high-profile public appearance. In this FULL Video, Michelle Obama delivers a heartfelt tribute that appears to reference Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize legacy, sparking immediate comparisons and reactions involving Donald Trump. The result? A viral political moment that has ignited debate across social media, news platforms, and political circles worldwide.
#BarackObama #MichelleObama #DonaldTrump #TrumpPeacePrize #NobelPeacePrize #ObamaSpeech #MichelleObamaSpeech #BarackObamaTears #ObamaVsTrump #TrumpControversy #PoliticalNews #USPolitics #BreakingNews #ViralPolitics #ObamaViralMoment #TrumpNews #MichelleObamaViral #PoliticalDebate #WhiteHouseNews #AmericanPolitics #ObamaLegacy #TrumpReaction #PoliticalCommentary #TrendingPolitics #FullVideo
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NewsTranscript
00:00Sweet home Chicago, please have a seat.
00:05Thank you for that outstanding introduction.
00:13President and Mrs. Bush, President and Secretary Clinton,
00:18thank you for being with us today and for your devotion to our country.
00:27And President and Dr. Biden, thank you for your steadfast partnership for eight years.
00:38Joe, we started as running mates and ended as family.
00:44And we would not be here without you. And we are grateful.
00:54To our amazing foundation staff and our amazing board,
01:02to Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson, thank you for making this center possible.
01:14To congressional leaders and foreign dignitaries who've made the trip,
01:20I cherish our partnership together and all we've got accomplished together. Thank you.
01:31To Michelle,
01:35she did me wrong.
01:38She wouldn't let me see her speech.
01:41She knew she was going to mess me up and she did it anyway.
01:50But she's always made me better.
01:54And I could not be more grateful.
01:56And to Sasha and Malia,
01:58I could not be here.
01:59What can I say?
02:01You mean everything to me.
02:06More than 40 years ago,
02:10on a late summer afternoon in 1985,
02:15I arrived here in Chicago,
02:19entering the city through the very spot where this center now stands.
02:27I can still picture myself heading down what was then Cornell Drive
02:34in a janky used car that I'd bought in New York
02:38with all my worldly possessions stuffed in the trunk and the back seat.
02:44So I really couldn't see out of the rear view mirror.
02:48And I was a safety hazard.
02:53And I was 23 years old.
02:55I had just been hired
02:57by a group of churches
03:00on the south side to help organize a part of the city
03:05that had been battered by steel plant closings
03:09and chronic neglect.
03:14And I didn't have much organizing experience.
03:18Didn't know anybody in Chicago.
03:24But I had been inspired by the civil rights movement.
03:29And I knew I wanted to make a difference.
03:35And although I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to do that,
03:41I was possessed with this abiding faith
03:48that if we could give people more of a say in the forces that govern their lives,
03:55if we could bridge some of the differences that drove us apart,
04:01then we could build an America where everyone counts
04:06and everyone has a fair shot
04:10and everyone belongs.
04:14even a mixed race kid with a weird back story and a name nobody could pronounce.
04:25And it was here in this city,
04:29a city of broad shoulders,
04:32that I found what I was looking for.
04:39day by day, block by block, I got to know the people who lived here.
04:45Their hopes, their dreams, their tragedies and their triumphs.
04:52I witnessed their resilience in the face of hardship
04:57and the quiet heroism of a single mom raising her kids and sending them to college on a secretary's salary.
05:06And the priest electing to stay in the city and open his doors to at-risk use,
05:14even as most of his flock had fled to the suburbs.
05:21I learned that leadership has less to do with titles or rank or chasing attention
05:28than with helping others find their voice,
05:33reaching their potential.
05:36And sitting around people's kitchen tables or on their back porches,
05:43spending time in church basements and barbershops.
05:48I was reminded that everyone has a story to tell if you just care to listen.
05:58Sacred stories, full of courage and humor and grace.
06:06And that each of those stories in some way connected to my own.
06:14In other words, I found my purpose here and I fortified my faith here.
06:19And I found my community here.
06:23Friendships that would last a lifetime.
06:27And I found a girl from the South Side who has been my greatest blessing.
06:37Michelle and I, our wedding reception was over at South Shore Cultural Center.
06:42You could walk from here.
06:47Our daughters were born right down the street.
06:53This is where we bought our first home.
06:57This is where our kids took their first steps.
07:01This is where I launched my candidacy for the Illinois State Senate
07:05over at the Ramada Inn on Lakeshore Drive.
07:12Serving pretzels and soda.
07:17Embarking on the path that ultimately and improbably led to this day.
07:26So, for me, this center could not be anyplace else.
07:36It's an expression of thanks.
07:39An acknowledgement that so much of what I hold most dear,
07:44I owe to the people of this city and the people of these surrounding neighborhoods.
07:55And it's why we designed the center not to be some lifeless mausoleum.
08:00I am too young for that.
08:06Not just a place to see Michelle's dresses, although I understand that will be the top attraction.
08:15We wanted it to be a vibrant,
08:18living celebration of community.
08:22Where we can learn together and share the joys of art and music and sport and play.
08:33Because it's in those moments that we're reminded of our common humanity.
08:46And strengthen the bonds of trust that not only make our lives richer,
08:51but make our democracy stronger.
08:58And we also wanted this center to be a celebration of the extraordinary public servants,
09:04many of whom are here today that made this journey possible.
09:11some of you helped get me elected.
09:15Some of you I had to talk into joining my administration.
09:21Some of you were seasoned veterans who helped show a rookie president the ropes.
09:30But a lot of you were younger than I was when I first drove into this city.
09:37And we're all a bit older now.
09:39Many of you have children of your own, even grandchildren.
09:44But the passage of time has only deepened my admiration for your talent and your dedication
09:49and your skill.
09:52It's only deepened my gratitude for how much you and your families
09:57sacrificed to make this country better.
09:58So when you visit this center today or in days to come, I hope you see yourselves
10:05and your hard work reflected in every exhibit.
10:09And I hope you take pride in what we accomplish together.
10:15You made that happen.
10:23Of course, we did not accomplish everything we set out to do.
10:28No administration does.
10:31Some of the exhibits reflect unfinished business.
10:35In some cases, my own shortcomings and mistakes.
10:40In some cases, because as a sign I kept on the resolute desk read, hard things are hard.
10:49And that's especially true in a big, raucous, diverse,
10:58argumentative democracy like the United States of America.
11:03Everybody's got an opinion.
11:07And that means getting stuff done involves reconciling the demands of a couple of hundred million people.
11:18democracy can be frustrating.
11:21It can be slow.
11:23It can be inefficient.
11:26And yet more than anything, I hope this center will serve as an affirmation of just how special,
11:34how precious our democracy truly is.
11:38And remind us what we can achieve when we embrace our shared responsibilities as citizens.
11:51And since we're a few weeks away from America's 250th birthday, it is worth remembering
11:59just how radical the whole idea of self-government really was back in 1776.
12:07To that point, human history was a tale of conquest and caste and rigid hierarchies.
12:17A world where the strong dominated the weak.
12:21Where power and wealth and status flowed through lineage.
12:27And the many were ruled by the few.
12:34But out of the fire and steel of a revolution, a different story took flight on this continent.
12:41A declaration that we are all created equal.
12:46Endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights.
12:49And that in the newly independent United States, there will be no kings or lords,
12:55no serfs or subjects, but only citizens.
12:59Each of us free to pursue our own version of happiness.
13:04And able to determine our collective fate through an elected representative government.
13:11It had not been done.
13:16And because it hadn't been done before, the success of this experiment was never a given.
13:25In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the declaration's promise.
13:32Leaving slavery intact.
13:35Allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who own property.
13:43But in drafting a constitution and a bill of rights, they did have the foresight, the genius,
13:49to provide us with a framework that allows each generation to make our union more perfect.
13:58And over more than two centuries, through petitions and protests, marches and strikes,
14:06moral appeals from the pulpit and conversations at the family dinner table.
14:13Men and women from all walks of life, of every color, every faith, every region,
14:20took up the cause of democracy and made it their own.
14:24Until we, the people, came to include not just some of us, but all of us.
14:37And that's why the story we tell in this building begins not with Michelle's origins or my origins,
14:45but with our nation's.
14:47With a founding era print of the Declaration of Independence.
14:52And a pen and ink stand used by Frederick Douglass.
14:57Lincoln's Bible.
14:58And a pamphlet by Ida B. Wells.
15:02Suffragist buttons.
15:04And a hard hat worn by FDR's Labor Secretary, Francis Perkins.
15:09And it's why the exhibits here focus not just on policies,
15:14but on the shared values that make democracy possible.
15:21A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people,
15:26and that no one is above the law or beneath its protection.
15:32A belief in checks and balances in our government,
15:35and an accountability that comes with an independent judiciary, and a robust free press.
15:43A belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance,
15:48not to any president or political party, but to the people and our Constitution.
15:56A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections,
16:02recognizing that in a large, complicated society like ours,
16:06no group or faction gets its way 100% of the time.
16:13And a belief that qualities of character,
16:18honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion, a sense of duty and honor.
16:28Those things matter in our public dealings, just as they do in our private lives.
16:35These are not...
16:41These are the values and traditions I believe in.
16:47And they are not Republican or Democratic values.
16:50They are American values we can all share, regardless of party.
16:55Values every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold.
17:02Values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in, no less than I did.
17:08It is our greatest inheritance.
17:10The story of America at its best because it reflects a basic faith in the decency of our fellow citizens.
17:21And the possibility that despite all of our differences,
17:25we can see each other and understand one another and make common cause together.
17:38That's what I hope every visitor to this center takes away from their experience.
17:45And that's why if you come for a day,
17:50and you don't have time to see everything,
17:52I would urge you to skip the clips of my speeches.
17:57You have heard them all before.
18:01In favor of the stories of those ordinary citizens who helped make that change happen.
18:09The cancer survivor who feared rising premiums would force her out of her home
18:15and was brave enough to speak out about it.
18:18She's why we pushed so hard for health care reform.
18:23The small business owner trying to keep the lights on.
18:27The teenage girl who told me she was worried her dad might lose his job in the auto crisis.
18:33They're why we focused so relentlessly on pulling our economy back from the Great Recession.
18:42The wounded warrior overcoming debilitating injuries.
18:49The gay Air Force major serving her country even when forced to hide who she was.
18:54They're why we worked to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
18:58And care for those who've worn our country's uniform
19:02and do right by our military families.
19:06It's their voices
19:11that led to our successes.
19:15And while going through the exhibits, I'd also ask you listen to the voices
19:19of people around the world who've been inspired by American ideas.
19:28America has made its share of foreign policy mistakes.
19:35Our actions have not always matched our rhetoric.
19:40We've learned that we can't solve every conflict or stop every atrocity around the globe.
19:46But at our best, the United States has been an undeniable force for good in the world.
19:54And what I heard on every continent as president is that when America,
20:00when American foreign policy lives up to our highest ideals,
20:04when we champion human rights and democracy and the sound stewardship of our planet,
20:11when we take the lead in eradicating disease and feeding the hungry and educating children,
20:19when we encourage cooperation between nations,
20:25instead of trying to dominate and bully and squeeze every advantage just because we can.
20:34And most of all, when we show through our example here at home,
20:39that even a country as big and diverse as ours can make democracy work,
20:45it turns out all nations, including ours, become more prosperous and secure.
20:52And the world gets a little bit brighter.
20:59I recognize it's been almost a decade since I left office.
21:08In that time, we have lived through more war and a terrible pandemic, economic disruptions,
21:17mass protests, backlash against mass protests,
21:20political conflicts that have shaken the very foundation of our democracy.
21:28We've witnessed a technological revolution that promises remarkable discoveries,
21:36could revolutionize medicine,
21:42but is also accelerating inequality
21:49that puts all the world's information in the palm of our hands,
21:53but somehow makes it harder for us to tell a truth from a lie,
21:59that connects us instantly like never before,
22:04even as it makes us more distrustful and more withdrawn and more fearful
22:11and more isolated from each other.
22:17It's a lot.
22:21For millions of people in this country and around the world, the future feels uncertain,
22:28the ground unstable beneath our feet.
22:33And as algorithms keep feeding us a steady stream of distraction and outrage, as only the loudest,
22:42most extreme voices get attention, fanning our prejudices, appealing to our basest, most tribal instincts.
22:52It's tempting to give in to cynicism and even despair, to stop trying.
23:03We start thinking that appeals to democracy and civic participation are corny,
23:09and old-fashioned, and boring, and naive.
23:16That the very idea of working on behalf of the common good is a sucker's bet.
23:22And that in order for us to win, somebody else has got to lose.
23:29I get it.
23:32I am not immune to anger or doubt.
23:39But I do know this.
23:41When we lose faith in each other,
23:46when we stop believing that voting matters,
23:49that citizenship matters,
23:51that our collective voices matter,
23:53that how we treat each other no longer matters,
24:00and we give away our power to decide our own futures.
24:05We open the door to the most ruthless,
24:09or the most careless,
24:11or the most fearful among us,
24:17who see some groups and some people as more equal than others,
24:24and see government as nothing more than a way to divvy up the spoils,
24:28and punish enemies,
24:31and keep those who are different in their place.
24:38I do not believe that is the story of America that prevails in the end.
24:47I do not believe it because for us to give up,
24:50for us to give in now,
24:52after all this country has been through,
24:55to cynicism and division,
24:57would be a betrayal of our founding ideas.
25:01A betrayal of our faith.
25:03And I remain convinced that the overwhelming majority of Americans feel the same way,
25:10that as unsettled as we are,
25:13people aren't looking for perpetual anger and division.
25:18They are looking for fairness, and common sense, and mutual respect.
25:24That deep in our gut, we want to find a way to turn towards each other again, not further away.
25:40I believe this because I've seen it all across our country.
25:46In cities that have worked together to reclaim their streets from crime.
25:51In rural communities that have rebuilt their economy.
25:55In businesses that are finding new ways to make housing affordable.
26:01And those ordinary people in the Twin Cities who break frigid temperatures,
26:07risk their own safety, standing shoulder to shoulder,
26:11to look out for their neighbors and sometimes look out for strangers,
26:15because they knew that was the right thing to do.
26:18I've seen it.
26:26And I've seen it in a new generation of leaders.
26:30Here and around the world.
26:34Like Puniha and Addison.
26:38Leaders who are determined to make our governments and our economies and our societies work for everyone.
26:46Obama Foundation leaders like Hannah, a Food Corps member from rural Ohio who's helping ensure every child has access to
26:56at least one nourishing meat.
26:59Or George, an entrepreneur whose nonprofit helps get unused, unexpired medicine, often at no cost, to people who need it.
27:10Or Zuzana, a human rights lawyer in Poland who's won more than 30 landmark cases.
27:16There are thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of these young people out there.
27:23Making a difference right now.
27:27And this center is devoted to lifting up their stories.
27:31Giving them the tools and support they need to expand their impact.
27:38For while our work is nonpartisan,
27:42we are not values neutral.
27:46We have a point of view.
27:52The exhibits in the center are not meant to evoke nostalgia for some gauzy, bygone era.
28:03Some unattainable past that we can dream about and say, oh, we miss you, Barack.
28:14They're meant to remind us of who we can be.
28:23To remind us of what's possible.
28:26So we can forge ahead.
28:29Clear-eyed and confident.
28:32And do the work that still needs to be done.
28:37We can learn from the past.
28:40But America's story isn't frozen in the past.
28:48It has chapters yet to be written.
28:51Not by one person or a few people.
28:54Not by Barack and Michelle.
28:56Or anybody with a fancy title.
29:00Or a high office.
29:02But by all of us.
29:07You know, one of the things a lot of presidential libraries now have in common is a
29:13replica of the Oval Office.
29:15And if you take a peek at the one inside this building,
29:19you will see some objects that carried some special meaning
29:24for me during the time that I was in office.
29:28There's a program that a friend from the South Side gave me that he had retrieved from the 1963
29:38March on Washington.
29:39He was there.
29:43There's a Norman Rockwell painting of the Statue of Liberty
29:51with workers hanging on ropes, burnishing the torch that she holds aloft.
29:58And on the rug, you'll read words from some of America's greatest leaders, including a quote
30:03that inspired that arch that you see right there at the south end of the plaza by Martin Puryear.
30:11The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.
30:16That's a quote that was often invoked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
30:20But it originally comes from a Boston minister's sermon more than 170 years ago.
30:29And at the time, the abolitionist cause seemed lost.
30:36The Compromise of 1850 had made harboring fugitive slaves a crime under federal law,
30:42even in those states that had abolished slavery.
30:49And in a case that garnered national attention, a young fugitive in Boston had been seized
30:55and tried and marched to the wharf by hundreds of armed officers where he was summarily put on a ship
31:02bound for the south where he would remain in shackles and chains.
31:11And it was a moment of profound uncertainty and despair.
31:18A moment the minister called darker than any New England had witnessed.
31:28We do not see, Reverend Theodore Parker observed,
31:34that justice is always done on earth.
31:38Many a knave is rich, sleek, and honored,
31:46while the just man is poor, hated, and in torment.
31:54I do not pretend, the preacher said, to understand the moral universe.
31:59The arc is a long one.
32:02My eye reaches but little ways.
32:05I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight.
32:14I can divide it by conscience.
32:18But from what I see, I am sure it bends towards justice.
32:27The good reverend was under no illusions about the perils and obstacles facing the abolitionist cause.
32:35His words offered no easy answers, no comforting assurances that he or his congregation would live
32:41to see the progress they so desperately saw.
32:44The good reverend was under no doubt.
32:47Rather, his was a declaration of faith.
32:51A defiant call not to abandon hope or give way to fear,
32:56but to stay true to our better selves and true to one another.
33:02And to keep fighting to fulfill the promise of this nation,
33:07even in the face of cruelty and bitter disappointment, even in the face of impossible odds.
33:17It is that spirit that we open the center
33:25today.
33:26The same spirit that so many of you showed all those years ago.
33:31The same spirit that inspired generations of Americans to meet the challenges of their time.
33:37The same spirit that is alive and well here on the south side of Chicago.
33:43Same spirit that will see America and the world through its present trials.
33:50There is a new generation out there ready to write the next chapter of our story.
33:56We intend to help them do it. And we ask that you join us.
34:03Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.
34:14Well, my goodness.
34:18I got my tissue in hand. I don't know about all of you.
34:22I got my tissue in hand.
34:24Wow. Hello, everyone. And what a beautiful day, right?
34:30Nothing like a project by my husband to bring out the sun.
34:35Let me start by thanking Addison for that magnificent introduction and for exemplifying the heart
34:44excellence and determination that has blossomed right here on the south side for a very long time.
34:52I also want to send some love to everyone who made this day a reality.
34:59The construction workers, landscapers, designers, the architects, artists, chefs,
35:07our staff, our board members, our donors.
35:11Barack and I simply cannot thank you enough for the care
35:15and brilliance you poured into every square inch of this campus.
35:21I also want to recognize all of the elected officials and distinguished leaders from around the city,
35:28the state, the country, and yes, the world.
35:32Thank you for being here to celebrate with us.
35:37Especially to all of my fellow formers, to Joe and Jill, George and Laura, Bill and Hillary.
35:49Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service to our country over so many years.
35:57And for your constant friendship and support of our family.
36:03We love you guys truly.
36:06Oh, to our daughters, Malia and Sasha, who will always be my babies.
36:16Even though we're no longer playing hide and seek on the south lawn with Bo
36:22or hosting sleepovers in the solarium, I see a lot of some sleepover girls here.
36:28You both have grown into such brilliant and beautiful young women making your way out there in the world.
36:39Thank you for bringing so much joy and spirit and energy to a life you had no voice in choosing.
36:48And for making us proud every step of the way.
36:52Love you, babe.
36:56Oh, so please indulge me for a moment because I'm going to take a little time to do something
37:01that I know my husband will not do today.
37:04And that is to fully sing his praises.
37:14Barack, you gotta look at me.
37:17No, I'm not.
37:21You told me all those years ago that you couldn't promise me the world,
37:26but you could promise me an interesting life.
37:30And of course, you outdid yourself and managed to give me both.
37:36I know it hasn't always been easy, but there hasn't been a single second
37:41through this experience that standing by your side hasn't left me in awe.
37:49Eight years in the crucible, and not once did you melt from the heat.
37:55Not once did you let it harden you.
38:00Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence.
38:08Your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage.
38:12Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency.
38:18Your ferocious work ethic.
38:20An absolutely unshakable moral fiber.
38:29And to do it all as a first and the higher standard that comes with all that.
38:37The claims that a U.S. senator and constitutional law expert wasn't qualified for the job.
38:45The lies about your birthright, your faith, your patriotism.
38:51The outrage when you stated the biological fact that if you'd had a son, that he too would be black.
39:00Yet, you were unflappable at every turn.
39:05Always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view.
39:14How absurd it is to even imagine that you might have buckled under the pressure even once.
39:23Lashed out in frustration.
39:27Lost your temper.
39:31How absurd it is to imagine that you might have done anything but make our family and this entire country
39:39proud.
39:46No, you were too busy.
39:56No, you were too busy.
39:59I'm not done, y'all.
40:02Not done.
40:04So much to say.
40:07You were doing the people's work.
40:10Rescuing our economy.
40:12Expanding health care.
40:14Ending a war.
40:15Ordering the bin Laden rate.
40:17Saving an auto industry.
40:19Winning a peace prize.
40:30Keeping us safe from Ebola.
40:34Regulating the banks.
40:36Standing up for marriage equality.
40:41Listening to science.
40:44And comforting an entire nation in the face of unspeakable tragedies.
40:50And you did it all with such grace and class and cool.
40:57That you made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.
41:04Your mother.
41:06Toot Gramps.
41:08You are a tribute to their love.
41:11They are up there grinning and hugging today because you never forgot who you are and where you came from.
41:19Single mother.
41:21Working hard to get by and get an education and show her son the world.
41:27Grandparents who didn't have much but they had the perfect recipe to nurture your flame.
41:34You never forgot the folks in the union halls and church basements here in Chicago.
41:40Where you first put your ideals to this test.
41:43You never forgot all the voters you registered and students you taught.
41:48And neighbors you organized.
41:51You never fell for the temptation of a quick fix.
41:55Or an easy payday.
41:58You never changed from that idealistic summer associate.
42:03Who showed up on that rainy day when we first met.
42:07Without an umbrella.
42:11You always gave us the very best within you.
42:15And in doing so you reminded the rest of us.
42:19That we could too.
42:22Barack there are no words to express.
42:25How proud I am of the way you showed up.
42:28And continue to show up every single day.
42:33It has been an honor to be by your side.
42:37You have made me a better person and have given us all an example that we should strive to emulate.
42:45And I hope you know, oh there is truly no higher calling than that.
42:53All right.
42:54To all of you joining us today.
42:56Our invited guests and everyone listening and watching from afar.
43:03The Obama Presidential Center was created as a beacon of hope.
43:08A monument to our unshakable values.
43:11The ones my husband has exemplified his entire life.
43:15Equality, empathy, honesty, inclusion, fairness.
43:25And especially during these anxious and divisive times,
43:29It is so important that we remember that those values are not unique to my husband.
43:36They are the same ones that your husbands and wives, your parents and children,
43:41your friends and neighbors exhibit and pass on.
43:46And every single day, millions of people in this country wake up doing their very best
43:53to live decent and purposeful lives.
43:56Yet we're all tested in one way or another.
44:01And there are plenty of times we all fall short.
44:05But deep down in our hearts and souls, we all know right from wrong.
44:12We know selflessness from greed.
44:16Righteousness from injustice.
44:18We understand that we all rise and fall together.
44:23That every last one of us is an invaluable contributor to the greatness of America.
44:30And I'm talking about the workers living paycheck to paycheck,
44:34hoping to give their kids a better future.
44:37The teachers using their own money to take their students on field trips.
44:43The business owners struggling to meet payroll,
44:46but refusing to close their doors.
44:49All those folks sweating over stoves to provide meals for their communities.
44:56Folks shivering in the freezing cold to deliver our packages.
45:00Picking up trash to keep our parks clean.
45:04Volunteers dedicating their weekends to coaching t-ball.
45:08Or directing the church choir.
45:11Or mentoring a child.
45:15That's where the truth of this country lies.
45:19Not in grabbing as much as we can get for ourselves.
45:24Or knocking folks down to prop ourselves up.
45:29But in the overwhelming goodness, the relentless striving, the quiet dignity that is inside all of us.
45:42Our greatest hope is that this center can reflect back just a fraction of that light.
45:51That it can capture the beauty of who we all are, no matter what we look like, or where we
45:59come from, or how much money we earn, or how we pray, or vote, or speak, or love.
46:09It's why during our administration, we threw open the White House doors to all sorts of folks who don't usually
46:17get to meet the president or first lady.
46:20The families pinching pennies to send their first child to college.
46:25The teenagers who know that a hot afternoon means the bullets start flying.
46:31The military spouses and children serving and sacrificing just like their loved ones in uniform.
46:39The native kids showing us that resilience and pride can never be stolen.
46:47The 4-H'ers and FFA members with calluses on their hands from feeding livestock.
46:53The immigrants proving what it truly means to be a dreamer.
46:59These folks aren't Americans too.
47:06They are America.
47:08They are the beating heart of this country.
47:11They are us and we are them.
47:15And to ignore this simple truth.
47:18To refuse to respect the contributions and experiences of people who aren't exactly like us.
47:26Y'all, it puts us all at risk.
47:30Failing to see the humanity in all people puts us all on a slippery slope.
47:36And once that slide starts, there's no telling where it stops.
47:41A dangerous precedent that flies in the very face of our faith and of the founding promise of this democracy.
47:52That all of us, all of us are created equal.
47:56That each of us is a child of God with inerrant value.
48:03And no one, and I mean no one, has the right to sit in judgment of who's American enough.
48:18And that's why, folks,
48:22we simply don't have the luxury or time to be cynical or complacent.
48:29To wring our hands in despair.
48:32To wait for someone else to fix the problem.
48:37Y'all, hope is all we have.
48:41Because hope is the essential spark that lights the fire of change.
48:48But hope is a choice.
48:53Whether or not we use our voices to speak up
48:57is a choice.
48:59Voting is a choice.
49:02Being a decent human being is a choice.
49:05Believing that we still hold the power to build a country that reflects us all
49:11is a choice.
49:14The Obama Presidential Center is a living testament
49:18to the power of choice, y'all.
49:20The historic example that millions of you gave the world
49:25about what this imperfect democracy has strived for and achieved.
49:31And an urgent call to go out there and do it again.
49:36So I hope that when you walk through this campus
49:41and bring your children here, you are reminded of the power of choice and the steady work of change.
49:52the arduous, unglamorous march up that mountain, one foot after another, day after day, generation after generation.
50:05But I also hope you fully absorb the elation of achieving something together.
50:15You know, that feeling when you clear the tree line
50:18and see a vista that takes your breath away.
50:24A feeling that can never be erased.
50:29And I know that can be hard to grasp right now.
50:33When everything feels so upside down.
50:37When fact and fiction run together.
50:40When folks seek to stifle speech.
50:43Limit access to education.
50:47Devalue diversity.
50:49Erase the inconvenient parts of our history.
50:53When our phones constantly buzz with the latest outrage.
51:00So I hope that this place can offer a respite from all that.
51:06At least for a little while.
51:09I hope it can reignite the optimism and empathy and ambition.
51:15That has always powered this country's greatest change.
51:20So we want you to come here and put away your phones.
51:25And talk.
51:27And laugh.
51:28And cry.
51:29Because you're going to cry.
51:32And make new friends.
51:34Get your hands dirty in my garden.
51:38Push your baby on a swing in the playground.
51:43Have a romantic picnic on the great lawn.
51:48Because that's the work of democracy too.
51:51Being neighborly.
51:54Taking care of public spaces.
51:57Having some fun.
51:59Enjoying each other.
52:01Shaking out of the isolation and division
52:04that have crept too deeply into our lives.
52:08And to my fellow Southsiders.
52:15I want you all to make this campus
52:19a part of your lives.
52:22Be inspired by the world-class art.
52:26Check out the books from our beautiful public library.
52:29And bring them back on time.
52:33Drop some beats in the recording studio.
52:36Hit some corner threes at home court.
52:38Hold birthday parties.
52:40Jump start clothing drives.
52:42Host city-wide clean-up dates.
52:44Here.
52:45Use this campus to show off this place we call home.
52:51This joyful place where Marion and Frasier Robinson taught their two kids to dream big.
52:59This hopeful place where an unknown guy with an unknown name took flight.
53:06This stubbornly optimistic place where family after family scrapes and claws and laughs
53:14dances their way to a better tomorrow.
53:18That's what this has always been about.
53:22Barack and I have always said that this center is grounded in our stories.
53:27But it has never been about us.
53:32It's never been for us.
53:34And it's going to be here long after we're gone.
53:37So what it becomes and how it's preserved, that work has to be done by all of us.
53:45Just like our democracy.
53:48And thankfully you have shown the world what we are capable of.
53:54You've proven that a lasting legacy isn't an award or a name on a building or a number of zeros
54:01in
54:01a bank account, but the difference we make in one another's lives.
54:08It's about seeing each other and showing up for each other and carrying each other
54:15when we're weary or faltering or losing faith.
54:21That's how you build something that endures.
54:24And that's what you all have done at every twist and turn of this extraordinary journey.
54:31You have protected and proclaimed the hope that beats within the heart of this campus.
54:37You've rekindled and renewed this untameable, unpredictable, and unbreakable democracy.
54:45And I know that you all are going to astonish us even more in the months and years ahead.
54:51Because you all have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that when we truly see each other,
54:58when we strive to bring out the best in ourselves and one another,
55:04oh, there is no limit to how high we can go.
55:08Thank you all.
55:10I love you all.
55:11God bless you.
55:12And God bless this country we love.
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55:23Download the One India app now.
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