00:00There was nothing like this center anywhere in this neighborhood when I was growing up.
00:06This is my neighborhood. I mean, every piece of me was built in this area.
00:11And as I got older and started having experiences and opportunities that a lot of kids like me didn't get,
00:20you know, I went to a magnet school on the west side, so I started to be downtown more
00:25and to see this wealth of museums and these beautiful stores.
00:30And I grew up with kids who didn't even feel like those places were accessible to them, you know.
00:37And when you start to leave your neighborhood and you realize what's not here,
00:42as I got older, you know, you start to think, wow, why don't, why isn't our park as beautiful as
00:51Grant Park, you know?
00:53Why do I have to leave my neighborhood to see a wonderful piece of art?
00:57Why doesn't it feel safe to walk through these paths?
01:01None of this was here.
01:03So for me, you know, being one of those kids who didn't feel welcome in other places,
01:09the notion that the kids in the high school across the street,
01:13they were witness to this new fantastic building being built right across the street from the place where they get
01:21educated.
01:21I get mesmerized just looking out of the window and seeing the newly built parks
01:27where all these neighborhood kids are playing and running in green grass and standing in vistas
01:33and having access to world-class art by many people of color, that it's right in their backyard.
01:40This just didn't exist for me.
01:43So I get emotional just realizing what this will mean for kids,
01:47that this is their view when they walk to school.
01:51This is what they'll see when they get on the bus and go other places.
01:55They'll feel people from around the world wanting to come to their neighborhood
02:00and not them having to leave to experience something phenomenal.
02:05So for me, it is incredibly personal.
02:08You know what to say?
02:08You know,
02:09you know,
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