A Reason To Smile

We could all use a reminder that public service is a noble cause, that there are people who enter public life because they want to make others’ lives better, not their own. This week’s opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center fits that bill and is our reason to smile.

At a time when our politics have become a blood sport, it is restorative to witness a celebration instead of a fight, joy in place of angst.

The star-studded dedication ceremony was capped off with a group of A-listers performing for the Obamas, three other former presidents and their spouses, and the rapt crowd. For the last number, Stevie Wonder was accompanied by John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bruce Springsteen, Common, Christina Aguilera, and Eddie Vedder, backed by The Roots on his classic, “Higher Ground.”

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Barack and Michelle Obama were very thoughtful about what they wanted the center to be, not just a traditional presidential library, filled with documents and a few mementos. It is the repository for the Obama presidency archives, the first fully digital presidential archive, but it is also meant to be a place where people can gather, talk, and play.

Built on the South Side of Chicago, where Mrs. Obama grew up and where President Obama was a community organizer, the $850 million center expects to draw millions of visitors every year. If you can get a ticket — the next available is for December — you will enter the museum and educational center through the John Lewis Plaza. You can then enjoy the full-sized basketball court, public park, garden, a playground, and borrow a book from a branch of the Chicago Public Library.

The center opened to the public on Friday, Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States and honoring the contributions of Black Americans.

Mrs. Obama spoke about the importance of the center at this moment in our history.

“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. Every single day, millions of people in this country wake up doing their very best to live decent and purposeful lives.”

President Obama talked about the power of our shared values.

“And it’s why the exhibits here focus not just on policies but on the shared values that make democracy possible. A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people, and that no one is above the law or beneath its protection. A belief in checks and balances in our government, and an accountability that comes with an independent judiciary, and a robust free press. A belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political party, but to the people and our Constitution. A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections, recognizing that in a large, complicated society like ours, no group or faction gets its way 100% of the time. And a belief that qualities of character, honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion, a sense of duty and honor, those things matter in our public dealings, just as they do in our private lives.”

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Stay Steady,

Dan