[Part 1] Obama Presidential Center Opening Weekend

The Obama Presidential Center is open! We were there all weekend to experience the historic opening on Chicago's South Side. 

In part 1 we interviewed:

Valerie Jarrett

John Roberson

Tina Tchen 

Special thanks to the Obama Foundation for lending the studio and for some of the video footage used in this episode!

Show notes here

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Y'all, we are in the Obama Presidential Center Media Suite recording our podcast for the first time. This is 77. Let's go. Ah, uh, yeah. Yeah. We live, baby.

SPEAKER_06 0:20

Welcome to another episode of 77 Flavors. Uh, if you're new here, thank you for joining us. It's a great episode for you to be joining us at. Yeah, this is good one. We are uh a podcast that every week we visit a piece of Chicago history and we talk about it, we break it down, we dissect it, we zhuzh it up. No, we don't juzge it up. No, we don't juz it. We tell it as it is. We add jokes, we sprinkle some vibes. Um, but yeah, this uh and if you're not new here, welcome back. Thank you so much for being here. We actually just celebrated our five-year birthday.

SPEAKER_04 0:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Celebration of uh celebration for us.

SPEAKER_06 0:54

It is um it is so if you've been here for five years, five days, five weeks, five minutes, thank you so much for all that you do to support us, whether it's sharing the episodes or following us on socials or subscribing to the newsletter, we are uh very happy to have you and we wouldn't be here without you. Um and yeah, I just wanna I just wanna put that out there. If you uh if you want to join us uh for a little bit of a celebration next month on July 28th, we are having a dinner with uh Chef Sarah Stegner and Chef Ethan Lim from Ermosa at Ermosa. They will be cooking a dinner and all the proceeds from that dinner will go to our uh nonprofit 77 Flavors of Chicago to support uh getting people out into the neighborhoods and continuing their education. There you go. Uh but today we are here at the Obama Presidential Presidential Center.

SPEAKER_04 1:48

Yeah, buddy.

SPEAKER_06 1:49

It is like I can't even believe we're here.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

Yeah, I can't believe it. Honestly, you know what? Looks a little different. This is our first time. If you've been with the podcast for a long time, we've never been inside of a studio recording our podcast in that.

SPEAKER_06 2:02

Not gonna lie, that sounds great.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

You know, it doesn't to me it don't sound any different, but it don't sound any different. The setup is different, but uh that's cool. But also the important thing is that we are here at the Obama Presidential Center, being able to cover what's going on and talk to some execs and really just be here for uh a historic weekend.

SPEAKER_06 2:21

Yeah, it is Juneteenth weekend. We're here on the 20th. Yeah, actually. We spent all day yesterday here just enjoying the day. Yeah, we created some content that's on our Instagram if you want to check that out about what the vibe was like, but it's a vibe. It was truly just like electric. Yes, it's electric. It was yeah, it was incredible. I mean, there was thousands of people. Yes, ton of people were dancing in the plaza, there were music and food, and it was just a like a giant party. It was a 13-acre party.

SPEAKER_04 2:54

19-acre party. 19-acre party. You don't short them on it.

SPEAKER_06 2:58

Six acres is a lot.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Yeah, that's a lot.

SPEAKER_06 3:00

I don't have any, so even one is a lot. Um, but yeah, it was it was just so incredible. We had visit previously visited the uh campus for a preview, and so you know, we experienced it with a couple hundred people, and that was still a lot of people. It still felt full, but yesterday it felt full, you know, it felt like it was it was doing what it needs to do.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

Yes, you know, if you it feels like uh what the Obamas and what the foundation wants it to be. Yeah. Hope, hope, energy, joy, love, peace, you know what I mean? Like creativity, spark sparks your mind, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:39

Um, the campus is huge. Today we're gonna talk to a few different people from the foundation.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

That just a few different people, you know, like just some people, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:50

Um, from the foundation that are were obviously pivotal in the entire foundation's existence and also making this project happen. Yeah, and so we're just so honored that they invited us out here to uh to talk about this and introduce you to the foundation if you have not heard of it before or you maybe haven't uh seen it, had the opportunity to visit yet, and you kind of are interested in learning more. Uh, I am so excited to be the steward of this message.

SPEAKER_04 4:16

Yes, yeah. Honestly, honestly, uh you when we got that email came across some, hey, got an idea. Like what? Yeah. Unreal.

SPEAKER_06 4:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:24

Uh, but you know, here we are. This is this is just another one. What does this rank for you in places we've recorded?

SPEAKER_06 4:31

Ooh, this is so we we've been we were looking at a list the other day of the coolest places we've recorded. So now it's Obama Presidential Center. Yeah, right. Um Obama. Uh the Nile River?

SPEAKER_04 4:44

The Nile River kind of lit, though. That was that was kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_06 4:47

Desert in Jordan.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

Yeah. Um these don't even sound like birthplaces. Jane Adams, Bare Room. Jane Adams, but Glessoner's Glesson House living room, you know, dining room. Yeah. Sears Tower with Jeffrey Bear. Uh, where else with Jeffrey Bear? We're we're some oh Glesson House with Jeffrey Bear.

SPEAKER_06 5:05

And and uh the Hull House.

SPEAKER_04 5:08

The Hull House.

SPEAKER_06 5:08

That that again Jeffrey Bear just takes us everywhere.

SPEAKER_04 5:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:11

Um anyway.

SPEAKER_04 5:13

Anyway, uh today we have some of the execs that are uh running the show over here at the Obama Presidential Center. And we get the a chance to talk to them and uh, you know, find out insight that you might not know of, something that we do know of, explanations, and just to get the vibe check of how they're feeling, you know what I mean? About about this huge opening. Okay, cool. I'm glad you know uh he said. Yeah, so what we gonna do is uh we're gonna jump into the uh stream of interviews. Now, I will preface this. This is gonna be a two-parter if you are watching this on video um or our audio. I'm sorry. If you were listening to this on audio, it's gonna be two parts. So uh if you want to hear both both will be out at the same time.

SPEAKER_06 5:58

Yeah, yeah, both.

SPEAKER_04 5:59

So you can just keep on going. But uh, yeah, we're just gonna release them at the uh same time. Anyway, uh, we're gonna get into it. You ready to lock in? I'm ready. Let's go.

Message From Obama

SPEAKER_00 6:14

I like to think of the Obama Presidential Center as a tribute to what happens when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. Here on the Chicago South Side, the Obama Presidential Center offers the chance to explore a world-class museum and gather together for celebrations of all kinds. It ends to the vitality of Jackson Park, adding new gardens, a larger playground, and scenic paths from an early morning jog to an afternoon scroll. The Obama Presidential Center Museum exhibits explore the comments of the American story. From the commons of our founding documents to the movements that challenged us to live up to them. You'll be able to walk through a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, relive the moments that defined my presidency, experience the impact of our history-making first lady, and check out a few of the dresses too. And atop the museum, you'll be able to take in some stunning panoramic views of the city we live in. We designed the forum building with a focus on the creativity and imagination that's always defined this city. Here, programs and leadership trainings support and connect the next generation of change makers here in Chicago to those from all around the world. Public libraries are essential institutions, and that's why the Obama Presidential Center offers a new branch of the Chicago Public Library, and on the roof, a garden. At the center of it all, a public plaza welcomes visitors for live performances and community festivals. A huge green lawn through a frisbee is spread out a blanket. And once it turns cold, it will open up the best living hill in the neighborhood. At home court, visitors not only come together to get active, but to take action. It couldn't be more important to us that it's happening right here in the town. It's a place where people are born and raised. It's where my gun has started as a community organized. It's where we found a first time to build it for family. We took the first steps on a journey that's still taking shape today. It's the place we found our purpose. Now we hope to give something back.

Valerie Jarrett Bio

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Hey, how's that check?

SPEAKER_06 8:37

Our first guest today is the chief executive officer. I had to say the whole thing. It sounds really fancy. Uh, Valerie Jarrett, who, if you're not familiar, was uh with Obama the entirety of his presidency.

SPEAKER_04 8:51

Almost 40 years, I want to say, something like that.

SPEAKER_06 8:53

Yeah, the uh Valerie Jarrett is the CEO and a member of the board of directors of the Obama Foundation. She oversees the creation of a new world-class cultural and civic institution on Chicago South Side and the foundation's programs that inspire, empower, and connect people to change the world. Ms. Jarrett is also a senior distinguished fellow at the University of Chicago Law School and the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Finding My Voice, My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. Jarrett is a board chairman of Civic Nation and serves on the boards of Walgreens, Ralph Lauren, Aerial Investments, and the University of Chicago in the Sesame Street Workshop. She also serves as the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Advising Board, the Bank of America Enterprises Executive Development Council, and the Microsoft Advisory Council. Stacked portfolio.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

On top of being uh Obama's uh senior advisor. Yep.

SPEAKER_06 9:43

Ms. Jarrett was a senior advisor to President Obama from 2009 to 2017, making her the longest serving

Valerie Jarrett Interview

SPEAKER_06 9:49

senior advisor in history.

SPEAKER_04 9:50

Welcome, Miss Valerie Jerry, to the podcast, everybody. Welcome.

SPEAKER_07 9:54

I am thrilled to be here. Welcome to the Obama Presidential Center.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

Oh my God. Beautiful center.

SPEAKER_06 9:59

It has been unreal being here. We were here yesterday. The energy is just electric.

SPEAKER_07 10:04

It's well, speaking of electric, they were doing the electric slide out on the plaza. Did we miss that? Oh my goodness. I'm going to show you some footage of it. We had a DJ and the whole plaza was one big electric slide.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

Oh my goodness. I do a mean electric slide. Do you? Oh yeah, I get it. Come back. I'll be back.

SPEAKER_07 10:20

I'll do it with you.

SPEAKER_04 10:21

Okay, let's go. Let's go.

SPEAKER_06 10:22

Y'all heard it.

SPEAKER_04 10:22

Y'all heard it.

SPEAKER_06 10:24

How have you how have you been feeling this weekend? How are you? Oh my gosh, I'm just thrilled.

SPEAKER_07 10:28

I'm absolutely thrilled. I look at people's faces and I see what being here, this experience, has meant to them. Yeah. And it's just everything. Yeah. It's absolutely everything we hope for.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can just tell that the the love and energy that was put into the center, the people are just really bringing it out.

SPEAKER_07 10:46

They are. They are. And yeah, we could build the platform, but the richness comes from the people.

SPEAKER_05 10:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 10:52

And how they experience it and the surprises that we see, what resonates with people, the relationships that are formed while people are waiting in our lines, whether it's for the portrait or to go into the Oval Office. They are talking to people who are complete strangers. Yeah. And we need that. We miss that so much. The whole addiction to our telephones. Don't get me started. But I think that we're mix we're missing just like the community. And the sense that I can be kind to my neighbor and I can be kind to a stranger and I can find something in common with a stranger too.

SPEAKER_06 11:29

Absolutely. How do you hope that the center kind of brings that out in the community and kind of creates that space where people can come and create that feeling?

SPEAKER_07 11:36

Well, we're going to work hard to well, first of all, we've already worked hard to make it inviting and to make and we worked with the surrounding community. We had countless community meetings asking them what they would want to see from their neighborhood and uh their neighbor. And so, for example, we built the parking garage underground so we don't have a big surface parking lot separating us from the city.

SPEAKER_04 11:55

Public cars and everything up there, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 11:57

Hide that away and then put grass over it, the barbecue pits, everybody loves to good barbecue, picnic tables, the Chicago Public Library, the Athletic Center, and the playgrounds. Let me tell you, my grandchildren had a ball on the drag them out of the playground. Drag them out.

SPEAKER_04 12:12

Grandchildren, I had a ball. He went down the slide.

SPEAKER_07 12:17

No, you didn't, did you? I did. I saw President Obama do it. If he can do it, I know I can do it.

SPEAKER_04 12:23

Oh no, Obama threw us all off. He made it look simple. It's not so simple. No, that thing was fast. That's what I thought. I flew probably like three feet past the end of it. You did it. I'm also 225. I don't know if Obama's that much.

SPEAKER_07 12:37

A little weight going down, adds a little velocity to it. Yeah, yeah. Some of their science. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

There's science in there. Exactly. Uh, but you talk about, you know, how the people uh really make this thing pop. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to just kind of interview people and just throw the camera in their face. And there was people from all over this country here.

SPEAKER_07 12:55

I met a guy from Russia who had made friends with a woman from France. They were standing next to each other in law. I know. I said, You came all the way from Russia? And he said, Absolutely, I wouldn't have missed it.

SPEAKER_04 13:04

Oh my God. You know, and and that's just indicative of this whole energy that you just feel when you come here. And for you being, you know, part of the Obama's lives for so long, right? And being friends with them and getting to know them, how does this make Miss Valerie Jarrett feel, you know, when you when you see this?

SPEAKER_07 13:23

Proud. So, so proud. I just cannot tell you that it just reflects their values. It um, this is a neighborhood where Michelle grew up on the South Side, and to be able to give this gift back to a community. And look, I grew up riding my bike through Jackson Park, and my parents told me I couldn't go to the point, so I couldn't get to the point fast enough. And and then I I know, I know.

SPEAKER_04 13:45

You had to do it, you had to do it.

SPEAKER_07 13:47

They're like, you can go anywhere you want, but you can't go to the point. I'm like, where's the point? Let's get to the point.

SPEAKER_04 13:51

Now I want to know. Yeah, I want to know.

SPEAKER_07 13:52

They shouldn't have told me that. I may never have discovered it.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

That's me.

SPEAKER_07 13:56

So I'm riding up and down the lakefront. And even as like I remember 10 or 11, we could ride all the way up and down the lakefront with my cousins, and you could see the difference between the south side lakefront, downtown, and the north side. And I was like, how come they've got all those trees and flowers and things and we don't have any of that? Right. So to be able to be responsible for investing $850 million back in this community and you know, the construction jobs, 5,000 construction jobs that we hired people from the community, the permanent jobs that we have, a little less than 500 total for the foundation, 250 right here. Wow. Hired a lot of folks from the community. And our hope is that what we are doing is creating opportunity. People now have good paying jobs, they can afford nice homes, they can afford to all of the amenities that are right here for free, they can bring their family over and they can enjoy all of this. And so the answer to your question is I just feel such pride and just overwhelming delight that I was able to have a role in doing this and bringing this project to life.

SPEAKER_06 15:00

So this is obviously a place of legacy where we're looking at the legacy of the Obamas and everything that they've done. Going through that museum is just reliving those moments. Was I mean, I was in high school when uh in two in 2008, and I remember and I uh grew up in Jordan, I was in boarding school, and they woke us up at four in the morning to watch um President Obama give his speech. And it like I'm getting goosebumps just thinking of that moment. I am too, just listening to you. And coming here and and experiencing it as someone that moved to this country and has been living here for fifty in Chicago specifically for 15 years, it was just so I I I can't even describe how I felt. I could have cried multiple moments just going through that experience. And um I kind of I'm I'm curious how how do you hope that this um foundation takes you know the idea of the legacy and but making it a place that's uh relevant and uh for young people and alive and for people to come and continue to enjoy it for decades to come.

SPEAKER_07 16:00

It's such a good question because this is not a time capsule to the past. And it doesn't begin with President Obama's election, it begins with the founding of our country and our uh with the declaration of independence. That's the first thing you see when you go up the escalator. And the reason why he wanted to do that and then move from there to uh slavery, the civil war, the um end of the civil war, and then the reconstruction Jim Crow. And it shows, you know, we go forward, we go back, we go sideways, we zig we zag. It showed the labor movement, the LGBTQ movement, um, the suffrage movement for women, and then the civil rights movement. All of which, in its own way, involved ordinary people deciding they were gonna push against the status quo and work together and achieve extraordinary things. And then that's exactly what President Obama's campaign was all about. We had these field organizers all around the country, and I talked about it in my remarks, that build trust in the community. And that is what fueled him, propelled him into office. And then we talk about, as you said, his eight years in office, his partner, Michelle Obama, and the incredible work that she did, as well as we lifted up the stories of so many people who enabled us to accomplish what we accomplished, to put the spotlight on them. And as you go through the museum, you guys observed there were all these opportunities for interaction, beginning right when you right on the first floor. Yes. Because he said, I want people to come in and realize we care about their stories. Yeah, and we want to show them how their stories connect to our stories. Yes. And so it was very intentional where we place these interactive exhibits. And one of my favorites is on the floor where Jules has created all the little dots. Oh my god, that's my favorite. That's my favorite. I will sit there and I might just start. Watch my name.

SPEAKER_04 17:49

I just want to see my name turn into the little dot.

SPEAKER_07 17:51

You know what? I I brought Eric Holder, who was our attorney general, through yesterday morning before we opened. He said, I just want to see it because we're he's one of my dearest friends. He said, Could we just go through together, just the two of us? Yeah. And when we got to that, I was showing him how it worked. He goes, Is my name up there? And here he is, former attorney general for the United States. And he wanted to see his name relating to you know, the value that he pointed to that was most important to him. So the answer is that after you've done all that, when you finish, the hope is that you will figure out, well, how can I take that sense of the infinite possibilities and apply it to my life?

SPEAKER_05 18:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 18:26

How can I bring change home to my community? Yes. And then the rest of the campus is for fun. Yes. We want people to enjoy themselves and to look at this as a, and you know, it's funny, it took an awful long time from the time we left office. Let me tell you, I got a lot of great time. Oh, 10 years, 10 years, it was five, and then turn it into ten. But I think it's coming, it's opening at just the right moment. Oh, because so many people, you know, we're in this kind of toxic environment and there's so much negativity. Yeah. And the phones are contributing to it because people are talking at each other as opposed to with each other.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 19:02

And it's harder to form a relationship over a telephone than it is like I'm talking to you. I would much rather see you than be doing this just over a telephone. Absolutely. And so that experience is new for a lot of people. I mean, your generation really grew up on those phones. And so we're trying to show them that there's more to life than just that. And then when they leave here, they're inspired to be those change makers. And then all of our programs that we've been running during the course of these last 10 years and that we will now do both virtually and here on this campus, are also intended to prepare the next generation. And an important part of the president's and Michelle Obama's legacy is not pointing to the past, right? It's like what can we do in the new role as citizen? When he when he was speaking at the end of um his last term in office, he came back home to Chicago and he gave a speech I'll never forget. And he said, Look, this isn't about my ability to bring about change, it's about yours. And then he's returning to the most important office of all, and that's the office of citizens. Yeah. And so if we can get everybody to see themselves in the stories of just not the Obamas, but all of us together. I mean, that's how change happens. I love that.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

Yeah, you I mean, you answer, if y'all don't know, she's a pro at this. Uh because you answered all the questions. Because I was literally about to kind of jump into like, you know, the build of the space and the things that the people can uh uh experience when they get here. But you right before the mics went high, we you asked the question about this particular space right here.

SPEAKER_07 20:31

Yes, because we wanted this to work. Does it work? Oh, good studio.

SPEAKER_04 20:34

Well, well, I want to tell you, this is our first time ever in five years recording in an actual studio.

SPEAKER_06 20:39

No way. Yeah, so this we take this board and we set the parks and we go to restaurants and we set our parks, restaurants, everywhere.

SPEAKER_07 20:46

Well, that's kind of cool, but this is pretty cool too. Oh, this is a cool cool. This is very cool.

SPEAKER_04 20:49

Yeah, I can I can get cozy here.

SPEAKER_07 20:51

Yeah, you know what? You can come back and you can buy an area here. Well, we want you to feel spoiled. Yeah, we want you to because you know what? You deserve to be spoiled. Yeah, you're doing an really important thing here.

SPEAKER_06 21:01

And you provide all of the stuff for people to just and I and I think uh thinking of uh, you know, we do a lot of work with students in in schools, and they always ask, how how do you even make this a career? Like doing a podcast and like making online content. And I'm like, I I I think it's so important for kids to see alternate routes for their life and what they can do, and kids that are interested in technology and interested in podcasting and production and that kind of stuff, to have a space that's open to them, that they can just come and it is the best of the best, and to just come and experience that is so special. Something that I didn't grow up with that I feel like is just so cool.

SPEAKER_07 21:39

Well, I'm so glad to hear you say that because I think you are the first folks since we opened to be in here podcasting. So the fact that it works and it's inviting, and you can turn back. And I just I should say I should have started with this. I love the name of your podcast. Thank you. Because we have been, we the foundation have been to all 77 community areas to have hearings, not hearings. Well, community meetings to find out like what do you want to do? What kind of programming would you want at the campus? And so I love the fact that you're lifting this up because Chicago is not just one city. We come together as one, but we have such a vibrancy in each of our neighborhoods. And we take pride in the name of our neighborhood. Everybody says, Where are you from? And you say the name of your neighborhood, right?

SPEAKER_04 22:18

Right. Along with the high school you went to and all that food that you eat on what corner, what's the best heralds, you know, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_07 22:25

Exactly. I have some opinions about that.

SPEAKER_04 22:27

We do too. I do too. I have some opinions. But you know what? You know, coming back to our name, coming back to the Obama Foundation, right? All this is intentional, right? And it feels like a full circus of us um full, what is it? What's it called? Yeah, circle. Full circle moment. I'm about to say circus moment. Not full circle moment. Uh for us, you know, to be here in this situation uh with you and and the Obama Foundation, what y'all doing, because we want to highlight as much as you all are doing with people all over the place. And you all done such a fantastic job.

SPEAKER_05 22:58

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

You credit to you. You are so uh just wonderful and inviting. Uh, you know, it could be intimidating sometimes when you know somebody like.

SPEAKER_06 23:05

And I saw you that we came for one of the previews and we were in the cafe, and I saw you stop at multiple tables and say hi to everyone and take pictures with people. And I feel like that is a testament. And I will say it's it starts from the top, but it's all the way to everyone that works in the museum and on campus. Every person that we've walked by has greeted us, every person has asked us if we need anything. It is like, I was like, it can't be you could not have trained this many people to be this nice.

SPEAKER_07 23:30

These people are just nice, they're just nice because they're hired nice people. Yeah, we want to be here. Well, we were for the most current wave of people where we hired 163 people, we had 17,000 applications. Oh wow. Yeah, I know. Which is a real testament to the fact that people want to work here.

SPEAKER_05 23:46

Want to be here.

SPEAKER_07 23:47

But we sifted through them and we found really nice people. And then we did a we spent a lot of time training. But I'll tell you guys something I've never said before publicly. You want to hear? Yes. We want to hear it. When I was young, I always wanted to have my own restaurant. I love like the show Cheers was on with the idea. Oh, yeah. And I thought it would be so nice to have a place where people felt comfortable and everybody knows your name. Yeah. And so I walk around because I was in my restaurant in my fantasy. I was gonna be, I was gonna walk around to all the tables and I was gonna say, How are you doing? Are you enjoying it? And I would get to know everybody. So this is my dream country. This is like what my high school was. I was like, a restaurant, I'm gonna have just the kind of food I like, and then I love the food. I got a restaurant and a cafe, and I got a whole lot of people coming to my little ticket.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

It's so funny because I was smacking a turkey sandwich down there, and I look up and I'm like, I know that ain't just Miss Valerie Jerry walking by right now. And it was you, I had to come up to you. I was like, Valerie, what are you doing up here? But uh no, honestly, this is such a pleasant experience. Uh, it's just an honor to be here. And and honestly, Chicago is absolutely blessed to have the whole foundation just right here. We know over the last five years, uh, how, and more than that, how Chicago has a stigma to the to the public that don't come here. And and to be foot to ground, we tell history, but to live it is another thing, and to be able to tell these people right here that what you hear on TV, that ain't it. You know what I mean? Like, and I was telling people, I was out there at the uh the play science uh on Thursday, and I was saying, y'all get y'all cameras out, man, because in in 20, 30, 40 years from now, I want to see every angle of this. I don't want to have to do the research for the next 77 flavor podcast. I don't want people to have to do research. I want them to just be able to easily look up and whatever narrative that they want to put out there, it's no, we got video. We got we got pictures.

SPEAKER_07 25:31

We got receipts to show. We got receipts. This is like, and I do think, you know, people always like to focus on the negative. And I'm not saying that we don't have challenges in Chicago. We do, but we also have really good people. Really good people, wonderful people, wonderful food, wonderful views. I mean, our lake, you tell me a place that has a lake like this with a park's all up the next lake. That's an ocean, I think. You know, when I grew up, because I grew up in this neighborhood, not far from here, South Kenwood. And we would ride the bike, and I would say, well, it is an ocean, because an ocean means you can't see the other side. So what's the difference? It looks like an ocean to me. Maybe our waves are sometimes our waves. Sometimes they splash on the lakes for dry. So you're right. But I just think we have so much going for us here. And if people feel good about their city, they behave better. And if we can create opportunity for people, if we can have programs in our home court gym so that young people after school have something to do besides mischief, well, then let's give them that because they will. Someone said to me, you know, children rise to the expectations that adults that they love set for them. And we're gonna set some really high expectations for how you behave on this campus. And I know, because I was not young that long ago, right? Of course, we all get devilish and whatever, but you're not gonna misbehave. Yeah, talk that talk, but no. But you are not going to misbehave. And the reason why is because we want you to treat this like it's your home. Yeah. Because we're gonna treat you like your family.

SPEAKER_05 26:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 26:59

And if we treat you like your family and we show you respect, then you have to show it right back to us and to each other.

SPEAKER_04 27:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 27:06

Because that's what a community is all about.

SPEAKER_04 27:07

I heard what Auntie Valerie Jarrett says. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 27:10

All right, my light lecture. Let them know.

SPEAKER_06 27:14

My last question: what's your favorite spot to sit and just take in the views on campus?

SPEAKER_07 27:19

Every day I discover a new one. I really do. And it it's so it I get asked that question like all the time like, what's your favorite exhibit? And I'm like, oh, that's like who's your favorite child? Right. I love them all. And like, because I was there all eight years. I started January 20th when the Obamas were at the parade. You know, no, like the cold. Maybe from Chicago, but I'm like, neither do we. And I looked at them and I'm like, no. So I went inside the White House. I can watch this parade. Maybe they got heat coming up on the I didn't think there was gonna be the heat for me. I went in there and I found my office. I was like rifling furniture from other people's offices, and I was like, I'm here first, I get to have what I want. And then the last day, um, uh the day of the inauguration in 2017, I went over to say goodbye to all the folks who'd worked in the residence who'd been such a part of the family for all those years, and and to say goodbye to the Obamas, because let's face it, it was hard. It was a hard transition, you know.

SPEAKER_05 28:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 28:19

And um, when they left for the inauguration, it was like, I don't know, right before it was about to start. And the Secret Service was like, you have to leave.

SPEAKER_04 28:29

We love you, but you gotta go.

SPEAKER_07 28:31

But you gotta go to the pumpkin. So you get to go, girl. So I say, well, okay, I was there actually before they got there in SD after they left. So I was there all eight years, but it just it just gives me so much pride. And so when I'm it depends on my mood is the answer to your question. I did not forget your question, but I like to go up in the Skyroom because I have strong tape dives to the University of Chicago. And so we look west, and then I love looking out over our campus and the fact that we face in that room south and west. And then my very first uh summer job was at the Museum of Science and Industry and the University of Chicago. So hospital. Oh wow, so you right home, you're right here. And then I ended up on both boards. So I saw that from the ground and I saw it from the board, and so then I love to look out at the museum and the lake. And so that's a room where I just go at the end of the day when everybody's gone. But then there's sometimes where I just like to sit out into the busy plaza and watch everybody running around. Yesterday I spent a lot of time out on that plaza.

SPEAKER_05 29:29

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 29:30

Um, and there is a little space right in the forum building outside of the auditorium. It's just a little seating area.

SPEAKER_04 29:38

Yes, I love that area. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 29:40

And I because you can see everything, but you're kind of in your own little cubbyhole. Yes. And then I love off the restaurants, they've got all these little courtyards.

SPEAKER_06 29:47

It's and the Richard Hunt.

SPEAKER_07 29:49

I was just about to say Richard Hunt. That was you know, it's a little secret there. It's so but Rich because it's it's kind of all by itself. It's not like out there. But we're gonna put some tables out there, they're out there yet. So the people who are in the library can come outside and sit there. Oh, that's but Richard Hunt is um, you know, he's iconic. And I'm so happy he finished the statue, obviously, before he died, and he got to see it. And the president got to do, we did a video um with him. Uh, and his mom was the first black librarian in Chicago. Yeah. How about that? Yeah. How about that night? I love that courtyard. And at night, it's so special. We were testing the night, the lights a couple weeks ago, and I was just, it's just beautiful. Beautiful. It is beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 30:34

So well, thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_07 30:38

We good, we can keep on going. I got the hook. She gave me the hook. You know, so you tell us. You come on now. Come on, your head.

SPEAKER_04 30:47

Hey, honestly, it is an absolute honor. We can't talk to me again.

SPEAKER_07 30:54

Other guests come in.

SPEAKER_04 30:55

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 30:55

This is your home.

SPEAKER_04 30:56

Thank you. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_07 30:57

You are so welcome, you guys. Take care.

SPEAKER_04 30:59

You too. Miss Valley Jacker, there, buddy.

SPEAKER_06 31:04

From San Francisco.

SPEAKER_05 31:05

Oh,

John Roberson Bio

SPEAKER_05 31:06

my friends.

SPEAKER_04 31:07

John Robinson currently serves as incoming executive vice president of the Obama Presidential Center. Prior to joining the Obama Foundation, John was the chief operating officer of the City of Chicago, managing the day-to-day operations of 37 city departments with a $16.2 billion budget. John's extensive career expands both the public and private sectors, as he served as deputy chief of staff to Cook County Board President Tony Preckwickle, Chief of Staff to the 17th Ward Ultimate David Moore, managing principal at electronic knowledge interchange and VP of Strat Strategic Partnerships

John Roberson Interview

SPEAKER_04 31:48

at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Y'all give it up for John Robinson. Here we go.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

How you doing? Man, I'm doing great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:56

I saw you outside yesterday shaking hands and kissing babies.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

Yes. Metaphorically. That's right. That's right. That was amazing. It was a lot of fun yesterday. Um, there was just so much energy on the campus. Um, we had our museum visitors, but it was everyone who wasn't going to the museum, yeah. Uh, who was all over the campus. I had this one young group uh of boys. Um, they were called the Black Tie Boys. Yeah. Uh, and they came here from Monroe, Louisiana. Oh, wow. No tickets.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

Just pulled up. No pun into that. Uh, but hoped that there would be an opportunity for them to come in and um experience the museum. Uh, and so when I when I saw them, uh, I talked with my staff and I went back and I I talked to the boys in their chaperones and I told them Um there's no way in the world that I'm gonna allow you to come to my city on the south side of Chicago, yeah, my hood, yeah, and come to this place that is the presidential center and not have the opportunity to go inside.

SPEAKER_04 33:05

We were able to make that point. Oh my goodness. Well, I'd love to hear because you know what uh Sarah says all the time, these are people's first impression in Chicago sometimes. You know what I mean? Like, and you you want to, you know, we know what we know what we're dealing with here in Chicago when it comes to the media, but like we could change that, right? And you took the you took the power to do that.

SPEAKER_06 33:20

I always say if I'm driving and I see a license plate that's not an Illinois license plate, I am allowing them to cut in front of me. Yeah, I will let them merge wherever they need to go. She better be because I don't want them to be to ever, you know. I I feel like I feel so much pride in being uh and living in this city. And I feel like we you really felt that yesterday from the Chicagoans that were here, but you also I I loved watching people from other states and other countries just mind-blown that this is the South Side. Like this is what it I'm like, yeah, we we we knew that this is this is possible here. Um, and it was just such a moment of pride to to watch it.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

It it was, and and here's what I found um so amazing yesterday. Like I met someone um a couple one was from France, one was from Russia.

SPEAKER_04 34:07

Wow, same same thing that Valley was just saying.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

And it it it was just amazing because they they came here. And and what I am very clear about, and what the the folks who work here at the Presidential Center are clear about um is the intentionality behind every single person who comes here, whether they're going to the museum or whether they're simply going to the playground. There is an intentionality behind wanting to be here. Yeah, make sure we and wanting to um be a part of this energy. So I tell folks uh we have uh a thousand days of first day openings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Truly, yeah, truly because every single person is coming um in anticipation of this tremendous presentation and experience that we have here.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Yeah. And in and that is, you know, we talk about how inviting this place is, right? And how the experience is just really different from any other place that we got here in Chicago at the moment, right now, and probably gonna be like that for a long time. How did you cultivate that energy? How did you literally build something that created people to just do it on their own free will?

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Well, you know, um when we made the decision to hire um for the staff here at the OPC, um we got 17,000 applicants. Wow, wild. That's insane. Um and we hired 150.

SPEAKER_06 35:30

Wow. So you hired the best of the best.

SPEAKER_03 35:33

We hired the best of the best, but they weren't the best of the best because they had some extraordinary resume. Right. They were people who were grounded in the values of our foundation, courage and resiliency and empathy and hope. Um and so you can create um what you are looking for when you get the right people. And so um I was very fortunate that we have brought on people who we didn't have to teach values to. They simply came with those values, and all we're doing is providing the platform for them to present their authentic self to the person that is from South Shore or the person from South Korea. Yeah. Um and that's what that's the feedback that I've gotten is just how extraordinary the staff has been in terms of greeting people and making them feel welcome. So that's exciting.

SPEAKER_06 36:24

And we've said that multiple times. Every time someone asks us, I'm like, listen, the this the space is incredible, the campus is amazing. But this the thing I remember the most is how everyone we walk past is just greeting you, uh, asking how you're doing, asking if you need anything. It just feels so warm.

SPEAKER_03 36:41

Well, that's you know what we have tried to uh impress and amplify with folks is that uh like Maya Angelou said, you may not always remember what someone said, but you will always remember how they pay for it. And so um we are trying each and every single day to make sure that every single person that comes to this campus, whether they are paying to come to the museum, whether you're coming to take a look at the 30 pieces of world-class commission art, yeah, going to the Chicago Public Library that's here, going to Tefari's kitchen to get some Mrs. Robinson's red rice. Yeah, um, we want everyone to have an extraordinary experience.

SPEAKER_06 37:19

And and there's actually so like 99% of what's uh what's on campus is free and open.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

Absolutely. That's the that's the way the president intended. Um only the four floors of the museum are the spaces that you have to pay for admission. Yeah. Everything else.

SPEAKER_06 37:35

Even the the sky, the sky room.

SPEAKER_04 37:37

The sky room, yes. Man, I feel like you know, those are things that are lost in translation because when you people say, Oh man, it's a museum, I gotta pay to get in there. No, read the fine print. Yeah, you can go up to like what everybody's gonna want to go to and see, you know, like you, you're gonna want to see the top floor, you know. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 37:53

Yeah, and then what's what's like this morning when I got here, you know, about seven o'clock, um first thing I did was I grabbed me a cup of coffee and I went to the Skyrim.

SPEAKER_05 38:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

To be able to sit and look at the lake.

unknown 38:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:06

To be able to look at downtown from a south side perspective. Right.

SPEAKER_06 38:10

Which I think is the best view. Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

And to be able to see on the campus that it's as early as it was, there were people that were walking their dogs, they were running, they were talking about it. Um people are going to engage in this space. And this is they're engaging in it the exact way we intended it to be.

SPEAKER_06 38:29

So uh the foundation talks about uh moving from hope to action. I'm so curious how does that actually come into play here, especially on this being on the south side, how is that going into practice?

SPEAKER_03 38:41

Well, I think that um the way that we are physically laid out is intentional um and speaks to that very question. So you go from north to south.

unknown 38:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

So you have the museum tower where the presentation of history and context about who we are as a country and the lived experiences of President and Mrs. Obama and talking about all the work that they did, but also the work that is left to be done, right? And so you leave the museum and the next building is the forum. It's the media suite, yeah. It's the auditorium where people are gonna have the opportunity to convene and to talk, um, to get the tools that they need uh to be the next change leaders. You then have the library, uh, where President and Mrs. Obama understand that access to information um feeding the mind is the most important thing that we can do for our young people and the next generation. You move from that space and you go to the playground. Having play, safe play, where families can come together and enjoy themselves is as critical to development. And then you get to home court. Uh and home court is symbolic of President and Mrs. Obama's um understanding and belief that leadership can be taught through sport, and that teamwork and collaboration is taught through sport. So just the physical layout of the place points to that very question. How do we bring people together? How do we empower them? How do we give them the information that they need so that they can leave here not just in a nostalgic, oh, that was so great, uh, within terms of the museum or how great was the playground, but to actually leave here and go back to your community and do something. And here's what's so exciting. So I met a doctor from Jacksonville, Florida yesterday who said that as a result of going through the museum, he was inspired to do a project that he had been putting off doing because he was like, Oh, that's too hard. I don't know if we're gonna be able to do it. And he said, Because of what I saw today, he went to the lower level and he was sitting there with his friend and using Chat GPT began outlining the program that before he came here, he said was too hard and impossible to do. Wow. That is what we want to see happen as a result of people visiting the Obama presidential. Just the energy just brought it out of him.

SPEAKER_04 41:15

Just, hey, look, we got I could do this. Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 41:18

I think I think the also one piece that I really enjoy is the public art that's available. Um we uh took the we did the spotlight or the highlight uh from the women's uh garden yesterday, and uh the historian that was talking about it was talking about the installation that's on the building, that colored glass, which I'd seen multiple times, but I didn't know what what the inspiration behind it was. And that was it just it spoke to how intentional quite literally every path that's laid is like this the circular uh garden or just everything is uh in place because it has to be right there.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Absolutely. I tell you, um I love the Nick Cave piece that's in the Hope and Change line. I love the uh the Bradford piece. Um, but I think that the piece that moves me the most, or the two pieces that moved me the most. One is um Harriet Tubman. Um you look at that and you you can't help but uh uh be overwhelmed with a sense of uh gratitude and to be grounded in the history of what it meant, um who wore it, yeah, and what she was trying to accomplish. Right, right. Right to ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Yeah, right. Uh and then the second piece is the Carrie Mae Weems piece in the Skyrim.

SPEAKER_06 42:40

Yeah, um Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

I I am Unreal. I am a jazz fan. Yeah, yeah. So to when you hear the Obama sweep playing in the background and you look at that exhibit, yeah, uh, where it's about jazz music and anybody who knows anything about jazz knows that it's about the individual conversation that each player is having and how they come together to create a conversation. And when they engage the audience, it then creates an entirely different conversation that gets created in that moment that nobody knew was going to happen until it happened. Yeah. Um the sweet um that piece, it it just it moves me. Yeah. Um, and so yeah, it it's we have some extraordinary art. And you can just come to the campus just for the art, man, and it's free.

SPEAKER_04 43:28

Again, for the people that didn't hear, it's free. It's free, y'all.

SPEAKER_05 43:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:33

Yeah. You know, it's it's funny listening to your passion. Uh I've you you just like Vandal, you answered the question beforehand. Uh, because I was gonna say, what are you, what gets you fired up, ready to go. But uh this place seems like it just has the ability to bring out of you something that I don't think you knew you might have had in you. You know, and and and so you know, I walk as as much as you all talk about like this is a uh a past, present, future type of thing situation here, right? Emphasis on the future, right? I can't help that first floor after you leave going to the second ex the second floor, right? Yeah, uh, it takes you back to that 2008, you know, that that speech right there. I every time it seems like that's the moment where I'm like, I'm ready to go now. Again, you know what I mean? And and it's it's almost was that intentional to like have you ready? Because like after you go through that part, you you are heading towards the future.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

Absolutely. So it the the museum is designed in an ascending storytelling narrative, yeah, so that you start there um with the uh building blocks of our democracy with the constitution. Um but you also see the contradiction because you see the document by the Cherokee nation to be juxtaposed right next to each other. So we we are already starting with the question of who do we want to be as a country, right? And then to go through the lived experiences of the president and the first lady, um and then to go to the campaign, and then to go to election night. Uh I I watch people in tears um looking at that. And I think that um you know, this this presentation um is not about aspirations. I mean it's about possibility uh of people being able to see themselves in the work, seeing themselves and their lived experience in the presentation. Um, you know, I um this place uh means a lot to me personally um because I'm not just born in Chicago, I've been raised by Chicago. Um before I came here, I was uh chief operating officer for the city of Chicago. Um and going all the way back to 1997, being the chief operating officer of the city of Chicago was my dream job.

SPEAKER_04 45:49

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

Yeah, right. And so then one day I get a call from Valerie. You gotta pick up. Yeah, you gotta pick up. I mean, it's Valerie. Um, and she said, Hey, um, I know you got that little job over there.

SPEAKER_05 46:03

Not little job.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

You know how that goes when they say your little job. Uh but she said, Um, what would you think about coming to the foundation and being in charge of the presidential center? And so I sat there uh processing that for a few seconds, and I was like, um Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 46:22

Yeah, no, yeah, okay, I'll do that.

SPEAKER_03 46:24

I want to do that. I think I'm available. I think I can do that. Uh so yeah, it was um this has been such a journey. Um I went from my dream job to a job I never dreamt was even possible. Yeah, or don't um and and so you know, I I tell people that um my grandparents migrated here from Mississippi uh and we are the descendants of enslaved people. And I don't think that in that enslaved condition that my ancestors had the agency or the imagination to think that one day one of their descendants would lead the presidential center for the first black president in the history of a country that was responsible for their enslavement. Oh my god. And so I I wake up with that each and every single day.

SPEAKER_06 47:22

How can you not feel hopeful?

SPEAKER_03 47:24

Um I'm here. And the fact that I am here, again, is not about aspiration, it's about possibilities. Uh and so the Obama Presidential Center is um I think going to be an extraordinary place. Uh you know, I I I tell people growing up, I was not allowed to play in the living room.

SPEAKER_04 47:44

Yeah. Right. Nobody was. Nobody was. You couldn't sit in there.

SPEAKER_03 47:47

You couldn't you couldn't sit in there, and just in case you decided that you were gonna be sneaky and go in the living room, they put plastic on the furniture. So they could hear everything. Exactly, exactly. And so um, but the living room uh was always the one room in the house where people invested the most resources for the presentation. Um and so they spent money on the best couches and on the best furniture and the best lamps. Um and it was for the purpose of showing your family and company that you had made it, that you were doing well. Um it is also the one room in the house that was for everyone but the people who lived in it. And so um for a very long time, Chicago has been like a living room with plastic on the furniture for some people where they didn't feel welcome. Um, that this place was not for you. It was for everyone else. Um, it was for people who visited here uh through tourism, it was for the corporate community or those things. The Obama Presidential Center is going to become the new living room for the city of Chicago, but it doesn't have plastic on the front. This is this is gonna be a welcoming place. Yeah, yeah. Um the world is going to come here, and it's not gonna matter whether you are from South Shore or South Korea. You get to convene in this awesome place um where you will get inspired, where you will be empowered, where you get connected with people who share the same values. I mean, that's the model of the foundation. Inspire, empower, connect. So um this is the physical manifestation of that. And so I hope that people will immerse themselves in this experience. Uh, but I don't I don't want people just to come out feeling good because as the president has said, um this is not about um nostalgia or you know, look at how great he was. This is about being able to see yourself in it and realizing that you can be the change in your community to make a better neighborhood, to make a better city, to make a better country, and ultimately a better world. Yeah, but I look I don't even know what to go after that.

SPEAKER_04 50:07

Like, man, bro my god, you want to own this podcast? Take it to a new level? This is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 50:13

I'm just I'm I I I love my city. Yes, I realize um what a blessing uh I have in having the opportunity um to lead the team that does this. Uh and so um I do it because I want to make sure that we do everything possible to make the president and the first lady proud. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 50:37

Look, I I can tell you right now, you're doing it. Well, you're you you're well on your way. We were very proud of you. Yeah, very proud. I mean you you you said it all, man. This is uh this is this couldn't have been nowhere else but Chicago.

SPEAKER_03 50:47

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 50:48

This couldn't be nowhere else but Chicago.

SPEAKER_03 50:50

Look, this this place, um this is not a Broadway play. Right. No. There's no end date to this. No, no. As long as the world exists and you talk about the history of this country, you now have to talk about this place on the south side of Chicago, the Obama Presidential Center. It's 60th and Stony Island. Yeah, 6001. That's right. Like, not downtown, not South Loop. Let's go. Yeah, like in the hood.

SPEAKER_04 51:21

In the hood. You know, man, look. Man, look, on that note, my brother John, thank you so much for being here, man. Honestly, all the best to you uh and the rest of the foundation here and in the campus. We hope to see you again, man.

SPEAKER_06 51:36

We'll be here walking our dog all the time.

SPEAKER_03 51:39

All the time. All the time. I cannot wait. I'll catch up with you. I'll bring my dog Phylos.

SPEAKER_04 51:43

Let's go. Let's do it. Absolutely. We gotta bring the dog uh Valley Dre. We're gonna be doing electric slide out there. We got enough. She promised us. She promised us. So we got a lot of activities coming up here. Absolutely. So great to be here with you, David. Thank you so much, John. All right. John Robertson, everybody.

Tina Tchen Bio

SPEAKER_04 52:05

Tina Chin is the executive vice president of programs for the Obama Foundation. She oversees the foundation's programming in Chicago and around the world to strengthen and build an active democratic culture. This includes the foundation's global leadership programs, the Girls' Opportunity Alliance, the My Brothers Keepers Alliance, the programs that will take place at the Obama Presidential Center, and the Foundation's Annual Democracy Forum. Miss Chen is an attorney, activist, and lifelong advocate for women and girls. She served in the Obama White House through both terms and was the assistant to President Barack Obama, chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, and executive director of the White House Council on Women Girls. Prior to the White House, Chen practiced law for 23 years as skating. At the firm, she was a corporate litigation partner, chaired the Pro Bono Committee, and was a longtime

Tina Tchen Interview

SPEAKER_04 53:03

leader of the American Bar Association's section of litigation. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 53:08

Oh, I'm delighted to be here. Thanks for being here at the center. Oh my God. It's as a podcast studio. Oh my god, we love it. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 53:18

Oh, this one. So check this out. Uh we told uh Ms. Valerie Jarrett, this is our first time in five years ever being inside of an actual studio.

SPEAKER_06 53:26

Because we just we just use our board and we record in like parks. We're gonna go. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:32

We're a dumb. No, this is part, we had a fully kitted out media suite. We're sitting in the podcast booth, the recording studio's part of the m the studio. There's like a full UC soundboard and control booth over to the side, and then a small, you know, performance space, which we've already used. We had a group of girls in here over the weekend doing songwriting workshop, and then Thames popped in and surprised them at the end because they were writing to a Thames Riff. They were doing a little songwriting to a Thames Riff. And then Mrs. Obama popped in at the end to say hello to them.

SPEAKER_04 54:04

How do you continue on after this? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:06

But it's an example. You know, we're we've partnered with After School Matters and with the Chicago Public Library. And we're gonna do, you know, that's kind of our program we will do. You know, like U Media, you know, the great U Media program. They'll be able to use this space and you know, other kinds of programs to teach kids how to do recordings or performances. And this is just one of the spaces we're that we're gonna use to do that.

SPEAKER_04 54:27

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 54:28

So when when you were originally kind of looking at what kind of programming that you wanted to be here, what were the like four main categories, five main categories that we you were looking at that to kind of you needed to have here?

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Well, part of the programming was driven by a lot of the work, you know, our public engagement team led by Mike Stratmanis had been doing over the years. And we were meeting with the community, doing surveys of the community. Um, consistently, the number one thing the community wanted to see from the center was activities to occupy their young people and give them career paths. So that was a very formative piece of our programming. And then the second thing was health and wellness. So we weren't just gonna leave out other folks, other age groups, but um, and so we're doing that. So that those two things probably shaped it. And then the third thing was our spaces. You know, really what can these unique spaces like this media suite, like home court, yeah, like the fruit and vegetable garden, what can we build around those? Because look, Chicago's a city that's rich with programs. Yeah. And we want to not step into this and take over stuff. We want to be value-added, right? We want to join with folks. And so the start is what's our unique spaces? And then in keeping with that sentiment of not taking over and knowing how many great programs are, all our programs are gonna be worked with a partner. It's not, you know, after school matters, you know, we got Urban Growers Collective is our partner together with Chicago Botanic Garden. Yeah, you know, that's the fruit and vegetable garden programming. We're doing, we're working with them. Uh, we have 773 Peace Walkers. Oh yeah. So they're gonna start doing a walking program for seniors, you know, and based out of home court. So, you know, that's that's kind of the model is to really, you media, take what's great programs in Chicago, partner with them, make use of our unique space and what we can do and build from there.

SPEAKER_04 56:16

Yeah. And and you know, I think the really cool thing is we heard so often on this podcast right now that uh you've created a space that is inviting to everybody, right? And and you made these different programs for for anybody any age come through here and and feel like they are welcome. How are you getting that message out there that people just know that all the time? You know what I mean? Because, like, you know, things get lost in translation. You see the Obama Center and you think museum only, you think library, you think, okay, that's it. What how are y'all communicating with the rest of Chicago, not just the High Park area, Jackson Park area, uh, letting them know, hey, come on down. We got these things going through.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

Well, you guys. There you go. Doing it. And we've had actually great press and having all of you on campus, you know, and watching and seeing and talking to folks. You know, I saw a lot of press yesterday on our opening day on Juneteenth, just getting interviews from people so that they enjoyed it. So I think that words getting out. You know, there was so much talk about how limited the museum tickets are already sold out and you know, people, you know, are anxious to get into the museum. But there are like, you know, 19 acres here, you know, beyond those four floors that, you know, are you know free here to do. And, you know, I watched people when I came in this morning before anything was open, which is what we wanted. It's already in the playground at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, people taking their morning walk, people jogging, a guy riding through the park who said, I work at MSI and I'm riding through here. This is wonderful. You know, just riding his bike through our the walkways that we've created.

SPEAKER_06 57:48

We we were here yesterday for five hours, I think. And I we did not go inside a single building.

SPEAKER_05 57:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 57:54

And we spent the entire time outside in the parks, in the garden, in the fruit and vegetable. Like we were just in the plaza. There was so much going on. Wow. I mean, we literally maybe we went in home court, but that was we were there for like five minutes.

SPEAKER_01 58:09

And that was it. No, that's what we want. You know, today we're gonna have even more. So get out there today. These are gonna be very cool things happening in the plaza today. Um, there's also cool things happening in the auditorium. So, you know, we're gonna have pretty pretty soon we're gonna have a form talk by our architects on the creation of the OPC. Um uh then we're gonna have you know a talk with some AI experts talking about AI, right? And technology and sort of the threats and the promises there, including, you know, in in the that that form talk, we've got some of our Obama leader alums who are working in this space, you know, who've come in to do that together with experts, which is kind of what we want to have our young leaders together with the older experts together, something unique that we can do. Um and you know, then we've got like you know, sports drills going on inside home court. So there's a lot and more to come. You know, the president's very excited about what we can do in the auditorium, right? The kinds of ranging we had the astrogates doing jazz music yesterday.

SPEAKER_04 59:02

Yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 59:03

You know, today we've got these talk, you know, talks happening. So, you know, that's that's the range of of kind of content and programming we want to provide.

SPEAKER_06 59:11

I love that. Um I'm I'm a lover of library programs. I go, I go to knitting circles, I go to book clubs, I go to cookbook book clubs, like all kinds of things. And I'm so curious how um open are you to like suggestions? If people are like, hey, I want like a knitting circle here, is it something that like they can approach?

SPEAKER_01 59:30

Well, we love suggestions. We actually have a you know, ways to engage page. That's what it's called on our website. It's obama.org. Okay. And if you look up ways to engage, you'll pop a formal fill you know, pop up. So if you've got a talent to offer, you know, if you've got an idea, you know, for a programming, um, what I keep saying is, you know, we're people who are used to operating on campaign cycles, yeah. Yeah, like election in November, primary in March, you know, four years when you get elected, which is really only two and a half. And then you gotta run for re-election. Um, and this is now astonishing because after yesterday when we opened, our time horizon is now decades. Right. So we're this is not just get excited and then I gotta buy my ticket because if I don't get my ticket in November, it's gonna be gone. Yeah. This is not, you know, as John Robertson likes to say, it's not a Broadway show, it's not gonna open and close. We're here forever. Yes, so send us your ideas. Be patient with us. Yeah, we're still learning the space. I don't know. Like we're learning where the power outlets are. It's gonna be like when you move into a big new house, you're like, you don't know where everything works. Doesn't all work at the same time either. So we're learning that it's a brand new house with new construction. So be patient with us as we figure out what works and what doesn't work, but we would love ideas, and so that's what the ways to engage page is, and it's absolutely something me and my team look at. It's not like a dead letter point.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:55

I I think the best part about this whole uh experience that we have here at the OPC is that you all aren't ducking uh opportunities to improve, you're not ducking the opportunities to include everybody. Uh you I just really love how you all are taking this feedback, and it is indicative of, you know, Mr. Obama, you know, it is indicative of him. But you all down here uh are are really the advocates for, right? You know, seeing the vision come to life. And what has been, if there has been any challenges to saying, okay, the community say we want this, how can we implement this? What can we do? Has there been any kind of challenges or or is there anything in the future you're looking forward to?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

No, you know, I don't know. Um, one of the things that is at limiter on how much we can do is finances. Right, right. Right. You know, look, it we've now opened this, you can see how big it is. It's gonna come and it's gonna cost a lot to operate.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:47

Yeah, I don't know what your electricity bill is.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:51

Which is and it's all clean energy. We're doing that. But um, so the operating cost, and a lot of staff, you know, who are great. Um and so my commitment on the program side is you know, we're only gonna do the programs for which we have raised programmatic funds for. Right. So, you know, grant grants to do forum talks or to do the fruit and vegetable garden. So I'm busy out there raising that. So that is the limiter. So one thing I'll tell you when she sent me a great idea. If you send me a funding idea, even better. Send a great idea with it. Even better. Attach a check because that's the way to sustain it. I mean, a lot of you know, institutions get in trouble as they get out over their skis, you know, on a program that, you know, they start and then they don't really have a three-year funding plan for it or more. And then they gotta stop it, but then it drains their other resources. And we can't do that, you know, because we want this place to be around for decades. And um uh so that's so that's that's the one. I'll just be really frank with everybody. That's that's the big limiter on this, is and so we do need everybody's support.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:53

Yes. That makes sense. I mean, it makes sense. I mean, you are a foundation at the end of the day. That's that's what we are here. Uh I I do want to ask all the out of all the programming and everything here, what gets Tina Chin excited? Like, what gets you excited?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:06

Well, I got two thoughts out of there. What one is, you know, the thing that I love, which I saw happening yesterday, and I gotta tell you, it was very emotional yesterday because it was like this thing I've been imagining coming to life, which was like on the plaza or in the garden or just walking around. There were people from the South site, but then there were people from Atlanta came on a bus and Georgia and from the north suburbs. Yes. You know, from the Lincoln Park, right? And they were all there, they're talking to each other, they're talking to me, they're helping each other out, take the take their pictures. I that's what this was about was to bring all these people together who different backgrounds, maybe they like Obama, maybe not, maybe they just want to come and experience a park and they just see what it's all about, talking to each other, because that's pluralism. Yeah, yeah. That's the message, that's what the fundamental of our democracy is having people, you know, meet with each other and so that's one thing. The second thing I wanted to pitch, actually, so I gotta pitch on the other thing that gets me excited. That's a little known gem that we haven't talked a lot about, but you'll see QR codes when you go back up there, is we just launched it. We did a partnership with Bloomberg Connects. Because the other thing, you said you never went inside yesterday. And that's because what I say is our campus is programmed too. Yeah. Now, even if there was nothing happening on the campus, we didn't have any programming that day. Yeah, you can come on the campus and there's great artwork, there's great history in the buildings, there's great talks about climate, you know, um, how you can engage with your family. And so we have a way that you can learn about that. So we partnered with Bloomberg Connects, which has an app called Bloomberg Connects. You can download it for free. We have free high-speed Wi-Fi on all camera.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:47

And it's good too.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:48

Yeah. And we didn't know, yeah. And we partnered with them to provide audio guides to that you can just pop up on your phone. Yeah, you come by yourself, you can listen to that. There's by every piece of art, there's a QR code that'll take you onto that site, and you can hear the artists themselves.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:08

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:10

Introduced by Michelle Obama by, you know, one of the things we said is like, you know, we kind of have access to some of these places that you don't need an anonymous narrator. So um, President Tom Hanks to the museum audio guide. Oprah is in Oprah leads you through the entire grounds. So you want to like get oriented to the grounds. You actually look at you guys, you gotta do this today. Oprah, Oprah can be your guide through the to this is the forum building, and this is and you're looking at the Martin Pierre. Yeah. Um, we've got, you know, um Summer Cree is the voice of Mo and Sunny for the you know, for the family, for kids to listen to. So that's that's there, and that's like the little hidden Easter egg through some of the look look when you're Go upstairs to the perform. We've got a little, you know, placards and have the QR code so you can go right to it and download it. And that's something, like I said, you can anybody can do anytime they come by. Yeah. Um, actually, they can do from their home too. Right. It's more fun to do it here. Yeah. Um, and without anybody, you know, you don't need me to be putting on a program for you because our campuses program. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:23

I you know, I saw those uh up yesterday, and for some reason I was like, are those new? Because like we've been here a few times before. But was that I've never seen it, but I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:31

Well, we just launched it, so it is new. Oh, so it's new, okay. So we just put them up live this week. Gotcha. So they weren't live before during soft opening. We were still finishing them up. So they just went live, and we'll add to them. So it doesn't have every piece of art yet, right? And there's some others, but it's like a flexible platform. You know, we can if we we have a topic, like when we start talking about democracy, we could do some more things around that. It's a it's a it's a Bloomberg Connect is a great platform. Yeah, a lot of cultural institutions use that. It's it's actually a very cool app. I have it. You know, it geolocates you. Oh my god. So if you just where you are, it will take you to the institution that's closest to you that's on their app, and tell you what they're doing. So that's y'all thought everything.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:12

That's why you depend the the the you run the program and say, okay, I got it. I I feel what you're throwing out here.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:17

I I'm already blown away by the amount of programming that already exists, and I can't wait to see how much more it grows because there's obviously always room to grow, and I can't wait to see it evolve and like all these cool things that are gonna. I'm I'm jealous of all the kids that get to experience this as like this is your park, this is your local park. Is but I'm I'm gonna be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:37

So I'm that's when I saw kids just rolling down. Yeah, I know the hill. I was like just rolling it. There isn't any place here around here on the south side you can roll down a hill. Yeah, they were just rolling down the hill on the grass. It was so much fun. So cute to work. You was going down the slide? Oh, yeah. You went down the slide?

SPEAKER_05 1:07:53

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:54

So how was it? Oh, that thing, I like I said fast, right? Fast, exactly.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:59

It's like kind of too fast. You know what I guess not when you're like 60 pounds.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:04

I guess when 250 has a lot of momentum going down the slide. Yeah, I'm not 250, y'all. I'm like 215. There's still a lot of weight going down the slide, but no, no, this is honestly, I love what's going on here. Uh, and and hearing different aspects of it uh from all of you all, the the exec team down here, you know, it just really is a testament to the dedication that you all put, especially here on the South Side. You know, at the end of the day, South Side gonna be the story here. You know what I mean? Like it's the story, and and the work that you all put into it has been marvelous. You know, it's just I didn't know about the voices, you know. How how often are people gonna get that close to like hearing Obama, Miss Miss Obama and hearing Oprah and hearing Tom Hanks, you know, you know, like that? So cool, right? Yeah, it's it's and Toy Story coming out.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:48

Yeah, perfect. Oh, I can't even think about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:51

A little collab with Jimmy.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can work that out, I'm sure. But but no, I I I love what you're doing. And uh Tina, we really do appreciate uh your time here. Uh what else? Anything any other secrets you got hidden in there that you want to tell us about before we get out of here?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:07

No, I really want people to come and just enjoy this as you know, not just the next great cultural institution, but you know, the next great park for Chicago. You you know, we should be like Lincoln Park, like Grand Park. Like when you think of Chicago and you think of Lincoln Park and Grand Park, you should think, you know, now think of the Obama Presidential Center Park, you know, as as part of it. That that that's what this is in addition to then this great museum that's you know attached to it as well. And look, I I love this job. I am so excited about all the possibilities on programming that we can do, both you know, both from the fun, you know, let's see what artists we can bring into the serious, you know, we're gonna deal with serious issues around democracy and trust in each other and you know, all of those, you know, fundamentals and the values that we have. And, you know, it it's a great place to have those kinds of conversations.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:01

We we we plan to have a lot more. We plan to have have a lot more here in of of all sorts, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:05

Because uh Well, we really appreciate you being here because you are how we're gonna get the word out. So really want all your listeners to really, you know, come in and come and enjoy us.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:15

Oh, they they're gonna they're gonna love it. They they're gonna be like, what are y'all doing in Obama City? Yeah, we made it, y'all. No, Tina, again, thank you so much. We appreciate it. We know you gotta you gotta get going pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:24

We gotta go to another program. You gotta go to another program.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:26

There you go. Y'all, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. All the way from Hollow Hawaii.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:30

Hi, I'm Jeanette from Huntsville, Alabama. Okay, coming from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:35

Thank you so much for listening to this episode. This is part one of a two-part series. Part two isn't out now. You can just flow right into it.