Here's What It Will Say on the Obama Presidential Center

Words from the 44th president's 2015 speech in Selma
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2021 3:15 AM CST
Here's What It Will Say on the Obama Presidential Center
In this Oct. 9, 2013, file photo, President Obama listens as Janet Yellen, vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

The Obama Foundation on Sunday revealed the passage that will be inscribed on the outside of the Obama Presidential Center when it opens in Chicago, ABC 7 reports. Per the Week, the words are from then-President Obama's 2015 speech in Selma, Ala., on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. "You are America," he said. "Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, because you’re ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there’s new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. And it is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow."

"America is not the project of any one person," he continued. "Because the single-most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'We.' 'We The People.' 'We Shall Overcome.' 'Yes We Can.' That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given, to continually try to improve this great nation of ours." Groundbreaking on the center could start as early as August of this year. "When young people from my old neighborhood on the South Side see the words 'You are America' on the exterior of the Obama Presidential Center, I hope they believe it," Michelle Obama tweeted. "Because they matter. They belong. And they have the power to shape this country for the better." She had more to say on Instagram, where she shared a photo of what it will look like. (More Barack Obama stories.)

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