Addison Belhomme, a film director and a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and a South Side Chicago native, introduced Michelle Obama.
Mrs. Obama expressed thanks to everyone who made the Obama Presidential Center possible. She also sang her husband’s praises.
“You told me all those years ago that you couldn’t promise me the world, but you could promise me an interesting life, and of course, you outdid yourself and managed to give me both. I know it hasn’t always been easy, but there hasn’t been a single second of this experience that standing by your side hasn’t left me in awe,” Mrs. Obama said. “Eight years in the crucible, not once did you melt in the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence — your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage, your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency, your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.”
Mrs. Obama said her husband’s values are far from unique to him.
“They are the same ones that your husbands and wives, your parents and children, your friends and neighbors exhibit and pass on,” said Mrs. Obama. “Every single day, millions of people in this country wake up doing their very best to live decent and purposeful lives. Yet we’re all tested in one way or another, and there are plenty of times we all fall short. We all know right from wrong. We know selflessness from greed, righteousness from injustice. We understand that we all rise and fall together, that every last one of us is an invaluable contributor to the greatness of America.”
Mrs. Obama returned to her husband’s campaign theme of hope.
“We simply don’t have the luxury or time to be cynical or complacent, to wring our hands in despair, to wait for someone else to fix the problem. Y’all, hope is all we have, because hope is the essential spark that lights the fire of change,” she said. “But hope is a choice. Whether or not we use our voices to speak up is a choice. Voting is a choice. Being a decent human being is a choice. Believing that we still hold the power to build a country that reflects us all is a choice. The Obama Presidential center is a living testament to the power of choice.”
Mrs. Obama said she hoped the Obama Presidential Center could provide a respite from the stress, conflict, and combativeness of today’s society.
“I hope it can reignite the optimism and empathy and ambition that has always powered this country’s greatest change. So we want you to come here and put away your phones, and laugh, and cry… and make new friends. Get your hands dirty in my garden. Put your baby on a swing at the playground. Have a romantic picnic on the great lawn,” Mrs. Obama said, “because that’s the work of democracy too — being neighborly, taking care of public spaces, having some fun, enjoying each other, shaking out of the isolation and division that have crept too deeply into our lives.”
She expressed faith in humanity and the future despite so many challenges.
“You all have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that when we truly see each other, when we strive to bring out the best in ourselves and one another, oh, there is no limit to high we can go,” Mrs. Obama said.
