(Chicago) President Obama is ending the speculation, and officially announcing that his Presidential library will be located in Chicago.
The President and his wife Michelle made the announcement this morning in an online video.
Obama says, “With a library and a foundation on the South Side of Chicago, not only will we be able to encourage and affect change locally, but what we can also do is to attract the world to Chicago”.
The President, who was born in Hawaii, first came to Chicago in the 1980’s and worked as a community organizer. He referenced those years in the video, saying, “All the strands of my life came together, and I really became a man, when I moved to Chicago. That’s where I was able to apply that early idealism, to try to work in communities, in public service. That’s where I met my wife, that’s where my children were born, and the people there, the community, the lessons that I learned, they’re all based right in this few square miles where we’ll be able to now give something back and bring the world back home after this incredible journey”.
Michelle Obama, who was born and raised on the South Side, said “I’m thrilled to be able to put this resource in the heart of the neighborhood that means the world to me. Every value, every memory, every important relationship to me exists in Chicago. I consider myself a South Sider.”
The Obamas are still not disclosing whether the library will be in Washington Park or in Jackson Park.
The Illinois Legislature recently passed a bill designed to thwart a lawsuit that would try to block the library from locating on either site.
Copyright WLS News
