Joint Center Recognizes and Celebrates the Opening of the Obama Presidential Center

The Joint Center celebrates the historic opening of the Obama Presidential Center, which opened on June 19th, coinciding with the nationwide celebration of the Juneteenth holiday. The Presidential Center serves as a reminder of Barack Obama’s political legacy with an archived presidential library, a museum, community events spaces, a fruit and vegetable garden, an NBA regulation-sized basketball court, and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library.

Ahead of the official opening, Joint Center President Dedrick Asante-Muhammad visited the Obama Presidential Center with his two daughters, Jemison and Ella. We thank Marquis Miller of the Obama Foundation for providing the Joint Center with tickets to be an early visitor. See photos from the visit here.

In 2015, former Joint Center President Spencer Overton met with President Obama and other African American civil rights and faith leaders to provide an update on the Administration’s priorities as described in the State of the Union. The meeting was also an opportunity to have a dialogue with the leaders about the issues facing their communities, including criminal justice, education, health care, and economic development. President Obama highlighted the release of the report by the Task Force on 21st Century Policing and emphasized the work of the Task Force that led to the report’s creation.

In 2015, Overton also spoke at a White House commemoration featuring President Obama, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and the late then-Congressman John Lewis, on the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

These moments reflect the longstanding relationship between the Joint Center and President Obama’s efforts to advance equity, opportunity, and civic participation.