Amid “dark” times, Barack and Michelle Obama returned to Chicago to inspire the hope and change they touted 15 years ago in Grant Park as the results of the 2008 presidential election rolled in.
The main event — which started earlier Friday with the Democracy Forum, featuring panels on journalism, economics, artificial intelligence and more and a speech by Barack Obama — closed out with a speech from the former first lady and an interview of the former president as part of the celebrations at McCormick Place.
Many of Michelle’s first words were drowned out by an extended standing ovation. She then delved into stories from that night in Grant Park — “back when my babies were babies and many of you were practically babies yourself,” she told the crowd gathered in the convention center’s Arie Crown Theater.
The Democracy Forum started as the Obama Foundation Summit in 2017, with goals of gathering experts to cultivate healthier discourse and build a more inclusive economy. This year’s convened on the 15th anniversary of Obama’s election and subsequent victory party in Grant Park; hundreds of former Obama staffers and advisers are reuniting in Chicago this weekend.
Michelle thanked the staffers in the room for supporting her family through the tribulations of being in the White House and what they had continued to accomplish since.
“Tonight is about so much more than what happened on one night 15 years ago,” she said. “You believe change is possible.”
While a large part of her speech was reminiscing, she ended with a look toward the future — as many speakers did, noting a “dark” time the country has entered — and addressed younger people in the audience.
“Strategy has got to be a part of the passion,” she said. “Without it, you fail.”
She left the stage shortly after to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” a song the couple used often at campaign rallies.
Her husband then entered with the hosts of “Pod Save America” — former Obama staffers themselves — to another standing ovation. They sat down together for an interview, during which Obama urged those supporting Israel, and those supporting Palestine, to find a way to work together to end the conflict.
“If you genuinely want to change things, you need to figure out how to talk to someone on the other side,” Obama said. “You can’t save that child without their help.”
At the forum earlier Friday, sponsored by the Obama Foundation, the former president had delivered a speech in which he said he remains convinced young people can make the world a better place, despite the growing number of challenges to democracy.
In that speech, he also touched on Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, as well as the war in Ukraine and growing political strife between American political parties.
“As daunting as all the challenges that we face may be, I stand here convinced that it is within our power — or more specifically within your power — to make this world better,” Obama said.
“That’s what this Democracy Forum is all about. It’s an affirmation of our shared, unyielding belief that war and racial division and religious conflict and poverty and hunger and catastrophic climate change are not inevitable.”
Actor, writer and producer Baratunde Thurston emceed this year’s program, which included discussions of subjects ranging from equitable economic inclusion to finding meaningful connections in a digital world.
Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett and Maryland Governor Wes Moore talked about why it’s important to strengthen trust in government institutions. There were also sessions designed to test people’s so-called “news chops” — whether they could spot legitimate versus illegitimate sources of information online. Every session was designed to answer the central question of how to form a more equitable world that works for everyone.
In Obama’s one-hour keynote address, he called capitalism “the greatest generator of wealth and innovation the world has ever seen,” but he said that doesn’t necessarily mean capitalism is good for society — the system has been compatible with castes, slavery, autocracy and more. But just as he believes capitalism has major flaws, he thinks other systems of government do, too.
“Even if we could redistribute all the wealth of every billionaire on Earth to address what rightly feels like an obscene amount of inequity, it still wouldn’t be enough to lift all those people out of poverty,” Obama said. “We still need economic growth to do that.”
He said unions can help ensure economic equity, noting that the U.S. social safety net system is “particularly stingy” in contrast to, for example, Nordic countries, which have traditionally paid more in taxes in exchange for more social and government services.
“It is harder to build social trust and hence generous social programs in big diverse countries like the U.S.,” he said, “where, let’s face it, politicians may have an agenda of just wanting to keep taxes low and not have to put in.”
With some jobs possibly headed for obsolescence due to artificial intelligence, Obama said there should be help for people who transition into jobs that can’t be automated, such as elder care, health care and education.
He said corporations and world economies other than the United States need to do more to combat climate change, which could create political strife through mass migration and cross border conflicts for resources.
“It is a societal choice about values,” he said. “Corporations are perfectly capable of operating efficiently and profitably while considering the impact they have on their workers and on their communities and on the planet and on our democracy.”
Alex Degman is an Illinois statehouse reporter for WBEZ.
