Juneteenth opening – A group of 40 people chartered a bus from Louisiana to reach the Obama Presidential Center on Juneteenth—spending 22 hours traveling to take part in the campus’s opening-day community events, from sports clinics to art workshops.
Ollie Williams spent 22 hours on a charter bus, riding with about 40 friends, relatives and associates from Louisiana to make opening day at the Obama Presidential Center.
They rolled into Chicago Friday morning as thousands descended on the campus for the Juneteenth opening—an arrival the group treated as more than a visit. Williams, from Monroe, La., said he simply wanted to be among the people. “I just wanted to be among the people,” he said. “With all that’s going on today … we are so glad and so proud to see this. see us unite together to do something beautiful. something positive in life.”.
The group wore matching pink t-shirts and didn’t score tickets to enter the museum exhibits this weekend, but they didn’t see that as a detour from the point. “It’s just a blessing to be here on the ground,” said Ethel Williams, a relative of Ollie’s who is from Starlington, La. “This is history.”
For Ethel Williams, the trip also carried a personal thread. She said she came Friday in part because Barack Obama is more than the former president—he’s her former boss. She’s an Army veteran.
Around the campus, there was plenty to do without museum entry. Families moved through John Lewis Plaza, a playground, a Chicago Public Library branch, and even the Sky Room observation level of the museum tower.
In the lower-level bustle, Chicago sports teams hosted a sports clinic. Children worked on dribbling, passing and shooting, while others tried to hit a hockey puck. The idea, as one coach described it, was to make the lessons travel with kids beyond the court.
Jonathan Starks, a coach for the Chicago Bulls’ Youth Hoops program, said, “to give them lessons that they can take with them off the court to just make sure that they’re being the best people they can be.” Starks participated in the program when he was a kid, and called the moment “full-circle.”
“It’s like full-circle moment,” he said. “You get to just impact so many of the youth of the Chicagoland area, whether it’s the suburbs or the city, in a positive way.”
Across the plaza, Ayodele Drum and Dance drew dozens of onlookers. “Ayodele,” a Yoruba word, means “joy in the home.” The all-women group aims to preserve the art of West African dance. The collective offers weekly drop-in classes at the Sherman Park Field House, 1301 W. 52nd St., for $10.
Other weekend programming came in short bursts as well. Obama Presidential Center employees hosted informational talks about the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden all weekend. according to center staff. The organic garden is planted on the roof of the library and is intended to serve as an educational tool for the community.
Eventually. the garden will house programming with nonprofits like After School Matters and the Urban Growers Collective. aimed at teaching local kids how to care for plants and harvest food. Michelle Obama previously partnered with the growers collective for her “Let’s Move!” campaign promoting gardening and healthy eating.
Food from the garden will be donated to local food pantries. Organizing the space around sustainability runs through other parts of the campus too: in several locations. solar panels are installed. and all the water on campus is drained into cisterns. filtered. recycled and reused in all non-potable water systems. including the bathrooms.
In the Forum building’s lower level. artist William Estrada was holding a tote-bag-making workshop that was set to continue all weekend. Estrada was screen-printing an exclusive design for the center’s opening weekend onto 3,000 canvas totes. The design features monarch butterflies, chickadees, bees and flowers.
“Hope is a collective effort,” Estrada said. “[We] build things together in ways that we get to celebrate each other’s joy. we get to celebrate each other’s accomplishments. and we take care of one another.” Estrada. a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. runs studios in Pilsen and Cicero.
That sense of shared ownership showed up with visitors too. Niece and aunt duo Zan Reed and Luella Lipsey—both said to have grown up in the area—spent time personalizing their bags with acrylic markers. Reed described the feeling as overwhelming. “It’s a great gift to the community, you know,” Reed said. “He always talks about inclusion, collaboration, community, so this is a place where people can gather. It is a symbol of what America can be.”.
For the Louisiana group, none of it seemed accidental. They didn’t have museum tickets. They still made the day count. They were there early, on the ground, in matching shirts, carrying home more than souvenirs—carrying the idea that history is something you show up for together.
Obama Presidential Center Juneteenth Louisiana Chicago Monroe Starlington sports clinic Home Court Ayodele Drum and Dance Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden William Estrada community events