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Obama's new Presidential Center and his tricky relationship with the South Side
Where this was said
Geography and Tension: Where the Obama Center Actually Sits
At 14:01 · chapter starts 13:40
The conversation turns to geography, and the guests make clear that 'South Side' is not a monolith. The Obama Center sits at a fault line: on one side, the relatively wealthy neighborhood of Hyde Park; on the other, lower-income Woodlawn, where affordable housing is under threat and tenant unions have been organizing. Natalie Moore's mother grew up in West Woodlawn; the neighborhood is where Lorraine Hansberry's father bought the house that inspired 'A Raisin in the Sun.' [1] — Natalie Moore "Obama grew up near the center; Michelle grew up in South Shore: Michelle Obama grew up in South Shore, a South Side neighborhood, and the c…" 29:05 Myra Kwadja zeroes in on a claim that has stuck with her: Obama adviser David Axelrod argued that nobody uses Jackson Park when advocating for the center's location there, a statement she finds refuted every time she bikes through for the cherry blossoms or the house music picnic. Gene Demby cuts to the point: when Axelrod said 'nobody,' he meant certain nobodies — tourists, specifically. The chapter closes as Natalie Moore describes the finished campus as beautiful — winding paths, a lagoon, a public library branch — while drawing a comparison to Chicago's Picasso statue, which was reviled on arrival and is now beloved, suggesting that opinions on the Obamalisk may yet evolve.
Obama advisor David Axelrod famously argued that nobody uses Jackson Park when advocating for building the center there. Myra Kwadja hears those words every time she bikes through for cherry blossoms or the house music picnic — because 'nobody' really means 'certain nobodies.'
Critics call it the Obamalisk. Architectural reviews of the Obama Center note that the building reads entirely differently depending on your vantage point — a gleaming beacon in the sun for tourists, a foreboding monolith for students across the street. Natalie Moore says the campus itself is beautiful, and draws a comparison to Chicago's Picasso statue, which was hated when it debuted.
