- There are places and moments in America
where this nation's destiny has been decided.
Selma is such a place.
I was a young man who had an unusual childhood.
I was a Black kid in a place where
there weren't a lotta Black male role models.
You know, it was the civil rights movement
and people like John Lewis
that gave me an anchor,
that gave me a sense of what I might do with my life
that would matter.
I had the great honor of giving a speech
for the 50th anniversary of that march on Selma.
- The story of Selma connects to President Obama
in a very personal way
because people made a way to move our nation
from slavery through segregation and Jim Crow
to a moment where the nation at large could say,
"We want this person to lead and govern us."
- To me, the story of Selma is one of the epic stories
of America.
On one side, the armies of the dispossessed
and the marginalized and the voiceless
led by a 25-year-old young man in a trench coat
and a knapsack.
And on the other side, you have the power of the state
that is insisting that America is only for some people
and will use violence to enforce the status
and privileges that had been established.
(somber piano music)
- I was 11 years old at the time,
and I had no idea there would be violence on the bridge.
So when they lined up for the march, I got in line too.
We marched up to the bridge and over it.
And I saw this line, the police were lined
all the way across all four lane, state troopers.
I'm standing there waiting for the front to go down,
when suddenly I hear what I thought were gunshots
and screams.
Before we could turn to run, it was too late.
They came in from both sides, the front and the back,
and they were just beating people,
old, young, male, female, Black, white.
It didn't matter.
People lay everywhere, not moving, bleeding,
and you couldn't stop to help them, or you'd be beaten too.
- If you look at that moment,
clearly the odds are on the side of those with the batons.
It's not on the side of a bunch of unarmed protesters,
except those folks were armed with conviction
and an extraordinary courage.
And at the end of the day, they won.
(somber piano music)
(audience applauding)
Throughout that speech, what I tried to describe is that
America from the start was in fact made up of outsiders
and misfits and people who were often dismissed
or discarded.
♪ Just freedom, freedom ♪
That's what made America unique.
(soft hopeful music)
You are America,
unconstrained by habit and convention,
unencumbered by what is
because you're ready to seize what ought to be.
The single most powerful word in our democracy
is the word we.
We the people, we shall overcome.
Yes, we can.
Oh, what a glorious task we are given
to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.
(audience applauding)
Part of the reason why we thought that this excerpt
was appropriate to be etched in the building itself
is because it speaks to the priorities of the foundation.
Our goal is not to just create a monument to my presidency,
but rather to describe for anybody who visits,
how Michelle and I, and so many others
stood on the shoulders of
those who had fought the good fight before us.
And hopefully, that then will inspire
a new generation of activists.
We want them to go through the exhibits and the stories
of my presidency and say, "Oh, this is a part of me.
This belongs to me."
- One of the things we want people to take away
from that experience is to feel empowered,
to understand how they can make change once they leave.
And this is something that is really modeled
through the history of the modern civil rights movement
and the truly wonderful example of Selma.
- Bloody Sunday continues to be relevant
and resonates today
because we're still fighting for the same things.
Sometimes we give it new names like voter suppression
and police brutality.
I think it's very, very important for generations to come
that this history is not forgotten.
It's too important to the fabric of this nation
to be forgotten.
- What I hope the quote provides is a sense
for all those folks on the South Side of Chicago
that they count, that they matter.
So my hope is, is that in the same way
that John Lewis gave me the sense of meaning and purpose,
that Michelle and I are able to pass that on,
because it's our daughters' generation.
The goal of the Obama Presidential Center
is for them to be able to identify that as an institution
and a space that supports them in their vision
for the future.
We honor those who walked so we could run.
We must run so our children soar,
and we will not grow weary,
for we believe in this country's sacred promise.
(audience cheering) (audience applauding)
(soft hopeful music)