V007-EEUU INAUGURACION BIBLIOTECA OBAMA

STORY: Former U.S. President Barack Obama, celebrating a new museum and civic center dedicated to his eight years in the White House, called on Americans to resist the forces of political cynicism and division and instead embrace "our shared responsibilities as citizens."

The 44th U.S. president, who left office nearly a decade ago, led a crowd of thousands on Thursday (June 18) attending a music-filled grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center, a lakefront Chicago campus of granite, nature and art honoring and archiving his administration.

He was joined by his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and a list of dignitaries that included three other former U.S. presidents, several foreign heads of state and a cluster of A-list recording artists, among them Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen.

The $850 million landmark development, which opens to the public on Friday, ranks as the greatest single investment in a century for Chicago's long-neglected South Side, where the Obamas were married and made their family's home.

In separate speeches they delivered on Thursday, Barack and Michelle Obama also pointed to the museum as a symbol of democratic ideals they contrasted with the rancor and upheaval pervading U.S. politics under President Donald Trump, whose name was mentioned by neither of the Obamas.

Apart from the throng of invited guests at the center itself, a crowd of thousands more ticketed spectators watched the ceremony on a big screen from another park near the center. The proceedings were also carried on a global livestream.

The Obama Center, occupying 19.3 acres of historic Jackson Park, is an ambitious blend of landscaping and architecture encompassing such elements as a playground, gardens, a concert hall and NBA-sized basketball court. Organizers have said they expect the Obama Center to draw 750,000 to 1 million visitors a year. Money for the center was raised privately through the former first couple's Chicago-based nonprofit Obama Foundation.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

With world leaders and famous musicians, Obamas open the Obama Presidential Center

VIDEO SHOWS: VARIOUS SHOTS OF CELEBRITIES LIKE TOM HANKS, OPRAH PRESENT / SOUND FROM MICHELLE OBAMA AND BARACK OBAMA SPEECHES / VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER / VARIOUS SASHA AND MALIA OBAMA / SINGERS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, JENNIFER HUDSON AND STEVIE WONDER / SHOTS OF FORMER PRESIDENTS BUSH, CLINTON AND WIVES

RESENDING WITH FULL SHOTLIST AND SCRIPT

SHOWS: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (JUNE 18, 2026)(THE OBAMA FOUNDATION - Must courtesy The Obama Foundation. No resale. No archive. Music not cleared for use, please check with the applicable collecting society or relevant rights holders in your territory regarding clearance of any sound recordings.)

1. WIDE OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (JUNE 18, 2026)(REUTERS - Music not cleared for use, please check with the applicable collecting society or relevant rights holders in your territory regarding clearance of any sound recordings)

2. ACTOR TOM HANKS ATTENDING THE EVENT

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (JUNE 18, 2026)(THE OBAMA FOUNDATION - Must courtesy The Obama Foundation. No resale. No archive. Music not cleared for use, please check with the applicable collecting society or relevant rights holders in your territory regarding clearance of any sound recordings.)

3. TALK SHOW HOST OPRAH WINFREY AT THE EVENT

4. FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY MATTEO RENZI BEING INTRODUCED ON STAGE AND WALKS OFF-STAGE

5. FORMER PRESIDENT OF MONGOLIA TSAKHIAGIIN ELBEGDORJ

6. FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA JUSTIN TRUDEAU

7. FORMER CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY ANGELA MERKEL

8. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND HIS WIFE LAURA BUSH WALKING ON STAGE

9. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND WIFE JILL BIDEN WALKING ON STAGE

10. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA AND THEIR KIDS MALIA AND SASHA

11. CROWD CHEERING

12. WIDE OF EVENT

13. THOUSANDS GATHERED AND CHEERING FROM "THE MIDWAY", A PARK NEARBY IN THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO

14. SINGER JENNIFER HUDSON WALKING ON STAGE TO SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

15. WIDE FORMER FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA WALKING ON-STAGE TO GIVE HER SPEECH

16. FORMER CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU AND FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL CLAPPING AT THE EVENT

17. SASHA AND MALIA OBAMA LISTENING AT EVENT

18. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA SAYING:

"So please indulge me for a moment, because I'm going to take a little time to do something that I know my husband will not do today, and that is to fully sing his praises [CAMERA ON BARACK LOOKING DOWN AND THEN FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS LISTENING] Barack, you gotta look at me [CAMERA ON BARACK SHAKING HIS HEAD AND CAMERA BACK ON MICHELLE]

19. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA SAYING:

"Eight years in the crucible and not once did you melt from the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence, your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage, your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency, your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakeable moral fiber. And to do it all as a first, and the higher standard that comes with all that, the claims that a U.S. Senator and constitutional law expert wasn't qualified for the job, the lies about your birthright, your faith, your patriotism, the outrage when you stated the biological fact that if you'd had a son that he too would be black. Yet you were unflappable at every turn, always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view."

19. BARACK OBAMA LISTENING IN

20. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA SAYING:

"You were doing the people's work, rescuing our economy, expanding health care, ending a war, ordering the Bin Laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a Peace Prize. [CROWD CHEERS]"

21. SASHA AND MALIA LISTENING

22. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA SAYING:

"Our greatest hope is that this Center can reflect back just a fraction of that light. That it can capture the beauty of who we all are. No matter what we look like or where we come from or how much money we earn or how we pray or vote or speak or love."

23. CROWD STANDING UP AS FORMER PRESIDENT OBAMA WALKS ON STAGE

24. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA STANDING UP AND WALKING ON-STAGE

25. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:

"And it's why we designed the Center not to be some lifeless mausoleum. I am too young for that. Not just a place to see Michelle's dresses, although I understand that will be the top attraction. We wanted it to be a vibrant, living celebration of community, where we can learn together and share the joys of art and music and sport and play. Because it's in those moments that we're reminded of our common humanity."

26. THOUSANDS LISTENING AT A WATCH PARTY FROM "THE MIDWAY", A NEARBY PARK IN THE SOUTH SIDE

27. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:

"Democracy can be frustrating, it can be slow, it can be inefficient. And yet more than anything, I hope this Center will serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious our democracy truly is."

28. CROWD LISTENING

29. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:

"A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people, and that no one is above the law or beneath its protection."

30. WIDE OF OBAMA SPEAKING

31. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:

"A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections, recognizing that in a large, complicated society like ours, no group or faction gets its way 100% of the time."

32. FORMER PRESIDENTS AND MICHELLE OBAMA AND MALIA AND SASHA CLAPPING AS OBAMA SPEAKS

33. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:

"The exhibits in the Center are not meant to evoke nostalgia for some gauzy bygone era, some unattainable past that we can dream about and say, oh, we miss you, Barack. They're meant to remind us of who we can be."

34. WIDE OF PEOPLE LISTENING

35. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA ENDING HIS SPEECH AND WALKING AWAY

36. WIDE OF OBAMA SHAKING HANDS WITH FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTS AFTER HIS SPEECH

37. SINGER BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ON STAGE

38. SINGER STEVIE WONDER ON STAGE

39. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTS DANCING AS FAMOUS SINGERS PERFORM

40. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT OBAMA HUGGING FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND OBAMA WALKS OFF STAGE

41. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN WALKS OVER TO THE PODIUM AS EVENT ENDS

42. WIDE OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

43. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT HIS GRANDDAUGHTER AT THE PODIUM AND WALKS AWAY

44. WIDE OF STAGE WHERE MUSIC WAS PLAYED

Reuters