Transcripts For CSPAN Former President Obama Makes First Pub

CSPAN Former President Obama Makes First Public Remarks Since Leaving Office April 30, 2017

Half. [applause] everybody have a seat. So, what has been going on while i have gone . [laughter] it is wonderful to be home. It is wonderful to be at the university of chicago. It is wonderful to be on the southside of chicago. It is wonderful to be with these young people here. What i want to do is maybe speak very briefly at the top about why we are here and then i want to spend most of the time we are together hearing from these remarkable young people who are representative for some amazing young people in the audience as well. I was telling these guys that it was a little over 30 years ago that i came to chicago. I was 25 years old, and i had gotten out of college filled with idealism and absolutely certain that somehow i was going to change the world. I have no idea how, or where or what i was going to be doing. I worked first two payoffs and student loans, and then i went to work at the city college of new york on their harlem campus with some student organizing. Then there were a group of churches on the south side who tried to deal with the steel plant that had closed in the area. The economic station that had been taking place but also the racial tensions and turnover that was happening in these communities. So they formed an organization. They hired me as what was called a community organizer. I did not really know what that meant. Or how to do it. But i accepted the job and for the next three years i lived right here in hyde park but i worked further south in communities like roseland and west pullman. Working class neighborhoods. Many of which had changed rapidly from white to black in the late 1960s, 1970s. And full of wonderful people who were proud of their communities, proud of the steps they had taken to try to move into the middle class, but were also worried about their futures because in some cases their kids werent doing as well as they had. In some cases these communities had been badly neglected for a very long time. The distribution of City Services were unequal. Schools were underfunded. There was a lack of opportunity. And for three years i tried to do something about it. I am the first to acknowledge that i did not set the world on fire. Nor did i transform these communities in any significant way, although we did some good things. But it did change me. This community gave me a lot more than i was able to give in return. Because this community taught me that ordinary people, when working together, can do extraordinary things. This community taught me that everybody has a story to tell. That is important. This experience taught me that beneath the surface differences of people that there were common hopes and Common Dreams and common aspirations, common values that stitched us together as americans. Even though i after three years left for law school, the lessons that had been taught to me here as an organizer are ones that stayed with me. And effectively gave me the foundation for my subsequent political career and the themes that i would talk about and as a state legislator and as a u. S. Senator and ultimately as president of the United States. I tell you that history because on the back end of my presidency, now that its completed, im spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing i can do for my next job . And what im convinced of is that although there are all kinds of issues that i care about, and all kinds of issues that i intend to work on, the single most important thing i can do is to help in any way i can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world. As because the one thing that im absolutely convinced of is that, yes, we confront a whole range of challenges from economic inequality and lack of opportunity to a criminal Justice System that too often is skewed in ways that are unproductive, to Climate Change, to issues related to violence. All those problems are serious, they are daunting, but they are not insoluble. In the him what is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and our civic life. It has to do with the fact that because of things like political gerrymandering our parties have moved further and further apart and its harder and harder to find Common Ground. Because of money and politics, special interests dominate the debates in washington in ways that dont match up with what the majority of americans feel. Because of changes in the media, we now have a situation in which everybodys listening to people who already agree with them. And are further and further reinforcing their own realities to the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate and then try to find Common Ground and actually move solutions forward. So when i said in 2004 that there were no red states or blue states, there are United States of america, that was an aspirational comment, but i think its its one, by the way, i still believe in the sense that when you talk to individuals oneonone, people theres a lot more that people have in common than divides them. But obviously its not true when it comes to our politics and our civic life. And maybe more pernicious is the fact that people just arent involved. They get cynical. And they give up. And as a consequence we have some of the lowest voting rates of any advanced democracy and low participation rates than translate into further gap between who is governing us and what we believe. The only folks who are going to be able to solve that problem are going to be young people. The next generation. And i have been encouraged everywhere i go in the United States, but also everywhere around the world to see how sharp and astute and tolerant will and thoughtful our young people are. Will a lot more sophisticated than i was at their age. So the question then becomes what are the ways in which we can create pathways for them to take leadership, for them to get involved, are there ways which we can knock down some of the barriers that are discouraging young people about a life of service . And if there are, i want to work with them to knock down those barriers and to get this next generation to accelerate their move towards leadership. Because if that happens, i think we are going to be just fine. I end up being incredibly optimistic. So with that what id like to do is to have our panelists here today each tell us a little bit about themselves and what id ask them ahead of time, i did give them the question ahead of time, i asked them to describe for me what it is that they see among their peers that they think discourages voting participation, paying attention to some of the issues, getting involved, do they have some immediate suggestions the kinds of things that would get young people more involved and engaged and discover their voices. Once we have gone through the entire panel, then we are just going to open it up and see how it works. And hopefully it will be interesting. Ill find it interesting. Hopefully youll find it interesting. All right. We are going to start with kelsey. Kelsey thank you, mr. President. Good morning, everyone. Its an absolute honor to be here with youall. My name is kelsey, a senior at Loyola University of chicago where i spent the last four years studying marketing with leadership studies. I had the pleasure of being very involved on loyolas campus. I have a number of Different Things going on and looking forward to graduating in less than two weeks and pursuing my masters in Higher Education and students affairs. I think to answer your question, my passion for working with College Students does stem from the ability to work with activists and work with Community Engagement and understanding that College Students during that transformative time is the opportunity for students to learn about these important issues and really find their voice. Understanding we cant just get discouraged when something doesnt go our way immediately, but being able to work towards that end common goal. President obama fantastic. Ok. [applause] good morning, everyone. I grew up in milwaukee, wisconsin. Im a u. S. Army veteran. I major in sociology with a minor in legal studies at Roosevelt University. Yeah. I worked currently im a Research Assistant at Roosevelt University focusing on Community Based Collaborative Research projects. We have worked on projects ranging from landlordtenant issues to Leadership Programs currently working on the project about the day labor market in chicago. Pleasure to be here. President obama thank you. Good morning. Im tiffany. I was raised on the south side of chicago in a lowincome household. I graduated valedictorian from Burnside School scholastic academy. Graduated number one from Chicago State University with my bachelors in chemistry. [applause] and graduate interested chicago state a second time with my doctorate in pharmacy. I currently have been a Community Pharmacy manager on the south side of chicago and for the past three years and also author of 10 tactics to tackle studying. The guide to elementary school, high school, and undergraduate success. [applause] im max. You can see what they have made me follow now. I have been involved in Civic Engagement and civic life here at the university of chicago to the institute of politics, which has been an absolute blessing and fantastic resource to all of us. The summer after my first year here he they gave stipends so that i think 16 of us could go to des moines for the summer of 2015 to work with certain press agencies and campaigns. How far you can move by moving one vote in the caucus. More time on this later. I have also been involved on campus with Student Government and college republicans. Ayanna hello, everyone. My name is ayanna watkins, the baby of the panel. Im currently a senior at Kenwood Academy high school. [applause] throughout my High School Career i have been involved in numerous studentled organizations. Multiple sport teams, etc. Outside of high school i have been involved in a lot of communebased organizations to volunteer my time with the youth as well. In the fall i will be attending Queens College in dallas, texas, with multiple scholarships in my name and im also a entrepreneur. I would say, with my own clothing line. [applause] harish my name is harish and i live on the north side of chicago. I arrived as a proud immigrant around the age of 1 with my mom and sister from india. Attended Public Schools and went to the university of luna chicago both for undergraduate studies and my masters in urban planning policy. After graduating, i did become an organizer. With somebody in the audience i want to point out, a mentor of mine. That led me to run for office and most recently now i work for new america. New america chicago. Im the Deputy Director here in chicago. Where we did what we are doing today. We infuse new ideas, new voices in Public Policy conversations. Im looking forward to this. President obama fantastic. All right. As can see we have an Extraordinary Group here of sharp young people. But you also notice they have avoided my question. Thats good because it tees us the next segment. In look, in the president ial election you have maybe half of your peers voting. In midterm elections, about a third of your peers vote. I suspect that if you ask a will the of young people about a wide range of issues, regardless of where they sit ideologically, they would say, yeah, im very concerned about the economy. Im very concerned about foreign policy. Im very concerned about this or that or the other. But a lot of them feel as if their involvement would not make an a difference. Its not worth their time. And in fact they are discouraged but feel disempowered. All of you have already shown yourselves to be willing to get out there and be involved. And to make a difference. And im curious as to what is it you think that prompted you to get involved in some fashion . And also when you talk to your friends, what is it that you think is preventing them from doing so . That might make a difference . We dont have to go in order. If anybody wants to start. I like that in you. Ayanna although i am in high school, a lot of my peer, im a senior, some of my peers were able to vote this year, but overall im grateful that i have the opportunity to take courses at Kenwood Academy high school that involve political science. We take africanamerican studies, etc. Where not a lot of schools have that opportunity. I would say awareness is something that holds a lot of our youth back from getting involved because i im privileged. In so therefore i step up and i encourage others to get involved and to have a voice, but i think the youth, feel like they dont have a voice. That plays a huge factor as to why the results are the way they are. If that makes sense. President obama it makes a lot of sense. Do you think as you were coming up social studies, civic education, what kids are getting in the classroom would make a difference . Do you think that it would make more of a difference if young people had the opportunities to volunteer with organizations, to engage in Community Service . Him what is it you think that would make the biggest difference in young people seeing, you know what, if i volunteer for this organization, i might make a difference in my community. Or if i participate on this issue. Somebody might hear my voice and might actually make a difference. What do you think would be most effective . In encouraging people . Ayanna in order to encourage the youth, it involves to have a strong support system behind it to bring the youth up. So, for instance, in school, we are taught social studies, but we tend to focus on mathematics, science, english because thats what we are always brought up on because test exams, etc. So social studies and civics, education tends to be pushed to the side. I feel like it should be encouraged in the School Systems because the majority of our youth are in school. And from there build outside programs. From there i agree because since i went to kenwood, too, that was kind of the start of me getting my foot in the door to want to expand and do outside things. And also funding after School Programs and summer programs because i had two to three jobs ever since eighth grade every summer. Tiffany because, one, you make money. Also help my resume. Help me get my feet wet to allow me to see different opportunities. To see if i liked being a counselor. If i wanted to be a cheerleading coach. If i wanted to be a tutor. Just trying Different Things every summer helped me to kind of hone in as to what i want to do with the rest of my life. And then after School Programs, too. The funding for that, it helps keep the kids off the streets. Hopefully in chicago well have less violence since theyll have something to do. And also enriching their lives in school and after school and also in the summer. President obama ok. Im sorry. Kelsey, didnt you work was it the bronx that you worked during the summer . What prompted you to first of all describe what the experience was, and then give us a sense of what inspired you to do Something Like that. Kelsey alternative break Immersion Program which is a program that sends students over spring break and winter break. The spring break of my junior year of college i was in the south bronx working with an Incredible Group out there. A group of 10 students and we are there like a lot of what you were saying, to enrich the students lives we were there. Whats so unique from loyola, we understand the privilege we have to be welcomed into these communities. We are not there we are supporting them. We are there to learn from them. Understand the experiences these students are having. To understand just how wonderful so many of these Young Elementary School kids are. I remember the principal at Immaculate Conception the school we were at coming up to us at the end of the day i hope youall realize this is the only week out of the year the children get to finger paint. Because it is too messy. A very simple thing. But really goes to show the impact that young people can have in these communities. President obama you were going to Say Something and obviously your service in the military is an example of Public Service that thankfully everybody now appreciates. That wasnt always the case. But what i discovered obviously was that once our veterans take off the uniform, they leave service, sometimes people forget how much talent is there and the need to tap into the amazing young people that have served in our military so that they can work in the community. And continue the leadership that they have shown while they were in the military. You have been able to make that transition, but talk a little bit about your mindset both when you went into the military and after you left, how did that change your perception in terms of your responsibilities to your community and how you might be able to make a difference. Ramuel when i joined the military i joined six months out of high school. I was working fulltime i was in school, in college where i come from, being in college is a big deal. Graduating is a bigger deal. Its all about gr

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