Barry's Back: Former President Obama Is Speaking In Chicago On Monday
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 21, 2017 3:53PM
Barack Obama is once again ready to greet his public. Aside from a between-the-lines rebuke of Donald Trump's immigration order issued from his office in January, not getting a holiday, and some very jealous-making evidence of kitesurfing adventures, we haven't heard much from the erstwhile POTUS since his second term expired. But on Friday, Obama's office announced that he'll be making his first speech since leaving office on Monday, right here in his adopted hometown of Chicago. Don't call it a comeback.
Obama returns with a town hall conversation at University of Chicago on Monday, where he'll talk about civic engagement and community organizing. It happens 11 a.m. at UChicago's Logan Center for the Arts and, no, tickets are no longer available. (The allotment was previously distributed, with many slots set aside for university students from around the Chicago area.) Obama will be joined onstage by roughly a half-dozen young activists, an Obama spokesman told the Sun Times. The event will be televised, according to the Tribune.
Obama's early political career of course stemmed from community organizing on the South Side of Chicago. And he was once a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.
According to the program, the event "is part of President Obama’s post-presidency goal to encourage and support the next generation of leaders driven by strengthening communities around the country and the world."
Obama and former First Lady Michelle (who is not expected to appear on Monday) continue to accept public ideas for the Obama Foundation, which will be constructed on the same South Side of Chicago complex that will house his presidential library and museum. Monday's event is not connected with the Foundation.
It's Obama's first public event in Chicago since he delivered his stirring farewell address on January 10 at McCormick Place.
According to the New York Times, Obama's schedule will remain busy (and largely publicly visible) beyond Monday's talk. The conversation "will be followed by an awards ceremony in Boston; a series of public remarks as well as private paid speeches in the United States and Europe; and an appearance at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel."