It has been three years since former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle left the White House. Even so, they are still the most admired and the most respected couple all across the globe. With what’s happening these days, we are always reminded of this couple and their grace and dignity. This is why many Americans wish that they could turn back time.

Michelle and Barack are aware of the high esteem that they are held in. Recently, when Michelle spoke at the Obama Foundation, she talked about how this comes with its perks!

Chicago Tribe reports that when the former first lady spoke at the Illinois Institute of Technology last October 29th, she said that her husband could have decided to build his presidential library anywhere in the world since many people, even those from other countries, consider him to be ‘their president.’

At the summit, the former president announced that the Barack Obama Presidential Center would be in Chicago’s Jackson Park. According to Michelle, this place is very close to their hearts. She also revealed that even though many places worldwide were wanting to host the library, they picked Chicago’s Jackson park because this is close to their old home and near her South Side childhood home. She explained, “There’s power in the selection of Jackson Park. Barack and I don’t do things incidentally. There’s a strategy.”

She added, “Barack’s presidential library could have been anywhere in the world because there are so many people who feel like he is their president. New York wanted it. Hawaii wants it. Because it’s also an economic engine.”

In 2017, the couple unveiled their first look at the design of the planned Obama Presidential Center. They revealed that it would be a campus of three buildings and will have an eye-catching museum as the highlight. She called the center a ‘transformational project for this community.’ For the couple, this is not just a building, nor is it just a park. They are hoping that it will turn out to be a hub where everyone can foresee a brighter future for the South Side.

Barack Obama who was also present at the summit last week made headlines about his comments about the ‘woke’ culture. According to BBC, he said, “I get a sense among certain young people on social media that the way of making a change is to be as judgemental as possible about other people. If I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself because ‘Man did you see how woke I was? I called you out!’ That’s enough. If all you’re doing is casting stones, you are probably not going to get that far.”

He added, “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you politically wake, and all that stuff — you should get over that quickly. The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.”

The Barack Obama Presidential Center had to face strong opposition since its conception with the nonprofit group, Friends of the Parks that is threatening to file a lawsuit to block the development of the library. The loss of the parkland in order to build the center has also been opposed by the Protect Our Parks, a preservationist group in May 2018. Fortunately, the federal judge dismissed all of the lawsuits in June of this year.