{"id":48179,"date":"2017-01-12T11:28:56","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T17:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=48179"},"modified":"2017-01-12T20:41:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T02:41:53","slug":"supporters-inspired-by-obamas-call-to-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/supporters-inspired-by-obamas-call-to-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporters inspired by Obama&#8217;s call to action"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Katie Watkins and Ritu Prasad<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">Joyce Brown still vividly remembers celebrating with the crowd in Grant Park when America elected its first black President.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was surreal. It was like a fairytale,\u201d said Brown, 68, reminiscing as she watched McCormick Place empty slowly after President Barack Obama\u2019s farewell address Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Brown, a South Sider, said she has attended all of Obama\u2019s major speeches, from Grant Park to both inaugurations and felt privileged to hear his parting words. For Brown, Obama\u2019s newfound frankness was particularly moving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was more real in calling out the issues of racism, of sexism, all the things he\u2019s been so diplomatic about,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Takeaways of Obama&#039;s farewell\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/199259817?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>She said also she was motivated by Obama\u2019s appeal to supporters to continue his legacy. \u201cI know that the people are not going to let all of the things he\u2019s accomplished die. Shame on us if we let it die,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n<p>For many of the thousands in attendance, Obama\u2019s urging against prejudice and his call to action left them feeling inspired and more hopeful for the future.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Chris Pilat, 34, who left a business trip early to fly in for Obama\u2019s Chicago farewell, said the speech left him feeling energized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m super optimistic,\u201d Pilat said. \u201cWe\u2019re the change. It\u2019s not one person, it\u2019s people and our ideas\u2026I think currents are stronger than little ripples here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet, Obama\u2019s message of a positive future didn\u2019t quell Kate Evans\u2019 fears about the new administration, especially given the anti-immigrant rhetoric surrounding the 2016 election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s dark what comes next. And listening to [Obama] speak so eloquently really made that feel real,\u201d Evans, 34, said. She added the president\u2019s remarks on the current situation of immigrants in America resonated deeply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019ve forgotten that we\u2019ve all come from somewhere else. People who are coming here now, they\u2019re just like my great-grandfather was. &#8230;They\u2019re the same,\u201d Evans said, biting her lip to hold back tears.<\/p>\n<p>Evans wasn\u2019t alone in shedding tears: As Obama wiped his eyes on stage, the crowd at McCormick Place joined him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t expect to feel emotional,\u201d said Arielle Rosen, 39, who flew in from California with her partner to watch the speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been hard to not stay in that place of anger and fear, but rather to be in a place of action,\u201d Rosen said. \u201cHis words are reminding me that that\u2019s where there\u2019s power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moving young Americans to act was one of the strongest parts of the president\u2019s message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis generation coming up \u2013 unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic \u2013 I\u2019ve seen you in every corner of the country. \u2026You\u2019ll soon outnumber any of us, and I believe as a result that the future is in good hands,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_48188\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48188\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-48188\" src=\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/01\/SkullyandSon-300x256.jpg\" alt=\"Father and Son After Speech\" width=\"300\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/01\/SkullyandSon-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/01\/SkullyandSon-768x654.jpg 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/01\/SkullyandSon-1024x872.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/01\/SkullyandSon.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-48188\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Skully Andrews and his son Colby attend the speech together. (Ritu Prasad\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Skully Andrews, 42, a parent of an interracial family and a middle school teacher in Champaign, said he was glad Obama pushed America\u2019s youth toward getting involved with politics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Obama] put it the best way &#8212; if you don\u2019t like it, get a clipboard and get out there and run yourself,\u201d Andrews said after the speech. \u201cThat was the message that I got here, that it\u2019s not over yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For 19-year-old Yasmin Affey, Obama\u2019s presidency was her first \u201creal one.\u201d The Chicago native flew in from college in Connecticut for the speech \u201cto be part of history,\u201d after waiting in line to get tickets for hours in freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>Like Brown, Affey said she fondly remembers election night eight years ago when she celebrated Obama\u2019s first presidential victory with family and friends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe energy [in my house] was the same energy that was in Grant Park,\u201d Affey said. \u201cMy family loves Obama so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Affey admitted she was fearful about America\u2019s future after the results of the 2016 election, but that Obama had inspired her once again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a little bit more optimistic,\u201d Affey said. \u201cAfter hearing President Obama\u2019s speech about how we inspire each other, and just sitting in the room with all these people who are probably very open-minded and very accepting of others just made me a little more optimistic about the future of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Thousands gather Tuesday at McCormick Place where\u00a0 President Barack Obama delivered his farewell address to the nation. (Ritu Prasad\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Katie Watkins and Ritu Prasad Joyce Brown still vividly remembers celebrating with the crowd in Grant Park when America elected its first black President. \u201cIt was surreal. It was like a fairytale,\u201d said Brown, 68, reminiscing as she watched McCormick Place empty slowly after President Barack Obama\u2019s farewell address Tuesday night. Brown, a South [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340,"featured_media":48187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2951,30,3516],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-48179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politicsnational-security","category-public-affairs","category-winter-2017","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Supporters inspired by Obama&#039;s call to action - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/supporters-inspired-by-obamas-call-to-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supporters inspired by Obama&#039;s call to action - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Katie Watkins and Ritu Prasad Joyce Brown still vividly remembers celebrating with the crowd in Grant Park when America elected its first black President. \u201cIt was surreal. 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