By Bonnnie Newman Davis

What an honor for my BND Institute of Media and Culture Inc. to be a Community Partner with VCU Libraries last evening where Dr. Crystal M. Moten spoke about the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center! Dr. Moten, the Center’s Curator of Collection and Exhibitions, walked us through the facility set to open next year. “Building a Home for Change: The Obama Presidential Center,” was last night’s theme. Dr. Moten explained how the center is rooted in a larger, complex discussion about democracy, and the historical predecessors who made President and Mrs. Obama’s stories possible. She also shared the center’s storytelling goals as they relate to the events, policies, challenges and accomplishments of the Obama Presidency. Other aspects of the center, to be housed on the windy city’s south side, will include a basketball court/athletic facility, a community fruit and veggie garden, and a BRANCH OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY!! How cool is that? We had a lovely time and I thank Dr. Irene M.H. Herold, Sue Robinson, Dr. Carmen Foster, Antonia Vassar and the super staff at VCU Libraries for making this event so special for me, several of my dear friends and for my daughter, Erin Stanley, who earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of Chicago. I told Dr. Moten that Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett probably were instrumental in making sure that students such as my Erin were able to further their education at UofC. I can’t wait to attend next year’s Obama Presidential Center opening!! Go online and read more about this monumental project that will honor America’s first Black president!

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