06/22/2026
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Obama Presidential Center's Land Tribute Stirs Up A Social Media Firestorm
The Obama Presidential Center's grand opening weekend in Chicago had star power, music, and now, a wave of online debate.
The center kicked off Thursday night with a land acknowledgment delivered by Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to Barack Obama and current CEO of the Obama Foundation. She recognized the original Indigenous inhabitants of the land, naming the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi nations.
Then on Saturday, the third day of festivities, the center brought that acknowledgment to life. The Black Hawk Performance Company, a Chicago area Native American dance troupe made up of dancers from several Indigenous tribes, performed in John Lewis Plaza. The hour long show featured a drum circle, traditional songs, and dances, including one honoring a Native American flag, with hundreds of attendees eventually joining in.
Not everyone online was feeling the warmth, though. Critics pointed to the contrast between acknowledging the land's history and the center's existence on it at all. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck called the gesture hollow, joking that the foundation seemed to be saying the land was wrongfully taken while still selling tickets at the gift shop. Writer Siraj Hashmi took a more local jab, quipping about a famous Chicago rapper being left off the list of acknowledged leaders.
The center also features a permanent placard honoring the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and a 2009 quote from Obama reflecting on broken treaties and lost land. For an opening weekend meant to celebrate Obama's legacy, the loudest conversation online ended up being about who was standing on the stage, and who was being talked about instead.
