The Obamas' Juneteenth Betrayal

 

By Sis. 'Aisha

 New York City

 

For a shai'teen such as former President Barak Obama, opening his controversial, oft-maligned Obama Presidential Library on Chicago's Southside for Juneteenth 2026 is appropriate.

 

Juneteenth is short for June 19th and it is the day a largely Black regimen of Union soldiers journeyed down to Galveston, Texas to liberate the remaining African slaves being held captive there by White slave owners. It was 1865 and Texas slave owners completely disregarded the 1863 Emancipation.

 

So, opening a nearly $800 million dollar library, which residents viewed as a gentrification tool and tried to shut down, in a star-studded affair is a festive occasion. Obama did not care who his project harmed.

 

This library can potentially thwart any freedoms or advancements made in Chicago's nearby Black communities by encouraging the increase in area rents and taxes!

 

Residential properties near public transportation cost more than properties further away because people will pay more for convenience. That is capitalism. Residents desire being near attractions, such as transportation, schools, shopping centers, or historical landmarks (i.e. Empire State Building).

 

This is not the first time President Obama harmed Chicagoans. He is the one who helped get Zionist emperor Rahm Emanuel illegally elected as Chicago's Mayor from 2011 to 2019.

 

It was under Mayor Emanuel that local Chicago police were kidnapping people and holding them at secret detention centers. It made people conscious of a city government's brazen abuse of power.

 

These actions and others prove that former President Obama is an avowed enemy of the American working class, especially Black people.

 

Chicago Southside is a predominantly black area that is home to many working class residents. However, the media has misrepresented most of Chicago as a gang-ridden death trap.

 

If the Southside was that helpless and hopeless, the Obama Presidential Library would not have been built there!

 

Former President Obama claimed he built the center for the people in that community but who are those people? The majority of Southside residents protested the library and unsuccessfully tried to stop its development through the courts.

 

Ever since the announcement that of the Obama Presidential Library as a mere idea, greedy real estate investors purchased abandoned or poorly maintained properties and did nothing to improve them. However, as the Obama Presidential Library neared completion, properties in that area increased in huge numbers.

 

Property values increase when something desirable is near it like an $850 million dollar Presidential Library designed to be a coming attraction for people all over the world. Now, is the right time to renovate apartment buildings and rent apartments for exorbitant fees for people outside the community who can afford it.

 

This is how gentrification works.

 

It is what happened in Harlem, New York when turncoat Congressman Charles Rangle invited former President Bill Clinton opened an office on highly coveted 125th Street. Area rents exploded simply for being near Clinton's office.

 

I hope Southside community leaders have a plan for overcoming this behemoth library and that it won't be as negatively disruptive to their lives.