The good news in bad times is: “Hope has a home, and it’s time to open its doors”. The Obama Presidential Center, donated by former US President Barack Obama, will open in Chicago this Thursday. In doing so, he is continuing a decades-long tradition that calls on former presidents to open libraries and museums in their name in which their own careers should be presented in the most positive way possible. The institutions should also be used as event locations, serve as community centers and be dedicated to (political) education. In contrast to the current President Donald Trump, who, according to his own statements, does not like museums and educational institutions and would therefore rather donate a luxury hotel in Florida after his term in office, the Obama Presidential Center is primarily intended to document the endangered US democracy and the history of the civil rights movement in an interactive exhibition.
