Former US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended the grand opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, but the event was marred by controversy over unpaid Black contractors and community displacement.
Activist Jaymal Green cited a report by the African American Contractors Association that at least 10 Black-owned firms are owed millions of dollars for work connected to the project.
Green also criticized President Obama for declining to support a Community Benefits Agreement that could have protected longtime Black families from displacement and rising housing costs.
The debate around presidential project funding had already been heating up before the ceremony, with some comparing the Obama Presidential Center's funding to the Trump administration's plans to use taxpayer funds for ballroom construction.
The Obama Presidential Center was built using approximately $850 million in private Obama Foundation funds, with no taxpayer dollars going toward the buildings or operations.
