{"id":821771,"date":"2026-07-24T22:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/821771\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:42:10","slug":"obama-drops-in-at-wnba-event-inspiring-ninth-grade-girls-at-presidential-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/821771\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama drops in at WNBA event inspiring ninth grade girls at presidential center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteen-year-old London Harris has dreams of someday being president of the United States, and on Friday morning she got to see a former commander in chief up close. <\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprised London, along with nearly 100 other ninth grade girls, during the third annual WNBA Changemaker Day at the recently opened Obama Presidential Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt very surreal,\u201d said London, a student at Dyett High School in Washington Park. \u201cI was genuinely happy to see him and to listen to what he had to say.\u201d <\/p>\n

Obama popped into the center\u2019s Elie Wiesel Auditorium just as a panel of speakers was discussing the power of perseverance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you\u2019re all learning the power of perseverance, the power of resilience, the power of dreaming big,\u201d WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told the crowd. \u201cAnd this person … has inspired hundreds of millions of people around the world and here in the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n

Obama then walked on stage to thunderous applause.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, everybody!\u201d Obama exclaimed, wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cSettle down now,\u201d he said, smiling, as the crowd screamed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t gonna let a bunch of amazing young athletes, scholars, hoopers come through my spot without saying hello,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna start shaking hands yet because mayhem will break loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began by telling the girls how proud he was of them and then spoke of his own experiences of being a dad to two daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalia is now 28, Sasha is 25, but I remember like it was yesterday when they were your age,\u201d Obama said. \u201cWe live in a world that is a lot more complicated for you guys than it was in some ways when I was coming up. There\u2019s so much pressure and noise, and sometimes I think \u2014 especially for girls and young women \u2014 there\u2019s social attitudes that tell you that you need to be one kind of way.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama surprises a group of ninth grade girls Friday during the WNBA Changemaker Day at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on the South Side.<\/p>\n

|
\n Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

He then encouraged the girls that they were on the right track.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are going to do wonderful things, and you need to have the confidence and power that\u2019s inside you and your capacity to, you know, live out your dreams. … You\u2019re gonna have to work hard, and it\u2019s not going to be easy, but I\u2019m confident it\u2019s gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama joked with the girls about boys being \u201cknuckleheads\u201d and urged them to seek guidance from others.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important things you can do as a young person is find people who are willing to help you,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFind mentors. Find people who are doing the kinds of things you want to do and learn from them,\u201d he added. \u201cWe only see the little fishbowl that we live in, but you know, it turns out there\u2019s a whole big world out there full of possibilities. … The more you see out there that\u2019s possible, the better off you\u2019re going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama then joked about talking too long because he spots one of the girls \u201cabout to fall asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m used to it. That\u2019s what it\u2019s like at the Obama dinner table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Obama shook hands with some of the girls as they screamed, then took a selfie with the crowd before leaving the stage.<\/p>\n

Aliyah Myles, a student at Chicago Vocational Career Academy, grew up with Obama being a constant presence in her household. She described the former president as a huge influential figure for her mother. <\/p>\n

Next time Aliyah talks to her mother, she\u2019ll get to tell her she shook Obama\u2019s hand. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was freaking out, I was turnt, I almost passed out,\u201d Aliyah, 14, said. \u201cI was everywhere.\u201d <\/p>\n

The event kicked off just before 10 a.m. with comments from WNBA brand strategist Nina Kossoff. Friday\u2019s gathering was among many events in Chicago this week tied to the WNBA All-Star Game, which will be held Saturday at the United Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re powerful on our own, but when we come together, we can really make change,\u201d Kossoff told the girls.<\/p>\n

They also heard from a panel featuring Ari Chambers, an ESPN Journalist and commentator; Kizmet Mills, chief diversity officer at Nike; Linnae Harper, a former Chicago Sky player and now manager of athletics and sports leadership for the Obama Foundation; and Colie Edison, the WNBA\u2019s chief growth officer.<\/p>\n

It was the third WNBA Changemaker Day, and this year\u2019s theme was \u201cFinding My Superpower\u201d \u2014 something each panelist touched on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think about the word \u2018superpower,\u2019 the first thing that comes to mind is doing the impossible,\u201d Harper said. \u201cMy personal superpower is connecting people with their resources, providing a pathway for them to reach their goals.\u201d <\/p>\n

Others on the panel spoke on helping others through basketball, leadership and community efforts. The panelists then dived into explaining how they bounced back from their setbacks.<\/p>\n

The students had begun trickling into the auditorium around 9:30 a.m. Some of the girls conversed and laughed while they waited, while others danced in their seats to Justin Timberlake\u2019s \u201cCan\u2019t Stop the Feeling.\u201d <\/p>\n

In addition to Obama\u2019s surprise appearance, students were inspired by the panelists to continue pursuing their dreams and rise through any adversity they face. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis really inspired me to keep going, push everything, take time, be patient and just focus on my dreams and career,\u201d said RaKaila Jefferson, 14. <\/p>\n

For Aliyah, the event reinforced her aspirations to want to make an impact wherever she can. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to make a change,\u201d Aliyah said. \u201cI want to be known somewhere around the world.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fourteen-year-old London Harris has dreams of someday being president of the United States, and on Friday morning she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-821771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}