<p>Former President Barack Obama paid homage to the city that inspired him to run for public office and led him to love, while also pointedly offering up heavy hitting lessons about the country’s democratic values at the long-awaited grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side Thursday.</p><p>The $850 million center in Jackson Park is more than a decade in the making, having survived a protracted five-year legal battle over its location, as well as pandemic-related delays. But the star-studded opening brought out three former presidents, musical legends and former staffers to celebrate a center that Obama said will “serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious our democracy truly is.”</p><p>“The exhibits in the center are not meant to evoke nostalgia for some bygone era, some unattainable past that we can dream about, and saying, 'Oh, we miss you, Barack,'” Obama said. “They're meant to remind us of who we can be, to remind us of what's possible so we can forge ahead, clear-eyed and confident and do the work that still needs to be done.”</p><p>Obama used his speech to try to inspire Americans to fight back against “cynicism and despair,” and to remind them of the basic shared values of the country’s democratic founding.