[Music] okay we got a big night ahead thank you all so much thank you so much okay hey hello Chicago yeah all right something I I something wonderfully magical is in the air isn't it yeah you know we're feeling it here in this Arena but it's spreading all across this country we love a familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long you know what I'm talking about it's the contagious power of Hope the anticipation the energy the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day the chance to Vanquish
the Demons of of fear Division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing The Unfinished promise of this great nation the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for America hope is making a comeback yeah but to be honest I am realizing that until recently I have mourned the dimming of that hope and maybe you've experienced the same feelings is that deep pit in my stomach a palpable sense of dread about the future and for me that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief the last time I
was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice folks I still feel her loss so profoundly I wasn't even sure if I'd Be steady enough to stand before you tonight but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense I of Duty that I feel to honor her memory and and to and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders
made to give us a better future you see my mom in her steady quiet way lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life she believed that all children all all people have value that anyone can succeed have given the opportunity she and my father didn't aspire to be wealthy in fact they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed they understood that it wasn't enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning so my mother volunteered at the local school she she always looked out
for the other Kids on the Block she was glad to do the thankless unglamorous work that for Generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation the belief that if you do unto others if you love thy neighbor if you work and scrape and sacrifice it will pay off if not for you then maybe for your children or your grandchild you see those values have been passed on through Family Farms and Factory towns through Treeline streets and crowded tenements through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms those were the values my mother poured
into me until her very last breath kamla Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values even though our mothers grew up in ocean apart they shared the same belief in the promise of this country that's why her mother moved here from India at 19 it's why she taught kamla about Justice about the obligation to lift others up about our responsibility to give more than we take she'd often tell her daughter don't sit around and complain about things do something so with that voice in her head kamla went out and she worked hard
in school graduating from an HBCU earning her law degree at a state school and then she went on to work for the people fighting to hold law Breakers accountable strengthening the rule of law fighting to get folks better wages cheaper prescription drugs a good education decent Health Care Child Care Elder Care from a middle class household kamla worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America my girl KLA Harris is more than ready for this moment she is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the
presidency and she is one of the most dignified a tribute to her mother to my mother and to your mother too the embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country her story is your story it's my story it's the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life look KLA knows like we do that regardless of where you come from what you look like who you love how you worship or what's in your bank account we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life all of our contributions deserve
to be accepted and valued because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American no one kamla has shown her allegiance to this nation not by spewing anger and bitterness but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others she understands that most most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth if if we bankrupt a business if we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis we don't get a second
third or fourth chance if things don't go our way we don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead no we don't get to change the rules so we always win if we see a mountain in front of us we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top no we put our heads down we get to work in America we do something and throughout her entire life that's what we've seen from kamla Harris the steel of her spine the steadiness of her upbringing the honesty of
her example and yes the joy of her laughter and her light it couldn't be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race only kamla Harris truly understands the Unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great now unfortunately we know what comes next we know folks are going to do everything they they can to distort her truth my husband and I sadly know a little something about this for years Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us see his his limited narrow view of the world
made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardwork and highly educated successful people who happen to be black wait I I I want to know I want to know who's going to tell him who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs look it's his same old con his same old con doubling down on ugly misogynistic racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better look because cutting our health care taking away our freedom to control our
bodies the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives mothers and daughters shutting down the Department of Education Banning our books none of that will prepare our kids for the future demonizing our children for being who they are and love who they love look that doesn't make anybody's life better instead instead it only makes us small and let me tell you this going small is never the answer going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids going small is
petty it's unhealthy and quite frankly it's unpresidential so why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office why would we normalize that type of backward leadership doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics it only serves to further disc enourage good big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all America our parents taught us better than that and we deserve so much better than that that's why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good big-hearted people there is no other choice than kamla Harris and Tim Walls
no other choice but as we Embrace this renewed sense of hope let us not forget the despair we have felt let us not forget what we are up against yes kamla and Tim are doing great now we're loving it they're packing Arenas across the country folks are energized we are feeling good good but remember there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome who are ready to question and criticize every move kamla makes who are eager to spread those lies who don't want to vote for a woman who will continue to
prioritize building their wealth over ensuring that everyone has enough so no matter how good we we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day this is going to be an uphill battle so folks we cannot be our own worst enemies no see cuz the minute something goes wrong the minute a lie takes hold folks we cannot start ringing our hands we cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right and we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like kamla instead of doing everything we can to get someone like
kamla elected kamla and Tim they have lived amazing lives and I I am confident that they will lead with compassion inclusion and Grace but they are still only human they are not perfect and like all of us they will make mistakes but luckily y'all this is not just on them nah uh-uh this is up to us all of us to be the solution that we seek it's up to all of us to be the anecdote to the darkness and division look I don't care how you identify politically whether you're Democrat Republican independent or none of
the above this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right to stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and Humanity for basic respect dignity and empathy for the values at the very Foundation of this democracy it's up to us to remember what kamla's mother told her don't just sit around and complain do something so if they lie about her and they will we've got to do something something if we see a bad poll and we will we got to put down that phone and do
something if we start feeling tired if we start feeling that dread creeping back in we got to pick ourselves up throw water on our face and what we only have two and 1 half months y'all to get this done only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and and has a voting plan so we cannot afford for anyone anyone anyone America to sit on their hands and wait to be called don't complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to you to ask you for your support there
is simply no time for that kind of foolishness you know what you need to do so consider this to be your official ask Michelle Obama is asking you no I'm telling y'all to do something because [Applause] you all this election is going to be close in some states just a handful listen to me a handful of votes in every Precinct could decide the winner so we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us our fate is is in our hands in 77 days we have the
power to turn our country away from the fear Division and smallness of the past we have the power to marry our hope with our action we have the power to pay forward the love sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us we did it before y'all and we sure can do it again let us work like our lives depend on it and let us keep moving our country forward and go higher yes always higher than we've ever gone before as we elect the next president and vice president of
the United States KLA Harris and Tim Walls thank you all God bless now before I go I have one more job tonight yeah one more job you all thank you for all the love but it is now my honor to introduce somebody who knows a whole lot about hope someone who has spent his life strengthening our democracy and let me tell you as someone who lives with him he wakes up every day every day and thinks about what's best for this country please welcome America's 44th president and the love of my life Barack Obama [Music]
[Music]
