AGC Administrative Center Plaza
In his bestselling memoir Dreams From My Father, Obama writes about the circumstances surrounding his first political speech, made on Feb. 18, 1981, outside of the administration building as part of a movement to persuade the Occidental Board of Trustees to divest the College of its investments in South Africa. “I found myself drawn into a larger role [in the divestment movement] ... I noticed that people had begun to listen to my opinions,” Obama recalled. “When we started planning the rally for the trustees’ meeting, and somebody suggested that I open the thing, I quickly agreed. I figured I was ready.” Obama’s speech was planned as a carefully rehearsed piece of street theater—two white students dressed in paramilitary uniforms dragged him o before he could finish to dramatize what often happened to South African activists. “They started yanking me o the stage, and I was supposed to act like I was trying to break free, except a part of me wasn’t acting, I really wanted to stay up there ... I had so much left to say.”
Rally photo credit: The rally at Coons Hall, Feb. 18, 1981. Thomas Grauman, The New Yorker