by WorldTribune Staff, June 19, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

For the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Barack Obama called on his usual posse of celebrities, such as Bruce Springsteen and Bono.

“This Grand Opening ceremony will be unlike any other — filled with music, performances, and hope,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation, and top operative in the Obama White House. “The Grand Opening Ceremony will reflect a spirit of inspiration and joy, with a big boost from the performers who are sharing their talent with us. We hope to inspire people everywhere to believe in their power to bring change home.”

For a number of black contractors who worked on the project, hope is not a word they would use.

Construction companies are now reporting that the Obama Center owes them amounts ranging from the tens of thousands to multiple millions in unpaid construction fees. And in the case of many of the black-owned businesses, they face bankruptcy if they don’t get paid soon, Fox News reported.

Adamson Plumbing owner Mike Owen says he is owed $4 million by the Obama Center and it is a hole in his budget he might not be able to survive.

“I’ve never seen this happen since I’ve been in business,” African American Contractors Association President Omar Shareef said. “The building does look nice, but the fact doesn’t matter that they’re not paying our damn contractors.”

“The promise was that this project was going to uplift minority contractors and uplift the community,” Shareef continued. “What sense is celebrating Juneteenth if our black contractors are not getting their money?”

Shareef also said that many of these black-owned businesses are saying they wished they had never become involved with the Obama Center.

“The situation is compounded by the fact that the Obama Foundation never funded the $470 million backup fund they agreed to bankroll in case costs ran over the Center’s budget. So far, the Foundation has put a mere $1 million in the fund, an amount that doesn’t come anywhere near covering the cost overruns and unpaid construction fees,” Breitbart News reported.

The backup fund “was supposed to be the guarantee that Chicago and Illinois taxpayers would not be on the hook to pay for the overruns. But now that is looking like taxpayers might be stuck with the bills despite the agreement the Obama Foundation signed with state and local officials.”

Freedom Rocks! Until It Is Gone

  Black contractors owed millions as Obama Library opens on Juneteenth, WorldTribune.com