President Barack Obama, recently surprised hundreds of high school students in Chicago; by unexpectedly joining a Zoom call to announce free access to his new memoir A Promised Land
According to a video posted by Chicago Public Schools, on Monday afternoon (November 23), Obama joined Dr. Janice Jackson, CEO of CPS in a virtual assembly to announce that every student from the school district would receive his latest work via e-book and audiobook formats in both English and Spanish.
A Promised Land offers a detailed look into the 44th President’s political journey, including his 2008 election campaign and first presidential term.
The book, which was published on November 17, offers a detailed account of Obama’s journey into politics, his 2008 election campaign and his first presidential term. It also outlines how he dealt with tricky tests such as the global financial crisis and the war in Iraq.
On Monday afternoon, Obama joined Dr. Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in a virtual assembly to announce all students from the school district would get free access to the memoir.
CPS serves 341,000 students in 638 schools and is the third-large.
In statement on its website, the organization said that all CPS high school students had been invited to tune-in to the livestream and hundreds participated in the Zoom call.
Addressing the students, Obama said he was “proud” of the way the students had continued to focus on their education despite the “tough” circumstances of the pandemic.
The former president also said he had young people in mind when he was writing A Promised Land, in the hope it would help them understand their ability to have an impact on the world.