Barack Obama Day day. Perry County, Alabama, has celebrated the second Monday of November as Barack Obama Day since 2009. County offices and schools are closed for the holiday. In 2017, Illinois State Representatives André Thapedi and Sonya Harper introduced a bill to designate Barack Obama Day as a state holiday. The original measure would have closed schools and state offices for the day. It was rejected by the House in March 2017, citing expense and the lack of a holiday for other presidents from Illinois, such as Ronald Reagan. That same year, State Senator Emil Jones III and others introduced Illinois Senate
Speeches of Barack Obama including President Barack Obama and John Lewis, the only speaker from the original rally to remain living. Obama spoke on the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Marches, lauded unsung heroes and everyday Americans that stood up for justice. According to leading George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, the speech "falls into the category of speeches that every child should read in school" and is cited by the Washington Post as the Obama speech which will hold up best for posterity. After the Charleston church shooting, during which state senator Clementa C. Pinckney and eight other victims were gunned