We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama

A collection of Barack Obama's greatest speeches, now including his farewell address, selected and introduced by columnist E.J. Dionne and MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid.

"It is a political partisan's dream to see them [Obama's words] so finely gathered here." - Washington Post

We Are the Change We Seek is a collection of Barack Obama's 27 greatest addresses: beginning with his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq War and closing with his emotional farewell address in Chicago in January 2017. As president, Obama's words had the power to move the country, and often the world, as few presidents before him. Whether acting as Commander in Chief or Consoler in Chief, Obama adopted a unique rhetorical style that could simultaneously speak to the national mood and change the course of public events. Obama's eloquence, both written and spoken, propelled him to national prominence and ultimately made it possible for the son of a Kenyan man and a white woman from Kansas to become the first black president of the United States.

These speeches span Obama's career--from his time in state government through to the end of his tenure as president--and the issues most important to our time: war, inequality, race relations, gun violence and human rights. The book opens with an essay placing Obama's oratorical contributions within the flow of American history by E.J. Dionne Jr., columnist and author of Why The Right Went Wrong, and Joy Reid, the host of AM Joy on MSNBC and author of Fracture.

• The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
• Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide
• Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
• TIME Barack Obama: Eight Years
• Words That Changed A Nation: The Most Celebrated and Influential Speeches of Barack Obama
• The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story
• Hugs from Obama: A Photographic Look Back at the Warmth and Wisdom of President Barack Obama
• Obama's Legacy - Yes We Can, Yes We Did: Main Accomplishments & Projects, All Executive Orders, International Treaties, Inaugural Speeches and Farwell ... of the 44th President of the United States
• President Barack Obama's Farewell Address to the Nation (January 10, 2017)