A historic celebration of democracy, culture, service, and hope to take place June 18th in Chicago and livestreamed to the world.

CHICAGO — The Obama Foundation today announced the performers scheduled to take the stage at the Obama Presidential Center’s Grand Opening Ceremony on June 18. The historic event, held at the Center’s John Lewis Plaza, marks a milestone for the city of Chicago and communities around the world. The ceremony will bring together global leaders, artists, changemakers, and citizens for an inspiring celebration of the values that shaped the Obama presidency and continue to power civic engagement across generations.

Located on Chicago’s South Side, the Obama Presidential Center is a global hub designed to inspire, empower, and connect people to create change. Beginning June 19, visitors of all ages will be invited to explore the open campus, engage with immersive exhibits and public programs, and discover how they can make a difference in their own communities. Celebratory events will continue through the weekend, offering a preview of programming that will bring the entire campus to life throughout the year and beyond.

“This Grand Opening ceremony will be unlike any other — filled with music, performances, and hope,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation. “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.”

The Grand Opening Ceremony will be livestreamed globally beginning at 11 a.m. Central Time on Obama.org, and on The Obama Foundation’s TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook accounts. 

Performers taking part in the June 18 ceremony will include: 

• Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning artists The Roots
• Multiple GRAMMY, Oscar, Golden Globe, and Special Tony Award-winning artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Springsteen
• Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning artist Christina Aguilera
• Multiple GRAMMY, Oscar, and Emmy Award-winning artist Common
• Multiple GRAMMY, Golden Globe Award-winning artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Vedder
• Multiple GRAMMY, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning artist Jennifer Hudson
• Multiple GRAMMY, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning artist John Legend
• Multiple GRAMMY and Oscar Award-winning artist Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Stevie Wonder
• Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning artist Marc Anthony
• Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning artist Tems
• Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning artists, multiple Golden Globe winners, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, and Kennedy Center Honorees U2’s Bono and The Edge
• Actress and producer Marsai Martin

The Obama Presidential Center opens to the public on June 19. While Museum tickets are sold out for opening weekend, the rest of the campus is free and accessible for the general public.

The Grand Opening Weekend of the Obama Presidential Center is made possible through the generous support of GCM Grosvenor, Abbott, BMO, ITW, and Northern Trust. 

Robert H. Marshall Jr. does not enter rooms quietly. Not because he is loud, but because the weight of what he carries speaks before he does.

For years, Marshall has emerged as one of the leading voices at the intersection of faith, trauma, masculinity, healing, and identity—doing the difficult work many people preach about but few are willing to confront honestly. As a pastor, author, lecturer, mentor, creative, and advocate, he has dedicated his life to helping boys and men heal from invisible wounds while reclaiming identity, purpose, and hope.

But before the conferences, classrooms, pulpits, documentaries, and books, there was a little boy carrying pain in silence.

Marshall is a survivor of sexual abuse, fatherlessness, abandonment, and childhood trauma—experiences that deeply shaped his understanding of shame, emotional survival, and masculinity. Like many men raised in urban communities, he learned how to perform strength long before he ever learned how to process pain. For years, he hid behind leadership, faith, and achievement while privately wrestling with the emotional aftermath of trauma.

Those experiences became the foundation for his newest book, Shame Is A Liar: Man Enough To Heal, Man Enough To Be Free, a deeply personal and psychologically layered exploration of how shame impacts the minds, relationships, bodies, and spiritual lives of men. The book examines how abuse, violence, rejection, incarceration, addiction, silence, and unhealthy definitions of masculinity distort identity and keep many men emotionally trapped. Marshall challenges readers to confront the lies shame teaches and begin the difficult journey toward healing and freedom.

“Healing is the journey. Wholeness is the destination,” Marshall often says.

His work has resonated far beyond church walls.

Marshall has become a respected voice in faith-based, academic, and social service spaces, lecturing and facilitating conversations on male trauma, restorative justice, mental health, fatherlessness, violence prevention, and emotional wellness through his healing commuities The Survivors Circle & I Am Man, Inc. . As one of the youngest former deans at Moody Bible Institute, he helped mentor and develop emerging leaders while challenging institutions to better understand the emotional and spiritual realities shaping boys, men, and families in urban communities globally.

At the core of Marshall’s work is a sobering belief: that nearly 80–85% of boys and men in urban communities around the world have experienced some form of sexual abuse, trauma, exploitation, or premature exposure to sex. He believes many of society’s deepest crises are rooted in unresolved pain and that more than ever, communities must create intentional frameworks to heal and protect the next generation.

“Broken boys become broken men,” he says. “And broken men often break families, communities, systems, and generations. But if we heal a man, we can heal a family, a community, a nation, and ultimately the world.”

That belief fuels everything he does.

He launched The ARK, one of the first Christian conferences intentionally centered on healing for male survivors of sexual abuse.

“The core of my work is helping people feel safe, seen, and heard,” Marshall says. “I’m committed to becoming what I never had—a safe place.”

Through initiatives, healing circles, conferences, academic spaces, and community partnerships, Marshall works to humanize the lived experiences of survivors, create safe spaces for all people to journey toward wholeness, and empower those who walk alongside survivors to support them well. He strongly believes in diversity and views it as a full reflection of the Kingdom of God—where people from different cultures, backgrounds, stories, and experiences can heal, grow, and belong together.

While much of his work centers on healing boys and men, Marshall also openly identifies as a womanist who believes in empowering women leaders to lead boldly, heal fully, and walk unapologetically in their voice, influence, and calling.

At the heart of his message is faith. Marshall believes healing must move beyond empty religious performance and be rooted in authentic partnership with one another and the Holy Spirit.

Married to his wife Jackie for over a decade, he is the proud father of three children. He sees his life’s work as more than ministry, motivation, or a choice. It’s what God has chosen him to do: to become a conduit of healing in the earth. 

Follow Robert Marshall online to learn more about his latest book, ministry and events:
Instagram | Facebook | Tik Tok
www.roberthmarshall.com

Naomi Raine and Chandler Moore have officially announced their exits from Maverick City Music, marking a major shift for one of the most influential worship collectives of the past decade.

The news arrives without scandal or spectacle, but it still carries weight. Maverick City Music didn’t just produce songs — it helped reframe what worship could sound like, look like, and feel like for a generation raised on genre-blending playlists, vulnerability, and authenticity. Naomi and Chandler were central to that identity.

In many ways, the transition had already begun.

Just weeks before the announcement, Naomi Raine released her solo project, Jesus Over Everything, on September 14. The album feels stripped-back and intentional, less focused on communal anthems and more on personal conviction. Songs like “Lost in Hallelujah” lean into restraint rather than climax — worship that doesn’t rush resolution or try to sound bigger than it is.

Addressing the shift directly, Naomi framed the moment as growth rather than departure.

“This isn’t really an ending. It’s a new beginning. A new chapter,” she wrote. “I learned so much about God, about people, and about myself. Every song was written from a pure place — just wanting to please God.”

Her statement reflects a throughline that’s been present throughout her work: faith as something lived and evolving, not fixed or performative.

Chandler Moore followed with his own message, emphasizing clarity and forward momentum rather than nostalgia.

“These last few years have been locked in on what really matters in my life and my career,” he shared. “It’s been scary at times, but full of fresh vision and real excitement about the future.”

That recalibration has increasingly shaped Chandler’s solo direction, which he says is focused less on production and more on connection.

“I’m stepping into the next phase, ready to make music that helps people feel a little more human, a little more understood, and a little less alone.”

That approach mirrors what drew so many listeners to Maverick City Music in the first place. The collective disrupted traditional worship norms by embracing cultural nuance, emotional honesty, and musical hybridity — pulling from gospel, CCM, soul, and contemporary Black music without forcing clean lines between them.

Naomi and Chandler weren’t just contributors to that sound — they helped define it.

Their exits don’t signal an abandonment of that vision so much as an expansion of it. Naomi’s Jesus Over Everything and Chandler’s forthcoming solo work suggest both artists are exploring what faith-centered music looks like when it’s untethered from a single collective framework.

For fans, the moment may feel like the closing of a chapter — but Maverick City Music was always designed as a community, not a container. Its influence was never meant to stop at the group itself.

As Chandler put it plainly:

“The dream hasn’t changed. The sound continues.”

What changes now is scale and direction, not intent.

Naomi Raine and Chandler Moore aren’t leaving behind what they helped build. They’re carrying it forward — on their own terms, in their own voices, and into whatever comes next.

About ArtSoul Radio

ArtSoul Radio is a faith-forward media and culture platform spotlighting the intersection of Christian R&B, Gospel, CHH, and creative expression. Through storytelling, sound, and community, we amplify the voices shaping the next era of faith-driven culture.