My fellow
Americans, as Black
History Month twenty seventeen
comes to a close.

I am very grateful for the many
wonderful opportunities to
honor African American
heroes, faith leaders,
entrepreneurs, and the
many others who changed
the course of our nation.

We are blessed by the
lives and examples of
those who have made this
nation of beacon of
freedom, talent, and
unbreakable
American spirit.

This week I had the
privilege of visiting The
Nation Museum of African
American history and
culture right here in
Washington D.C. It's a new
beautiful Smithsonian
Museum that serves as a
shining example of African
Americans incredible
contribution to our
culture, our Society,
and our history.

It also tells of the great
struggle for freedom and
equality that prevailed
against the sins of
slavery and the injustice
of discrimination.

The work and love the
people who help create
such a masterpiece is a
testament to the legacy of
so many leaders it honors.

I left that museum
confident that together
America can overcome
any challenge.

there's a great quote by
Mohamad Ali in the museum
"I shook up the world."
He said.

And that's what he did.

So did leaders like
Sojourner Truth, Frederick
Douglas, Booker T
Washington, Martin Luther
King and so many others.

They shook up the world
for the better, because
they inspired our nation
to march toward justice
and freedom for all.

Today and everyday I
pledge to continue that
march so that every
American no matter his
background, no matter her
background has the chance
to climb that great
ladder of success.

It was very special to
accompany Dr. Ben Carson
and his family for the
first time seeing the
Carson exhibit.

I am proud that soon he
will serve in my cabinet
as the secretary of
housing and
urban development.

HUD has a very very
powerful meaning, far
beyond housing.

Its about transforming our
communities about bringing
back hope, and Ben will
do a fantastic job.

That what im committed to
doing also, I want every
African American child,
family, and worker to have
access to great schools,
safe communities and
good paying job.

I want every disadvantaged
child in America to have a
choice on where
they go to school.

So Important.

I also want to honor and
promote the achievements
of historically black
colleges and universities
throughout our nation.

They do a fantastic job.

They're not given the
credit that they deserve.

And they're gonna start
getting that credit.

In order to help African
Americans thrive were
working very to make that
every child can grow up in
a safe community and have
access to high paying jobs.

We've lost a lot of
our best jobs to other
countries and this has
hurt the African American
community very badly.

This week I met with
manufacturing CEOs were
going to be working to
bring back those jobs, and
I mean really
good paying jobs.

Ill be talking more about
these issues in my joint
session address to
congress and to all
Americans next
Tuesday evening.

I hope you will
be watching.

Thank you, God bless you.

And God Bless America.