Comcast, MOHAI, and Smithsonian Channel screen Obama documentary “The Power of Words” in Seattle

“Diversity & inclusion has arguably never been as important as it is right now,” said Leron Lee, a Comcaster who helped welcome 175 people to a special screening in Seattle this week.

We had the pleasure of being part of an event with the Smithsonian Channel and the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) here in Seattle. We all screened a new documentary that debuts Monday on the channel, “The Obama Years: The Power of Words.”

You can read more about the program here. This is a summary.

Barack Obama launched into our national consciousness at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and ever since, he’s delivered messages of patriotism, unity, and hope through the power of words. But of all the speeches he’s given, six in particular may define his legacy. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says, “He’ll go down in history as one of the best writers and orators in the presidency.” Interviews with eminent historians and accounts from key figures in his writing process provide rare insights into these iconic speeches, as well as the Obama presidency.

And indeed, we saw on the big screen that in the show you not only learn about the Obama legacy, but also the nuts and bolts of how great speeches get written. There’s a lot of interesting detail in the documentary that way.

Guests included many of our non-profit partners in the community, supporters of MOHAI, Comcast employees, and others. The lead-off greeter was Leonard Garfield, the director of a museum which is writing the book on how a museum integrates itself into the lifeblood of a community.

“As a history museum, we share the stories of our diverse communities & explore what we can learn from them,” he told the audience

The audience also heard from a number of other speakers about the power of words, including Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal; Chris Hoelzl, senior vice president of research and development for the Smithsonian Channel; Claire Jerry, curator, Division of Political History at the National Museum of American History and then Pamela L. Banks, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. Here, Hoelzl takes a question from a member ofr the audience as Banks listens.

The Comcasters in the audience could be forgiven for having a soft spot for two particular speakers who helped welcome the crowd. Both speakers came from our project management team based in Lynnwood: Dyana Langley-Robinson, director of project management, and Lee, a project manager.

Langley-Robinson welcomed the audience on behalf of Comcast, and then Lee explained that this was a special night. The night also represented the launch of an Employee Resource Group at Comcast in Washington, the Black Employees Network. You can read more about the network here, which supports employees throughout the country.

It was both a fun and educational evening. You can get us to MOHAI any day of the week. The audience had fun posing for photos and chatting. We very much thank MOHAI and the Smithsonian Channel for letting us be part of the action.