English subtitles for clip: File:President and Mrs. Obama Open White House Poetry Jam (1 of 8).webm

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(applause)

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The President:
Thank you.

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Thank you, everybody.

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Thank you so much.

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Please, everybody be seated.

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It is a great pleasure to
welcome all of you to the White

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House for an evening of music
and poetry and spoken word --

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(cheering and applause)

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-- from some of our nation's
most gifted performers,

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both distinguished veterans and
up and coming young talents.

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Now, we're here tonight not just
to enjoy the works of these

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artists, but also to highlight
the importance of the arts in

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our life and in our nation
and our nation's history.

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We're here to celebrate the
power of words and music to help

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us appreciate beauty, but
also to understand pain;

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to inspire us to action and to
spur us on when we start to lose

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hope; to lift us up out
of our daily existence,

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even if it's just for a few
moments, and return us with

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hearts that are a little bit
bigger and fuller than they were before.

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The great jazz musician Louis
Armstrong once said simply,

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"What we play is life."

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"What we play is life."

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And that is what these artists
do - they express the joys and

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hardships of life and remind
us how much all of us have in common.

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It's a great gift and a great
responsibility and we're honored

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to host them here at
the White House tonight.

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I now have the privilege of
introducing the star of the

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show, somebody who brings a
lot of poetry to my own life,

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the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

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(cheering and applause)

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The First Lady:
Good evening.

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And again, welcome
to the White House.

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We are so pleased to be hosting
an evening of poetry, music,

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and spoken word.

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See, you just want to clap
just saying that, right?

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(applause)

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Tonight's event is really just
another way for us to open up

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the White House and once again
make it the "People's House;"

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to invite people from all
different backgrounds to come

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and share their stories
and speak their minds;

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for all of us to learn about
different forms of communication

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and to be open to hearing other
people's voices, for it is one

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thing for people to tell their
stories in their own spaces and

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quite another for those stories
to be welcomed in this space.

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Barack is President today
because many people who thought

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their voices didn't matter,
or wouldn't be heard,

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decided to show up on
election day and vote anyway.

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And that's the beauty --

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(applause)

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And that is the beauty of
our democracy and we have to

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remember that democracy
is really, really big.

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It has room for lots of voices
which at some times take us out

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of our comfort zones.

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But that's what makes
it so meaningful.

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And that's one of the reasons
why I am so excited about tonight.

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Let me tell you, I have wanted
to do this from day one.

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The notion of standing in this
room and hearing some poetry and

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spoken word.

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(cheering and applause)

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But it's important for us to
remember that this White House

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is committed to maintaining this
openness and making this place a

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place where all
voices can be heard.

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And the President and I are so
proud to welcome this group of

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talented performers and we're
just excited to welcome this

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audience here tonight.

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So, please enjoy,
have fun, be loose --

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(laughter)

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-- and let's start the show.

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Thank you.

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(applause)

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♪♪

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(applause)