In a room with many black clergy leaders, the appeal for gay rights was not an easy applause line.
But Obama was preaching to the choir as he pitched his most pressing domestic policy goals, speaking in biblical terms of an economy "built not on a rock, but sand." He asked for help in creating a more solid foundation, built on his proposals for health care, energy and financial reforms.
Echoing themes of his presidential campaign, Obama urged black parents to take responsibility for their children and to encourage them to aspire to great things.
If marches and protests were the tools of yesteryear, Obama emphasized a different route to empowerment.
"That means putting away the Xbox and putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour," he said. "It means attending those parent-teacher conferences, reading to our kids, and helping them with their homework." He said it also means looking after neighbors' children and setting higher goals.
"They might think they've got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good flow, but our kids can't all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil Wayne," Obama said. "I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States."
The key to success, Obama said, is improving education for all. Citing school segregation and the fight that was waged both on school steps and in courthouses, he said the condition of schools is an American problem, not an African-American one.
"There's a reason Thurgood Marshall took up the cause of Linda Brown. There's a reason the Little Rock Nine defied a governor and a mob," Obama said. "It's because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no better path to opportunity than an education that can unlock a child's God-given potential."
Unlocking that potential, though, means acknowledging the challenges facing black youth and then finding a solution to problems that are the legacy of decades of institutionalized discrimination.
"We have to say to our children, 'Yes, if you're African-American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face," Obama said, returning to his tough-love message familiar from his two-year presidential campaign.
