White people’s fear of black people was discussed this week at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. During her speech, which was well-received by the crowd, Michelle discussed how racism affected her during her husband’s time in office and the limitations to her power as First Lady.
The 55-year-old mother of two also discussed her childhood, compared her experiences to those of immigrants today, and shared some important family moments with her brother, Craig Robinson, who she shared the stage with.
In her speech, Michelle shares that despite all her work, effort, and popularity, she feels the struggle of only being able to do so much at any given time.
“I can’t make people not afraid of black people. I don’t know what’s going on, I can’t explain what’s happening in your head – but maybe if I show up every day as a human, a good human, maybe that work will pick away at the scabs of your discrimination.”
She also credits their time in the White House with allowing people to see past their skin tone and past, to view them as people who could make a difference.
“Being the first black First Family gave America and the world the opportunity to see the truth of who we are as black people,” She explained to the crowd. “Let your truth speak for itself.”
Michelle talked a lot about “letting your truth” speak and breathe, which is an interesting concept. In this context, she really does mean what it sounds like – show up, do the work, and let who you are as a person represent you, nothing more, nothing less.
Both of the most famous Obama’s took turns speaking at the summit, which is a 3-day event that features talks by various activists from all walks of life at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Michelle shared the stage with her older brother, Craig, who is a college basketball coach and current VP of Player and Organizational Development for the New York Knicks.
The former First Lady gave her older brother a hard time for struggling to accept Michelle’s role in the White House. Robinson spoke about when he first found out that Barack had won his first term.
“I’m an adult, but I still can’t believe that my sister is married to the guy who’s going to be the next president of the United States.”
“You still can’t say the ‘first lady’, can you?” Michelle joked with a smile.
“It just doesn’t roll off the tongue…”
Michelle and her brother credit their parents for allowing them to look past racism and accomplish so much, despite so many doubting them.
“What our parents gave us was conditional love and a notion that our voices matter and that our opinions counted,”
This is something all parents should be giving their children, but obviously it worked for these two.
