More than 'mom-in-chief': Michelle Obama bows out as dynamic first lady

[Tennis]

With tears in her eyes and her voice cracking with emotion, the self-declared “mom-in-chief” stepped off the public stage on Friday with her final speech as first lady, urging young Americans to believe in the “power of hope”.

Michelle Obama, who began her White House years pursuing the typically soft subjects that have often limited the wives of presidents, ended with a clarion call for diversity and vowing to make it her life’s work to help disadvantaged children get to college, a personal mission that has its roots in her own Chicago childhood.

In a deeply emotional reflection on what lies ahead for the US in the era of President Donald Trump, she sent a clear message to young people to rise above division, anger and bigotry, no matter what they look like, their background or religion.

“My final message to young people as first lady is simple. I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong ... Don’t be afraid, be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourself with a good education ... then build a country worthy of your boundless promise.”

The sign-off in the East Room of the White House ended with her being engulfed in hugs from school counsellors from across the US whom she celebrated for the crucial support they give to students in their darkest moments.

It was also a moment to mark the eight-year journey she has made to become an impassioned political figure in her own right. She has never stood for office, but there were times in the final weeks of the US election campaign when it seemed possible that she could run for president and win.

She had taken the fight to Donald Trump, telling a Hillary Clinton rally in New Hampshire that his boasts about sexually assaulting women had shaken her to her core. “This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable,” she said in a speech which revealed a toughness and an ability to connect with an audience to rival her own husband’s gifts.

Speaking in Philadelphia from the same platform as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, she emerged as the true star of the Democratic convention, moving the audience to tears as she spoke about the possibility of the first female president, and her own family’s journey from slavery to the White House.

Drawing powerfully on her own family history – her great-great-grandfather lived as a slave – she spoke of “the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.

“And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”

Ever since Martha Washington complained that she felt like a state prisoner, the role of the first lady has traditionally been seen as a confining one, where elegance comes first and controversy is best avoided.

And Michelle Obama’s White House years began typically – as a self-styled mom-in-chief, with two daughters aged 10 and seven, advocating a healthy-living agenda.

She turned a far corner of the White House grounds into a vegetable garden and brought children from some of Washington’s poorest schools to help her plant broccoli. She also delightful with her irreverent willingness to drop convention – joining in with an Evolution of Mom Dancing routine on the talkshow Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to promote her Let’s Move fitness push and later, getting in the passenger seat for Carpool Karaoke with James Corden to promote her Let Girls Learn global education campaign.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...acy-first-lady

I especially liked her push towards healthy diets and more active school kids.
To see her whose great grandfather was a slave, in the white house means so much to minorities in the U.S.

[rogueMatthias]

Can't say I know a great deal about Michelle Obama as I'm over in sunny ol' England.

Does someone want to share what she's done to have such a big impact and why so many liberals believe that she'd make such a great POTUS?

[Venant]

Can't say I know a great deal about Michelle Obama as I'm over in sunny ol' England.

Does someone want to share what she's done to have such a big impact and why so many liberals believe that she'd make such a great POTUS?

We have her to thank for a bunch of memes about the conspiracy theory that she is secretly a man.

[rogueMatthias]

We have her to thank for a bunch of memes about the conspiracy theory that she is secretly a man.

Well, if she is a man, then Obama must be SUPER progressive for a Muslim from Kenya :'D

[Strangebrew]

Too bad she's not a politican type. She's actually likeable unlike Clinton.

[God Save The King]

Does someone want to share what she's done to have such a big impact and why so many liberals believe that she'd make such a great POTUS?

She's likeable and liberal.

That's pretty much it to be honest.. Welcome to American politics.

[TrumpIsPresident]

She said she was proud of America after 8 years of a Republican in office.

But now after 8 years of a Democrat in office she says she's lost all hope.

Lulz.

[Super Friendly Kitty Cat]

Yes, I will miss Michelle's broad shoulders that helped lift the burden of unhealthy school lunches. Her strong handsome appearance was an asset to President Obama when meeting foreign dignitaries as it took the focus off President Obama during casual meet and greets. She always was dressed appropriately and really showed a mysterious side to her that was quite alluring, like she had a secret and you were obsessed with finding it out.

[Edge-]

She said she was proud of America after 8 years of a Republican in office.

But now after 8 years of a Democrat in office she says she's lost all hope.

Lulz.

Are you still trying to turn this into a thing? Because misrepresenting the context in which she made those comments is getting kinda old, dude.

[Cyberowl]

Conservative cucks getting triggered that Michelle can bench more than they themselves can. Manlets! Sad!

[Vizardlorde]

Can't say I know a great deal about Michelle Obama as I'm over in sunny ol' England.

Does someone want to share what she's done to have such a big impact and why so many liberals believe that she'd make such a great POTUS?

Making fat kids cry by making crappy school lunches crappier

[Belize]

Are you still trying to turn this into a thing? Because misrepresenting the context in which she made those comments is getting kinda old, dude.

Just let him be, it's one of the few things that warms his cold, sad heart.

That and hot pockets. Fucking hot pockets coming out of the microwave at like 1000000 degrees, I mean ffs

[prwraith]

Unlike clinton, Michelle Obama would soar to the presidency if she ever ran.

[Super Kami Dende]

As much as I had no real issue with Obama for most of his run. Michelle was just a self-righteous bitch half the time.

[Independent voter]

Fat kids protested her smaller school lunch portions.

[Super Friendly Kitty Cat]

Conservative cucks getting triggered that Michelle can bench more than they themselves can. Manlets! Sad!

Many such cases!

[Tennis]

Making fat kids cry by making crappy school lunches crappier

Sounds like a good idea. We need to fight obesity.

[Super Friendly Kitty Cat]

Unlike clinton, Michelle Obama would soar to the presidency if she ever ran.

Give me some of what this guy is having.

I need to ride the lightening and start believing in fantasies.

[prwraith]

Give me some of what this guy is having.

I need to ride the lightening and start believing in fantasies.

I mean these idiots elected trump. The orange orangutan to the presidency.

Imagine if someone people actually liked ran against him.

[Vizardlorde]

Fat kids protested her smaller school lunch portions.

lol are those skin colored mini michelin men?