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Michelle Obama speaks of emotional toll of being first black first lady
The Hill ^ | May 9, 2015 | Elise Viebeck

Posted on 05/09/2015 4:42:55 PM PDT by jazusamo

Michelle Obama gave a candid view Saturday of the challenges and emotional toll of being the country’s first black first lady.

Obama, speaking to graduates at Tuskegee University in Alabama, described insensitive media questions and derogatory remarks from political pundits that she said have kept her up at night.

“You might remember the on-stage celebratory fist bump between me and my husband after a primary win that was referred to as a ‘terrorist fist jab,’ ” she said.

“And over the years, folks have used plenty of interesting words to describe me. One said I exhibited ‘a little bit of uppity-ism.’ Another noted that I was one of my husband’s ‘cronies of color.’ Cable news once charmingly referred to me as ‘Obama’s Baby Mama.’ ”

Obama said she was subjected to a different set of expectations on the campaign trail in 2008 compared with other candidates’ wives.

“ ‘What kind of First Lady would I be? What kinds of issues would I take on?’ … The truth is, those same questions would have been posed to any candidate’s spouse,” she said.

“But, as potentially the first African-American First Lady, I was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations; conversations sometimes rooted in the fears and misperceptions of others. Was I too loud, or too angry, or too emasculating? Or was I too soft, too much of a mom, not enough of a career woman?”

In the end, she said, she realized all the negativity was just “noise.”

Obama encouraged the graduates of Tuskegee, a historically black university, to overcome adversity and discrimination by staying “true to the most real, most sincere, most authentic parts of yourselves.”

People “will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world,” she said. “My husband and I know how frustrating that experience can be. We’ve both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives. … And all of that is going to be a heavy burden to carry.”

“But,” she said, “those feelings are not an excuse to just throw up our hands and give up. They are not an excuse to lose hope. To succumb to feelings of despair and anger only means that in the end, we lose.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: michelle; michellespeech; obama
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To: 43north

That’s a start.


101 posted on 05/09/2015 7:31:12 PM PDT by mcshot (I pray someone comes forth with the strength, fortitude and burning desire to save our Republic)
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To: LucyT; melancholy

Always the victim. She’ll never be happy and frankly, I DON’T CARE ONE WIT ABOUT HER!!!


102 posted on 05/09/2015 7:57:53 PM PDT by azishot (God made man but Samuel Colt made them equal.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I wish someone would bash those large teeth out.


103 posted on 05/09/2015 8:02:16 PM PDT by funfan
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To: eyedigress

>>>I read it and it is not even a paper you could submit<<<

You mean that YOU or I could submit.

Apparently Moochelle did not have any fear that her Thesis would not be adequate for Submission. Gee, I wonder why?


104 posted on 05/09/2015 8:03:23 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Hillary, because it's time for a POTUS without a SCROTUS...)
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To: jazusamo
People “will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world,” she said.

This is what I know about this First Lady:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYY73RO_egw

FLOTUS defines/defined herself with her own words and actions. There is no need for me to say another word.

105 posted on 05/09/2015 8:05:58 PM PDT by Chgogal (Obama "hung the SEALs out to dry, basically exposed them like a set of dog balls..." CMH)
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To: jazusamo
Does she get turned away from museums and concert halls? Does she really have to incessantly point out that she is black? Many of us will be relieved when she is no longer first lady.
106 posted on 05/09/2015 8:06:55 PM PDT by windsorknot
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To: jazusamo

If Valerie Jarrett has any phantasies about having Michelle as the Democrat candidate in 2016 instead of Hillary, Michelle makes it harder for her every time she opens her mouth. Hillary probably has a lock on the nomination barring a major health crisis that can’t be hidden from the public, but even Democrats might find it a bit hard to prefer Michelle over Fauxcahontas.


107 posted on 05/09/2015 8:34:21 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: azishot; melancholy; null and void; Velveeta; Rushmore Rocks; Oorang; Myrddin; MamaDearest; ...
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Oh, cry me a river.

In all of World History, never has anyone lived more lavishly than this Moocher during the past seven years.

Thanks, azishot.

108 posted on 05/09/2015 8:52:09 PM PDT by LucyT
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To: LucyT
I believe The Moocher and Hitlery are tied for the title of Worst Lady. Both are anti-America degenerate criminals.
109 posted on 05/09/2015 9:43:18 PM PDT by ogen hal (First Amendment or reeducation camp)
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To: jazusamo

Forever the victim. The world is not enough.


110 posted on 05/09/2015 9:48:35 PM PDT by Spok ("What're you going to believe-me or your own eyes?" -Marx (Groucho))
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To: jazusamo

shelf ass angry America hating bitch.


111 posted on 05/10/2015 2:30:37 AM PDT by Joe Boucher ( Obammy is a lie, a mooselimb and pond scum.)
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To: jazusamo

Michelle hasn’t killed anybody yet...that we know of.


112 posted on 05/10/2015 5:15:42 AM PDT by ThePatriotsFlag ($$$$$ Don't Defund the Government...Defund Obama and his illegal policies $$$$$)
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To: LucyT; azishot
Huh? What did ya call me? Antoinette, serviette, Corvette, cigarette, it's all the same, sista!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

113 posted on 05/10/2015 7:04:45 AM PDT by melancholy
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To: LucyT

That style is perfect for her, it already has the boob belt (complete with a bow) and she wouldn’t even need to wear a bustle.


114 posted on 05/10/2015 7:12:18 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
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To: LucyT

Life is tough. And then you take another tax-paid vacation.


115 posted on 05/10/2015 7:12:34 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: ThePatriotsFlag
Michelle hasn’t killed anybody yet...that we know of.

Just starved the school kids.

116 posted on 05/10/2015 7:14:04 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: LucyT

She’s way past her five acres and a mule. In fact, I believe she’s made up reparations for every black slave that lived here.


117 posted on 05/10/2015 9:26:49 AM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: ThePatriotsFlag; Nachum; Old Sarge; EnigmaticAnomaly; Califreak; kalee; TWhiteBear; freeangel; ...

Check out Freeper Nachum’s page:

http://www.nachumlist.com

http://www.nachumlist.com/deadpool.htm

.


118 posted on 05/10/2015 10:50:00 AM PDT by LucyT
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To: LucyT

The election of our first black president could have been a momentous and productive time for America. But it would have to have been done with a republican candidate because it appears that liberal blacks see them selves as victims rather than accomplished individuals and will always have a chip on their shoulder as a result.


119 posted on 05/10/2015 11:35:56 AM PDT by Baynative (We are experiencing the type of government the founders warned us about.)
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To: jazusamo
"It’s hell. I Can’t Stand It!"
Carla Bruni Reveals What Michelle Obama REALLY Thinks Of Being First Lady

16 September 2010

Michelle Obama thinks being America’s First Lady is ‘hell’, Carla Bruni reveals today in a wildly indiscreet book.

Miss Bruni divulges that Mrs Obama replied when asked about her position as the U.S. president’s wife: ‘Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!’

Details of the private conversation, which took place at the White House during an official visit by Nicolas Sarkozy last March, emerged in Carla And The Ambitious.

The book was written by journalists Michael Darmon and Yves Derai in what they claim is collaboration with Miss Bruni. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy , the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy,

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
President Obama and Oink Oink Obama At The G-20
Pittsburgh Summit September 25, 2009 in Pittsburgh, PA


120 posted on 05/10/2015 7:29:57 PM PDT by Iron Munro (We may be paranoid but that doesn't mean they aren't really after us)
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