“Looking out at these beautiful, talented young women, I know that we have the power to keep reaching higher and defying the odds, and achieving those firsts, and seconds, and thirds, and hundreds, and thousands until a black principal dancer is no longer a cause for headlines. And our children are limited only by the size of their dreams and their willingness to work for them.”
— First Lady Michelle Obama to the 51 talented young dancers who came to the White House to perform for Black History Month
Yesterday, famed choreographer Debbie Allen held a clinic for 51 beautiful and talented young Black girls.
Here are some of the comments from our dear First Lady, Michelle Obama.
Sigh.
This is her last Black History Month in the White House as First Lady…I can’t help but be sad about it.
At the end of this event on the White House live stream, as FLOTUS exits the room, she makes a slight detour to the side to high-five some of the girls in the back, and she’s immediately swarmed by the girls who tightly hug and hold on to her…
Her staff keep trying to extricate FLOTUS from the grips of those little girls…But she stays to hug them – two, three, at a time in some instances…
And you could see the look of triumph and defiance and smug satisfaction in the eyes of those little girls…
They weren’t even paying the White House staff any attention as they tried to stop them from swarming to FLOTUS…they just went straight for FLOTUS, wrapping their arms around her waist…
It was so touching to watch as she hugged them and pressed their faces to hers…
She knows…
I’m sorry that this spontaneous, unscripted, heart-tugging moment isn’t available – or as usual for some questionably mind-boggling reason, hasn’t been made publicly available…
It breaks my heart that the deliberately malicious and non-stop hate propaganda targeted against and designed to smear and tear down this phenomenal and magnificent First Lady and her brilliant efforts and long-ignored life-saving initiatives, has been so persistent and effective, that even some black kids actually now believe and parrot the falsehoods about how she’s to blame for the horrid school lunches entirely controlled, contracted and overseen by each School District and School Board – and the greedy and unethical School Industry Food distributors and the dubious School Nutrition Association…It saddens to hear black kids blaming and some insulting the First Lady for the bad food that’s been a staple of school lunches since time immemorial…and something she’s actually working and fighting hard to change for their good…God bless her…most wouldn’t even bother with the well-being of these supposedly potential ‘super predators’…And others would be far too busy trying to strike a faux-prim and perfectly coiffed image at all times, with a contrived and acquired breathy voice and other dictated affectations necessary to complete the faux image…
Mrs Obama made the conscious decision instead not be held hostage or imprisoned – or to imprison herself…
Through Princeton and Harvard and umpteen years in a predominantly white corporate world, she saw first-hand and understood very well the rewards and benefits to ‘assimilation’ and affectation…She could very well have assumed a contrived persona….She understood very well the many advantages and opportunities and how much more acceptable and how much farther she could go with affectation… conforming and completely neutralizing, transforming and white-washing herself literally and metaphorically…physically and psychologically…
She still eschewed it all…she succeeded the hard way…without affectation or the dishonest but highly rewarding opportunities the all-important affectation immediately offers….She opted for sheer hard work – straight up – which didn’t offer the extras and many benefits making ones privileged white professors and Law firm principles more comfortable with your blackness by demurring and acquiring a non-threatening breathy, baby voice, fairer skin and no opinion, instantly gets one…
Making ones mostly condescending white Princeton and Harvard professors – entitled and born to wealth and privilege… subconsciously and inwardly conservative, though supposedly outwardly liberal….sucking up and schmoozing them…making them comfortable with you via affectation, contrived and acquired speech and gestures…constantly apologizing and trying to make-up for being black …conceding through affectation that ones blackness automatically makes one inferior – and worshipfully, aspiring to being more acceptable..
That is the difference between a ‘C’ and an ‘A’ grade on a test score – especially in many college courses that are ultimately more subjective than objective…
Interesting that those who actually get to know her well speak of her penetrating brilliance and incisive mind and quick wit…they marvel at her integrity and honesty and loyalty and fearlessness and speak of how insightful and clear-eyed she is…
She’s never been a suck-up, or a schmoozer…she’ll do her very best – and will even ask for help, but she won’t grovel…she doesn’t ask for or seek your approval or validation …she only asks that you be fair across board..Integrity…
And she still effortlessly, deftly, brilliantly lives life uprightly and with dignity – and on her own terms…even if her conscious decisions often positively subverts… as she maneuvers a world that’s often hostile to, and constantly tries to trip up and stomp on and snuff out proud black women like herself…
She’s a deliciously strategic and fun rebel…And I especially love how she effortlessly trolls the trolls and utterly delights in digging in and pissing them off just by being herself…I love how she completely throws off and confuses people …e.g with her whole I’m mom-in-chief and I’m not co-presidenting with my husband, and oh, by the way, even though I have two Ivy League degrees and I’m a seriously whip-smart woman and lawyer, this really isn’t about me…I wasn’t elected…I do love putting the well-being of my daughters and husband first, being doted on by my husband, dancing, and gardening and hugging kids..and oh, I do like hula-hooping and being fun and harmlessly lighthearted and yes, even Beyonce – who doesn’t have a formal education and these days has become for some reason, this really huge celebrity, but it wasn’t necessarily so back in 2008 when she so effusively and unapologetically celebrated, honored, respected and embraced the brilliant wife of the whiz candidate…when so many others eager to pretend the married candidate’s wife didn’t exist, overlooked FLOTUS as they all scrambled to get up close and personal with the charming Senator – The ones who were boasting of texting with the married Senator (turns out it as the Senator publicly explained to immediately nip the nonsense in the bud, that it was his body man who had exchanged one text) ….The ones who were and still are actively and sneakily and obsessively sniffing around the married candidate turned President, under the guise of support and volunteering for his campaign and policies…hoping against hope that he’s another Bill Clinton…
FLOTUS knows…She knows…She’s not only acutely discerning and insightful, with a huge and all-embracing heart…She has big brains…and keen eyes in the back of her head…and and a whole lot of not so common and infinitely superior commonsense..and oodles and oodles of wisdom in abundance…
And those of us who have eyes and ears know too… We know what she’s up against – and why…Which is why we will always, always have her back…. today, tomorrow…forever and always…
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/school-lunches-healthfoodmichelleobamaschwan.html
http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/anc2014/sponsors.asp
https://twitter.com/ManuelMLima1/status/697196625689763840
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBicXsKN6ux/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBks5WnFpa3/
Never saw this…so cute…I want one…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBjql5DB5Qp/
THANK YOU, Rikyrah! THANK YOU!
https://twitter.com/msdebbieallen/status/696768349879963648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/696806931940425730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/msdebbieallen/status/696820985991995394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/msdebbieallen/status/696786391938641921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/696817313467621376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/696816860990300160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/696815226956574720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/696809033148166144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/696812269557018630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw