Black Community: Michelle Obama – An Example of Authenticity.
June 6, 2023 by Staff
Filed under BM, News, Opinion, Politics, Relationships, Sista Talk, Weekly Columns
(ThyBlackMan.com) Every generation is blessed to have examples of poise, character, strength and class. Every role model has had challenges to face that can seem larger than life at times; it is how they manage and overcome said challenges that make people want to follow them. Black history is filled with people that we consider leaders that feel personal to us. In their only way, from a distance, they teach us about life and living. Through witnessing their strength, we feel more compelled to tap into our own dreams and move with purpose. Granted as they speak their truth, they can check us on realistic expectations or call us to conduct self in a better way that will make us stronger. This can be uncomfortable as they may say things we don’t want to acknowledge, but it is just as important as the empowered positions.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is a dynamic example of authenticity, poise, grace, reality, and power under control. She has been a shining example of demanding space by simply stepping into it. Her authenticity, and transparency about womanhood, being a wife, motherhood, marriage, facing adversity, and even her time in the White House. Though it may not have bee her intention, she has given women roadmap that is based in her transparency and above all things she is honest.
I must admit, after reading both books written by Michelle Obama, I absolutely love her ability to be authentic when sharing her life with millions. Many of us watched this beautiful black woman stand beside her husband when he decided to run for a Senate seat. We watched her stand beside him when he ran for president. She did not allow the women of the past, as none of them are black women, who had campaigned with their husbands to change who she was, what she would wear, nor how she would address the American people. This woman has been high caliber from day one in presentation and education. One can only image the anxiety and even fear over how much of herself she should present…and she chose authenticity. We can never accuse Michelle Obama of creating an image for herself that didn’t align with who she is at her core. This is something so many of us can learn from as we live in a society, as black women, that push us to be a version of ourselves that is palatable, but in the end, it betrays who we really are as an individual.
Everyone loved the statement, “When they go low, we go high”; it sounds great. However, did we truly understand what the statement embodied. It would mean we wouldn’t act out how we felt at any given moment due to offense. It would mean we might not get instant retaliation, and maybe we shouldn’t seek it. The statement could be seen as obtaining the moral high ground and keeping it. It means we ought not aim to “match energy” in every situation. For some of us, this might now be too much. However, we watched Michelle Obama go high for eight plus years, we watched her he the embodiment of poise and grace as she was ridiculed, taunted and belittled….as the racial slurs flew. One could argue that no first lady was as disrespected, and the disrespect be allowed as Michelle Obama. She was an active hands-on mother, education, married, and as well presented as any first lady before her yet the vitriol against her and her children was vicious. Yet, everyday she made a choice to “go high”.
In her books Michelle Obama is transparent about marriage. It is obvious, and conveyed, that she loves her husband. Yet, she is able to express her love her him while acknowledging marriage is work, and sometimes it can almost bring you to the bring of breaking apart. She doesn’t make it a case of everything he does wrong. Michelle Obama was honest about her sacrifice, she shortcomings, and learning to understand the differences between she and her husband. I’ve heard some women complain that Michelle Obama’s transparency about marriage could derail younger women from wanting to get married. The truth is she was honest about what marriage is. Think about how many of us go through changes with family, or even our best friend, because there are differences that have to be respected and worked through. Every relationship will require sacrifice, growth, tolerance, and literally doing the work.
Some marriages mature with time, it’s supposed to get better with time as you grow and learn. Regarding marriage, she may not have told us what we wanted to hear…but she was honest and authentic. Furthermore, she wasn’t telling anyone how to navigate marriage per se; she was more so honest about how she navigated marriage. I learned so much from reading about the realities she came to terms with about herself as a wife and then a mother.
Michelle Obama is a name for our generation. No matter how ugly and vile society treated her she was, and is, our Forever First Lady. This isn’t the case just because she is a black woman, but because the kind of black woman she represents. She’s the embodiment of intelligence, grace, class, style, elegance, and the adjectives can go on for days. However, of all the things she embodies her authenticity stands out as a master class. She taught us to go high as we watched her do it under unfair scrutiny. She showed us how to access self, be accountable to self and expect such of others. She has written two books whereby she shares her vulnerable authentic self while teaching all of us. For years to come she will continue to be a model and a reminder to be authentic no matter what in all things.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; C. Starr and also Twitter; MrzZeta.
Also via email at; CStarr@ThyBlackMan.com.
A role model for all. This is someone you would like your daughter to become later in life.
What did this woman did for Black America as the wife of a sitting president and what did Her husband, Former President Obama did for black America that was specific and tangible for the African American community alone?. Indeed, she is a very well rounded educated and poise woman with command presence; but, what did she do or say to convinced her biracial husband to address and fix the issues affecting the black community such as poverty, unemployment, lack of education, fatherless homes and violence.
Did Michelle and Barrack Obama did anything during the 8 years of their presidency for black Americans? Well, they did nothing for black people; But, they did a lot for the LGBT community proposing and passing many bills specific and tangible for them; In addition, the Obama’s gave the Hispanic the dream act and easy access to citizenship with guaranteed benefits, housing and money that was specific and tangible for them; Likewise, the Obamas gave the untouchable people easy access to more annual revenues in the billion of dollars that was specific and tangible for them. Yes, the Obamas did more for other races than for black people; more so, they did nothing to stop the violence or address the issue of black on black crime in Chicago, illinois.
I don’t understand why Black America was Happy to vote for a Second time for Obama knowing that He did nothing for Black people and build nothing for black people that was specific and tangible for the success and prosperity of our black Christian children. He did not stop police violence or put in place any bills or policies to make racist cops accountable for falsifying reports, planting guns and drugs, shooting and killing innocent black people. Obama did nothing and his Wife did nothing to encourage him or pushed him to do for our black Christian children.
You see Racist America use Obama to quiet down the black uproar in America and abroad who were demanding for equality and for someone to look like them to represent their best interest. So America gave black people a half white, half black man whose loyalty was with the racist white agenda and the feces pushers who get everything they want to including using little girls bathrooms; even though, they are grown men with penises. Obama was the ulterior mouse in the house that was use to bring back the continent of Africa back to the table since Former President George Bush had alienated the African countries; Secondly, Obama was uses as a puppet to make the world and African Americans believe that race relations were getting better and that white people were no longer racist towards blacks. Yet, it was all a lie and white America will always be racist towards black people and they will never allow black people to rise and they achieve that goal by removing the black male figure from the home and telling our stubborn beautiful black Queens that they do not need a black men in the home and neither do they need a father figure for their children.
My fellow African Americans, every black home needs a father and mother figure for our Christian black children; every black home need a husband for his black wife and a wife for her black husband; every black home needs to have a black male figure as role model and He must protect his black Queen and children from white men who speak with a fork tongue and are infected with the disease of madness, insanity, insecurity, fear and the shortcoming of having small private parts.
Additionally, every black home must a have black men and black women who are loyal to the black movement and empowerment of our community and the protection of our people from those who wish to destroyed us, oppress us, enslave us, kill us, incarcerated us and manipulate us with the use of their Religion of the Slaves aka Christianity. Every black men and black women should legally owned a rifle, guns, shot guns, ammunition, body armor and Kevlar because your fellow whites, Hispanics, Asian are arming themselves and slowly but surely killing us and preparing to kill us; and like always, they get away with killing our children like Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin by making the following statement ” I FEAR FOR MY LIFE” once, these racist people utter those words, they are immediately set free by the racist judges, jurors and mainstream media.
With that said, I am going to keep repeating the same statement until by beautiful black Queens and kings get the bigger picture. Married your own kind, love your black women, love your black children, love your black neighbor, love your community and love your life. Black people deposit your hard earned money in black owned banks and black owned credit unions, send your children to black owned private schools and HBCU’S, if you owned a house, car or boats then your mechanic, repairmen, handymen, gardener, landscaping should be black people who look like you, suffer like you, think like you and endure like you. it is time to bring the black men home to the black women, bring back the black women home to the black men and build a strong black home for our children and their future.