Intelligent, independent and inspiring. Michelle Obama is a mother, wife, sister, friend, but not a politician.
I must admit, as a young journalist, I was very intimidated and slightly star-struck when I spoke to her on Thursday. And we weren’t even face-to-face. It was by telephone.
On TV, I got the impression of a graceful woman with both feet on the ground and with deep roots in her family and community. I personally appreciate seeing a fresh, black, female face and a successful black couple in the mainstream.
When my editor asked me to do the interview, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, what is there not to like about Michelle Obama? She’s pretty, stands at 5 feet 11 inches, and is thoughtful and passionate. If she wants to be identified with anything, it is her role as a devoted mother.
She’s like many 40-something-year-old women. She does an everyday juggling act between family and career. If she’s tired, you can’t tell. On Thursday, shortly after rallying for her husband in Kansas City, she used a brief time to field a few questions from this newspaper.
She captured me with her warmth and calm demeanor. She laughs easily and doesn’t take herself too seriously. She appreciates the lighter side of life, like taking her girls to the movies or shopping for bargains.
We talked about a possible visit to St. Louis, issues affecting women including the health disparity among black women, family life, life on the campaign trail and – of course – fashion. Simply put, she likes to look nice and be comfortable.
Michelle’s resume, despite being less well known than Barack’s, is impressive.
She is a 1985 graduate of Princeton University, a 1988 graduate of Harvard Law School, a former associate dean at the University of Chicago, and currently vice president of community and external affairs for University of Chicago Hospitals. And not to forget a dedicated mother of two young girls, Malia, 10, and Natasha, 7, and the leading supporter of her husband, Barack Obama.
She made me well aware that she is Barack’s wife, and not his advisor nor the candidate “by any means.” Her role, she said, is to keep Barack abreast of the on-the-ground challenges facing the American people. She has set a personal goal to put women in a better place in this country.
For Michelle Obama it’s not about politics, it’s personal. She grew up in a working class family on the south side of Chicago.
“I am not the person who knows the policy details, but I do know how I feel and how a lot of women have felt,” she told me. “Even though my circumstances are different now because of where we are in life, I’m not so far away from what some of these folks have been dealing with.”
Thus far, Michelle Obama is largely an asset to her husband’s campaign. She talks to women, a demographic that her husband must win back after the divisive primary battle against Hillary Clinton, and openly, candidly about America’s race problem, such as the gap in opportunities for young black girls.
“Ain’t no black people in Iowa,” she said, touting her husband’s ability to cut across racial lines for support. “Something big, something new is happening.”
America will eventually have to accept Michelle Obama for who she is.
She represents the zeal of black femininity – confident, funny, straightforward, hardworking and ambitious. It just so happens that her husband is running for president.
Jessica: Hi, Michelle.
Michelle: Hi, Jessica.
Jessica: I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to the American. We truly do appreciate it.
Michelle: It’s a pleasure.
Jessica: We are a St. Louis-based newspaper, and we would like to know have you ever been to St. Louis before?
Michelle: You know, I haven’t been to St. Louis before, but Barack has been here on a business trip. But I don’t always get to travel with him because I’m often times on my own schedule or with the kids. I’m at the University of Missouri in Kansas City – a beautiful campus.
Jessica: So what do you know about St. Louis?
Michelle: What I know is that the city, from what I understand, particularly from listening to the roundtable’s participants, is that they are faced with the same economic challenges that a lot of cities are faced with.
But in a state like Missouri, you’re also compounding those issues with the challenges that rural counties are facing as well: high gas price costs…incomes are not keeping up with the cost of living at all. So when you got high gas prices and groceries going up and all of these other costs going up, people are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.
Health care is of a big issue in the state, or urban and rural environments. The people who have it are still not able to keep up with co-pays, so they’re still finding a lot more out-of-cost expenses. And some people are still deferring primary and preventative care because they can’t afford the co-pay, and then there are tons of people who don’t have insurance at all and they’re just praying that they don’t get sick.
Those are just some of the things that I’ve heard today, and I have learned about some of the challenges that are facing people with jobs that pay a good wage, and folks are ready to work when work’s not there just becomes harder.
Jessica: Do you have any plans to visit St. Louis perhaps in the future?
Michelle: Right now, I don’t have my specific schedule, so I don’t want to speak about what I’m going to do and when. I’m at the point in my life when my schedule is completely out of my hands. You might want to talk to my people (laughs).
Jessica: Do you have any relatives in the area?
Michelle: No, I don’t have relatives in the area. At least not that I am aware of, no.
Jessica: What would you say are your top priorities right now in life and being on the campaign trail?
Michelle: Clearly, my first priority is my girls and just making sure that in the midst of all this wonderful chaos that they keep their heads on straight and that we’re still focused on the things that are important to them like camp, soccer and birthday parties – which is what little kids are focused on.
We made it a point to make sure that their lives are not turned upside down by all of this. And I am the primary person that keeps that together. So that’s first and foremost. But I have to keep myself sane in the midst of all this. You know, one of the things I talk about is the need, not just for me, but for all women to focus on exercise and diet and make sure that we’re healthy and whole and get to the doctor.
But I think an example of one of the substantive priorities that I care a lot about is reflected in the roundtable that I hosted here that focused on support for working women and families. I’ve held those kinds of roundtables all over the country for the last year and a half. The stories and the struggles that working women and families are facing are the same. A lot of people are struggling in shame and feeling like, perhaps they’re doing something wrong. But when in fact it’s the economy and some of the failures of our systems and our inability to invest in a really sound domestic program or a set of programs that makes it harder and harder for families.
So giving voice, getting information and making sure that Barack is aware of the on-the-ground challenges that people face, you know that’s a way that I found that I can be helpful. I’m not the candidate by any means and I am not the person who knows the policy details, but I do know how I feel and how a lot of women have felt, even though my circumstances are different now because of where we are in life. I’m not so far away from what some of these folks have been dealing with.
Also, it would be looking at this issue as it affects military families. I haven’t done it here in the state, but I’ve done it in several states before and will do it more.
What I ask people to do is imagine all of the challenges that a regular family is facing in this economy. You can just compound that with three consecutive terms of duty with your spouse being in a war setting and coming back to the same economic challenges: people facing foreclosures, folks trying to afford childcare, people struggling with public schools that aren’t adequate and not being able to afford any alternative, and then you tack on the absence of mental health support and other services our men and women are facing. You could only imagine the stresses that these families and particularly the spouses, who are left here, deal with.
So I will also be focusing attention and better understanding on the needs of the spouses on the ground, as well as what resources are already there that people can take advantage of. How do we begin to inform our policy and what the investment of war really means? Just think about the war on the ground for what is the financial impact and ramifications on families at home.
Jessica: And you kind of touched on this a second ago…how do you stay so fit and healthy given the demands of your life?
Michelle: You know, I try to work out or exercise three times a week or as often as I can and I eat right when I’m at home – fruits and vegetables. Because when I’m on the road, quite frankly I lose my mind (laughs)… I’m going to have barbecue for lunch (laughs). …I don’t have a chance to exercise when I travel, so I tend to find that I have to be much more disciplined.
But I’m also trying to set an example for my girls. I want them to see a mom who isn’t always trying to hurry and do stuff for other people, but to see that it’s important for women to invest in themselves: that (means) exercise and balance in terms of diet. The girls understand that vegetables and fruits are important (in) sustaining life.
And those are issues that I hear about as well: diet and nutrition and how we African American women look at our health. You look at any statistic and look at the issue of health disparities in our community and African American women are dying higher than any rate of preventable illnesses, like heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. Our rates of obesity have gone through the roof.
This is why we need primary care, universal health care because a lot of these issues are preventable if people are going to a regular doctor. Usually, we as black women deal with our issues when they are at a crisis point. So we need to move beyond that way of thinking about our health. But you can’t do it, if you don’t have access to health care.
Jessica: And lastly, a lot of ladies want to know where do you get your fashion sense?
Michelle: You know, I don’t know? I think I’m probably like many women, I enjoy looking nice if possible. But I also appreciate a good bargain. So I like nice things, but I also like pretty things that don’t cost a lot of money, that’s the thing that makes me excited – my husband too (laughs).
So I tend to try to buy things that I like that look good on me, and I feel comfortable in it. You know when you’re campaigning, running around, and you’re getting off airplanes, and you’re in and out of different cities and you’re speaking in front of people, the thing that gives you confidence is if you feel good and you feel comfortable.
Jessica: What’s your favorite store to shop?
Michelle: You know, I don’t think I have a favorite. I shop at a ton of them. I shop cheap, but I also admire places like J. Crew, the Gap and H&M. So like most women, it’s a little bit of everything. If it’s a special occasion, there’s a woman in Chicago (Mario Pinto) who is a designer who will do things for me.
