The job of the First Lady is thankless, of course. I'm not sure how busy it is or needs to be, but it's probably the closest to American royalty-with-cause since Elanore Roosevelt laughed at Jackie and nodded at Betty, I'm sure.
Who's your favorite first, and why?
* The title is both an homage to Gil Scot Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and to Michelle and my alma mater, Whitney M Young Magnet High School.
Michelle has to be my favorite. Its kind of a no brainer that I feel that I can relate most to her (As a 35 year old, African American women born and raised in Chicago, who happens to love fashion as well). It is my feeling that she balances who she is and how she is perceived very well. There is a bias that AA women are loud, objectionable, and have major attitudes. She does nothing to feed into this stereotype and its genuine---she's not holding back these attributes. She is truly supportive of her husband, you can see it, without any words being spoken. Their story looks like a love story every time. A close second would be Jackie B. Kennedy Onassis. Graceful, elegant, and faithful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Anonymous said. I would add that Michelle brings together into one person the best characteristics of so many of the great First Ladies of the past -- the beauty, grace and elegance of Jackie, the brains and determination of Hillary, the noble character of Eleanor, the candor and independence of Betty and the warm, caring, civic-minded heart of Lady Bird and Roslyn, plus that li'l extra something that only a sistah can have. Perhaps it is the instinct of the survivor ... with all that we African Americans have been through in this country's history, by all rights we shouldn't even still be here. But here we are ... and, against all odds we strive and thrive, and have the nerve to do so with a certain amount of style. No one embodies this quality better than Michelle. And no one knows it better than Barack :-).
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ReplyDeleteI think next week I'll have a separate post tabbing other answers. The more I read responses, the more sobering this is to me (again, a white male dude who's only becoming aware of the struggles of strong or even silent women...)