Photo credit: Miller Mobley
On the eve of the release of Michelle Obama’s new memoir “Becoming,” Elle Magazine has revealed the cover for its December 2018 issue featuring the Forever First Lady herself. In it, Mrs. Obama sits down with Oprah Winfrey for a candid conversation about topics such as her upbringing, her relationship with Barack, the pressure of being the first Black family, and her hope for the future.
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Here are a few excerpts from the interview.
Oprah: “You say your parents invested in you. They didn’t own their own home. They didn’t vacation—”
Michelle: “They invested everything in us. My mom didn’t go to the hairdresser. She didn’t buy herself new clothes. My father was a shift worker. I could see my parents sacrificing for us.”
Oprah: “Did you feel pressure being the first Black family?”
Michelle: “We felt the pressure from the minute we started to run. First of all, we had to convince our base that a Black man could win. It wasn’t even winning over Iowa. We first had to win over Black people. Because Black people like my grandparents—they never believed this could happen. They wanted it for us. But their lives had told them, “No. Never.'”
Photo credit: Miller Mobley
Oprah: “You end the book by talking about what will last. You say, ‘I continue, too, to keep myself connected to a force that’s larger and more potent than any one election, or leader, or news story—and that’s optimism. For me, this is a form of faith, an antidote to fear.’ Do you feel that optimism for who we are, as a nation, becoming?”
Michelle: “Yes. We have to feel that optimism. For the kids. We’re setting the table for them, and we can’t hand them crap. We have to hand them hope. Progress isn’t made through fear. We’re experiencing that right now. Fear is the coward’s way of leadership. But kids are born into this world with a sense of hope and optimism. No matter where they’re from. Or how tough their stories are. They think they can be anything because we tell them that. So we have a responsibility to be optimistic. And to operate in the world in that way.”
Click here to check out Michelle Obama’s full conversation with Oprah Winfrey – and don’t forget that her book “Becoming” hits bookshelves Tuesday, November 13.