First Lady Michelle Obama addressed female high schoolers at the kickoff of a White House leadership and mentoring initiative in the State Dining Room. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
by Mark Silva
"There is no magic to us,'' First Lady Michelle Obama says of herself and President Barack Obama -- the one thing they had going for them was families that cared.
The first lady was speaking at the kickoff of a girls' mentoring project at the White House on Monday in the State Dining Room, a place, she explained, where "a lot of big, important dinners'' are staged.
She wants the place to serve as an inspiration for young people to know that good mentors can be found any place. The program for local high schoolers is putting them in touch with members of the White House staff, including Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, Domestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes and others who can serve as role models.
"One of the things that my mom always said -- because people ask her all the time, 'What did you do to create Michelle Obama?'' Michelle Obama told her audience. She was a child of modest means, an African-American with slavery in her ancestry, Ivy League-educated, trained as a lawyer and living now in the White House.
"What did you do?" her mother, Marian Robinson, who also lives in the White House now with her two grandchildren, is often asked.
"And the one thing my mom has always said, and I agree, she said, 'You know what, Michelle and Barack aren't new.' She says, 'Michelle and Barack are not unique.'
"She says, "here are thousands of Michelle and Barack Obamas all over this nation, in neighborhoods and communities all over the place. And she is absolutely right. She is absolutely right. There is no magic to us.''
The first lady told the girls: "There are kids like me and Barack who grew up in modest circumstances, who didn't have access to a whole lot of resources or power or networking. But one thing that we did have were parents who cared about us, a few people in our lives who really took an interest, people who really wanted us to flourish.
"And that's really all that it takes,'' she said. "It doesn't take anything more than consistency and love. And I know many of you have felt that in your lives. And you know that that's all that it takes to get where you need to be.''
Comments
Michelle Obama: What are the magic words I need to say to get my law license back?
Posted by: Chris | November 3, 2009 10:03 AM
OH PLEASE. The magic is $$$$$. A free ride through college with a "B" average, and then acceptance to an Ivy league law school. Exactly what family was responsible for funding their education? HMMMMM???
Posted by: Gary | November 3, 2009 11:27 AM
"There are thousands of Michelle and barack obama's in this nation"
These must be the bone heads that support obama-care.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | November 3, 2009 11:56 AM
Michelle Obama: What are the magic words I need to say to get my law license back?
Posted by: Chris | November 3, 2009 10:03 AM
Her magic words would be " I hated America"
Posted by: inky | November 3, 2009 2:26 PM
That's very nice of Michelle to say.
Sort of like Newton saying he made the discoveries of the millenium because he stood on the shoulders of giants.
Whereas the truth was that he was the giant standing on the shoulders of dwarfs.
The truth here is she and Barack are exceptional.
Footnote: can't she do something about that ugly chandelier in the State Dining Room?
It looks like a prop from The Phantom of the Opera.
Posted by: ornery | November 3, 2009 10:09 PM
I think I'm going to vomit...............
Posted by: JO | November 3, 2009 10:39 PM
Haters, please continue hating. You clearly have way too much time on your hands whilst Michelle is having the time of her life. Admit it, you hate black people or at least feel that they should be relegated to maid and mammy roles. You need to get over yourselves. The world is moving on, you need to get moving also.
Posted by: BC | November 4, 2009 7:57 AM