Intimate Conversation
To clarify, this tour is not Mrs. Obama’s attempt to kick-start her political career. She has been clear that she has no love for politics and no interest in running for office. Instead, this book tour is a way for her to share her truth in an ‘intimate conversation’ with thousands of her closest friends. “I don’t know how to be any other way, other than truthful. Sometimes it gets me [in] trouble,” she said laughingly, at the beginning of the evening. She then proceeded to tell the audience stories of the times when her honesty got her in trouble, or when her voice was her most valuable tool and even of times when she was asked to stay quiet.
The event was set up as a conversation between Michelle Obama and Isha Sesay, a former CNN journalist. The theme guiding Sesay’s questions was Obama’s personal journey, as described in her bestselling book Becoming. When asked about her process of writing her autobiography, Obama laughed, “It was partly an assignment, since every First Lady is to write some version of their time in the White House.” She continued by explaining that she wanted it to be more because “to understand Michelle Obama, you have to understand the little girl Michelle Robinson from the South Side of Chicago.”
The conversation took the audience on a journey of Obama’s life. She reflected on these experiences and emphasised on what she had learnt from them. “I want kids of all kinds out there, women, kids of all colour and working-class kids to understand that it’s all a scam. That notion, that doubt that they try to put in your brain that you somehow can’t sit at the most powerful seats and compete.” She continued: “I just want young people to understand, you belong there. Do not let somebody set your bar lower than you think it should be for you!”
Mrs. Obama also delighted the audience with her comedy chops, especially when talking about her husband. “I thought I could plan my life and the plans would stick … and then I met this guy, Barack Obama.” She opened up about their relationship; about the good, the bad and the ugly because she wanted young people to know that marriage is hard and that there is no such a thing as a perfect relationship. “You see couples that you love, and you see Bey and Jay (referring to Beyonce and Jay-Z) and you see Barack and Michelle and you think ‘I want that kind of love’ hashtag #relationshipgoals.” She continued as the audience laughs: “All they’re seeing is us on stage going ‘love you boo’ and so on, but they don’t see us when we are going off stage and I’m trying to push him off stage because he did something that was really irritating. I don’t think it’s fair for us to only show the good side.”