The State of their Union: What’s Love got to do with it Michelle Obama?
So, I watched President Barack Obama give his second State of the Union Address and felt totally dejected like a pimply teenage girl who’s searching find her identity. 
Yep, to say the least the speech did feel quite underwhelming and non-surprising . . . “we’re going to [fill in the blank with your best conception of democracy]” knowing that the actual end result will not liberate the many inequalities communities of color endure. Therefore, I turned my attention to the First Lady, Michelle Obama, who was dressed in a very conservative plum dress that seemed more reminiscent of a Stepford wife than a woman who was Vice President of Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago.
But, let it be known, Michelle Obama could have had on paper sack and I would still be a Michelle Obama’s groupie because she’s from the south side of Chicago and because in some ways she reminds me of the many black women school teachers who have enriched my life by saying among many things, “Baby, you got legs. Walk,” which is why I hate for white women to call her Mrs. O.
She ain’t no Mrs. O that name makes her sound like British tea and crumpets instead of sounding like she’s from the South Side of Chicago where little black kids drink “red” Kool-Aide and eat hot Cheetos Fries. Also, I don’t particularly like calling her First Lady Michelle Obama because it requires her politically non-committal husband to speak for her saying, “Oh, she [i.e. Michelle] gets embarrassed.” Really, Barack your wife gets embarrassed in front of crowds when it was once her job to speak in front of 
them. How belittling which got me to thinking about the “state of their union” and what is going through Michelle Obama’s mind when she hears her husband speak. Don’t you ever wonder what she’s thinking? I do. I know in our culture we are taught not to think about what the wife thinks, but I do.
I know she nods and waves and performs the role of the First Lady with dignity and grace, but a part of me wonders how she feels about her husband turning his back on many policies and agendas that would benefit black people that live on the South Side of Chicago. How does she feel? How does she feel when her husband in the press room disavows race as an issue, while her mother, Mrs. Robinson, who’s “age” speaks of Jim Crow sits in the blue room with her granddaughters?
How does she feel when her husband beckons to Reganomics as a bonafide philosophy knowing that those types of policies make black mothers and black fathers on the South Side of Chicago re-envision how they will creatively stretch their living from pay check to pay check?
Given these questions, what does Michelle Obama think? I know it’s completely unfair to believe that she may be just as disgusted as I am by husband’s politics, but given her South
Side upbringing and her statement, “this is the first time I am proud of America,” I venture to say that she knows bullshit when she sees it and hears it even while dressed in her Isaac Mizrahi dress, freshly pressed hair, and sparkling white pearls. She knows, but perhaps the love of her husband compels her to support the initiatives of the White House. Perhaps, love in the form of duty keeps her from yelling to the press, “This healthcare bill is some bullshit. It doesn’t insure Mexican immigrants, it cuts funding for abortions, and it fines people who choose not to buy health insurance . . . pure bullshit.” Perhaps, it’s the love of her husband that keeps her from speaking prophetic truths about exploitative corporations like Mc Donald’s instead focusing on how to help parents decrease their children’s obesity.
Perhaps, loves shapes her feelings about the politics that are being played by her husband in the name of a diluted change. And yes, I know that just because you outwardly show one behavior does not necessarily mean you are not dissident in other ways. So, perhaps this is the case for Michelle. I just wonder how she feels about her husband’s politics and when he steps in to publicly “hush” her. It must be love. It got to be love that keeps their state of their union together.
Wow Fal, indeed a passionate offering. Your dislike for President Obama’s politics ring loud and clear. Your disdain for what you suggest is Ms. Obama’s tacit approval or silent nod to his politics is even more clear. However, when I arrived to the end I was not sure you connected your points concisely enough to raise the question: What’s Love Got to do With It? I think the opposite of Ms. Obama wherein I don’t see her giving up any spec of her agency to allow her husband to shine. If she is in agreement with his policy making how do we propose she acts so as to appease our feminist and womanist sensibilities? On occasions where Michelle Obama has been asked what she thinks, I think she has articulated herself well. This is even true when during the election she set off a media frenzy by stating that it was only at the moment that she was proud to be an American (paraphrase). Perhaps it’s not the love that keeps her silent on issues that you feel she should voice concern. Perhaps it is wisdom. Perhaps it is a prophetic spatial stance rather than a prophetic utterance that she offers. More specifically, she’s not the president so I’m not sure how public her personal disdain should be. However, I can imagine that her pillow talk is insightful if not convincing. Like the president, Ms. Obama is in a precarious position. There are no examples and no playbooks to review. She’s damned by the feminist if she doesn’t speak out enough and damned by the right if she fails to maintain her position as the first spouse. It’s complicated and I don’t think that there’s an easy answer yet I do think our critique requires a level of objectivity that sees Michelle and Barack Obama as individuals and not one flesh wherein she is required to speak or act on every policy that has the potential to be harmful. She is her own woman and love for herself and the freedom that we as women have to BE has everything to do with it.
Wow Fal, indeed a passionate offering. Your dislike for President Obama’s politics ring loud and clear. Your disdain for what you suggest is Ms. Obama’s tacit approval or silent nod to his politics is even more clear. However, when I arrived to the end I was not sure you connected your points concisely enough to raise the question: What’s Love Got to do With It? I think the opposite of Ms. Obama wherein I don’t see her giving up any spec of her agency to allow her husband to shine. If she is in agreement with his policy making how do we propose she acts so as to appease our feminist and womanist sensibilities? On occasions where Michelle Obama has been asked what she thinks, I think she has articulated herself well. This is even true when during the election she set off a media frenzy by stating that it was only at the moment that she was proud to be an American (paraphrase). Perhaps it’s not the love that keeps her silent on issues that you feel she should voice concern. Perhaps it is wisdom. Perhaps it is a prophetic spatial stance rather than a prophetic utterance that she offers. More specifically, she’s not the president so I’m not sure how public her personal disdain should be. However, I can imagine that her pillow talk is insightful if not convincing. Like the president, Ms. Obama is in a precarious position. There are no examples and no playbooks to review. She’s damned by the feminist if she doesn’t speak out enough and damned by the right if she fails to maintain her position as the first spouse. It’s complicated and I don’t think that there’s an easy answer yet I do think our critique requires a level of objectivity that sees Michelle and Barack Obama as individuals and not one flesh wherein she is required to speak or act on every policy that has the potential to be harmful. She is her own woman and love for herself and the freedom that we as women have to BE has everything to do with it.
Now I am NOT a political person…but…I think the man is doing what he can for the country…and the world, which is bigger than the south side of Chicago…and if he were to narrow his focus too much we’d have a whole heap of other hell breaking loose in the macrocosm…the political leaders in Chicago are specifically responsible for Chicago…as for Mrs. Michelle Obama, she is married to the president and she is not the president…so why should she do the president’s “job”…she has big agendas and causes of her own that she’s diligently working on…her husband doing his job is not “publicly hushing her”…it’s doing his job as the leader of the United States…
Now I am NOT a political person…but…I think the man is doing what he can for the country…and the world, which is bigger than the south side of Chicago…and if he were to narrow his focus too much we’d have a whole heap of other hell breaking loose in the macrocosm…the political leaders in Chicago are specifically responsible for Chicago…as for Mrs. Michelle Obama, she is married to the president and she is not the president…so why should she do the president’s “job”…she has big agendas and causes of her own that she’s diligently working on…her husband doing his job is not “publicly hushing her”…it’s doing his job as the leader of the United States…
After complimenting his wife, I’m surprised to hear you still round up the mob with pitchforks and torches over Obama’s “she gets a little embarrassed” comment. Perhaps its the man in me talking (the vile demon), I interpreted it as, because of her modesty she is embarrassed by the applause. Always remember the audience–the majority of who associate themselves with Christian values (even if they’re not practicing Christians), one of those values being modesty. As you mentioned, this may all be apart of the facade she’s living to support her husband as first lady, loving and devoted wife. President Obama’s never baulked at complementing her for her intelligence and assertiveness, so don’t you think you may be taking his comment a little out of context? Moving on…
Once again, when it comes to politics in America, nothing happens overnight except congressional scandals. You have to crawl before you can walk. There are immense forces applying unimaginable pressure and influence on every decision in Washington, causing considerable and constant disarray in Congress. I’m sure every line in that health bill was a clash of titans–millions upon millions upon millions of dollars were spent lobbying congress. I would love to see the wall come crashing down in one swing of a mighty hammer from the president, but sometimes, we’ve got to rejoice over a crack. Over time, that crack will expand and expand as dissenters come to terms with the change, and finally that wall can come down. And if you don’t think this “crack” isn’t a monumental accomplishment, ask President Clinton or President Roosevelt. Furthermore, if you still believe the president has a mighty hammer to swing, then I’ve got oceanfront property in Idaho Kyrgyzstan I want to sell you. The executive, judicial, and particularly and most obviously the legislative branches are weak, and wield a fraction of the influence they once had. At least the president, though he may no longer control the power that is America, still represents the power of America to its citizens and the rest of the world, so that when he speaks, the world listens. And the world is listening to President Obama, for us, that should be seen as a very good thing. He won a Nobel Prize, not for what he HAS done, but because of what the world hopes he will do–bring back American exceptionalism.
With love and admiration,
brother-in-law
After complimenting his wife, I’m surprised to hear you still round up the mob with pitchforks and torches over Obama’s “she gets a little embarrassed” comment. Perhaps its the man in me talking (the vile demon), I interpreted it as, because of her modesty she is embarrassed by the applause. Always remember the audience–the majority of who associate themselves with Christian values (even if they’re not practicing Christians), one of those values being modesty. As you mentioned, this may all be apart of the facade she’s living to support her husband as first lady, loving and devoted wife. President Obama’s never baulked at complementing her for her intelligence and assertiveness, so don’t you think you may be taking his comment a little out of context? Moving on…
Once again, when it comes to politics in America, nothing happens overnight except congressional scandals. You have to crawl before you can walk. There are immense forces applying unimaginable pressure and influence on every decision in Washington, causing considerable and constant disarray in Congress. I’m sure every line in that health bill was a clash of titans–millions upon millions upon millions of dollars were spent lobbying congress. I would love to see the wall come crashing down in one swing of a mighty hammer from the president, but sometimes, we’ve got to rejoice over a crack. Over time, that crack will expand and expand as dissenters come to terms with the change, and finally that wall can come down. And if you don’t think this “crack” isn’t a monumental accomplishment, ask President Clinton or President Roosevelt. Furthermore, if you still believe the president has a mighty hammer to swing, then I’ve got oceanfront property in Idaho Kyrgyzstan I want to sell you. The executive, judicial, and particularly and most obviously the legislative branches are weak, and wield a fraction of the influence they once had. At least the president, though he may no longer control the power that is America, still represents the power of America to its citizens and the rest of the world, so that when he speaks, the world listens. And the world is listening to President Obama, for us, that should be seen as a very good thing. He won a Nobel Prize, not for what he HAS done, but because of what the world hopes he will do–bring back American exceptionalism.
With love and admiration,
brother-in-law
You know, I have to tell you, I really savour this webpage and the great insight. I find it to be energizing and very clarifying. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyhow, I finally decided to write a comment on The State of their Union: What’s Love got to do with it Michelle Obama? | Black Youth Project – I just wanna say that you did a awesome job on this. Cheers dude!
You know, I have to tell you, I really savour this webpage and the great insight. I find it to be energizing and very clarifying. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyhow, I finally decided to write a comment on The State of their Union: What’s Love got to do with it Michelle Obama? | Black Youth Project – I just wanna say that you did a awesome job on this. Cheers dude!
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You really make good articles I would say. This is the first time I visited your site and so far I am impressed with the research you made to make this article awesome. Good Job!
Michelle Obama is such a wonderful woman. I believe that she would be an excellent first lady.;”~
Michelle Obama is such a wonderful woman. I believe that she would be an excellent first lady.;”~
i like michelle obama coz she is very down to earth person:`’
i like michelle obama coz she is very down to earth person:`’