Tag: Michelle Obama

presidential contrasts

Vote for Democary #58

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Donald Trump has been corrupt for a long time but, in his second administration, they don’t even try to hide it. The crypto schemes. Donors getting big contracts from the government, sometimes without any competitive bidding. The president promoting companies in which he is invested. The tearing down of the East Wing without proper authority and using taxpayer funds to build a ballroom after saying it would be privately funded. Not spending funds that Congress had authorized, such as ending USAID, which has resulted in untold deaths when critical health and nutrition programs overseas were cut. The president and his family profiting from his presidency so that they are over a billion dollars richer. Deporting people without due process. Lying over and over about individuals, groups, and countries. Starting a war without authorization or public support. Investigating people without cause. Ignoring court orders. Filing a bogus lawsuit to try to wrangle a deal to create a $1.776 billion slush fund to dole out to supporters along with an agreement that any past tax malfeasance from Trump, his family, and his businesses could not be investigated. I could go on, but you get the idea.

In contrast, last week saw the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago. While most presidents have a library, President Obama chose to create a community center with a park, public spaces for a variety of activities, a museum, and a public library branch stocked with some of the President’s favorite books. There will also be a digital archive of presidential papers, replacing the prior practice of having them all on paper. The opening ceremony on June 18, 2026 was a joyous celebration with music and inspirational speeches, including from Barack and Michelle Obama. The Center opened for visitors the next day, which is a national holiday commemorating Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when Black people who had been enslaved in Galveston Bay, Texas, learned that they had been freed by Lincoln’s Final Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863.

It was heartening to see people from across the country and the world come together to celebrate being in community, upholding the common good, and nurturing present and future generations. It was also a reminder, with our nation’s 250th birthday only days away, that we can make progress as “We the People” toward “a more perfect union,” despite the current administration’s malfeasance.

It’s time for all people of good will to stand up for each other, especially for those most vulnerable, and reject those who would supress or divide us.

Together, we can do it.

Reading Michelle Obama’s memoir

Since she became a public figure during the first presidential campaign of her husband, I have felt an affinity with Michelle Robinson Obama. While on the surface it would seem that an African-American woman from the South Side of Chicago couldn’t have much in common with a European-American from a tiny New England town, there are a number of similarities. We are close in age, having been born in the last few years of the Baby Boom. I have long felt that we youngest of the Boomers, who were young adults during the Reagan recession when unemployment was high and mortgage rates even higher, are fundamentally different from the elder members of our cohort. Michelle and I are both mothers of two daughters and women who have been blessed with a close and long relationship with our own mothers. We have close women friends and mentors. We are both community-minded, and also recognize the importance of educational opportunity for ourselves and others. We each have a long, loving, and intact marriage. And we are both women of our time, which means we have experienced sexism and the challenge of tending to both our private and public lives.

Becoming, Michelle Obama’s memoir published late last year, reinforces my sense of her on all these points. She writes honestly and beautifully; I was especially impressed with the way she wrote about her feelings about what was happening and not just the events themselves. She also frequently gives context of what happens either before or later with a particular place or event, such as the changes over time in her South Side neighborhood.

I particularly enjoyed reading about Michelle’s childhood, teen, and college years, as the stories from that time before she was a public figure were mostly new to me. I also appreciated knowing how she felt about many events and causes during the campaigns and her eight years in the White House, as well as her take on the current president.

What was most enlightening to me was hearing how being a black female impacted her life at every stage and added to the pressure to excel and to be an exemplary person at all times. As the first African-American first family, it seemed that every move the Obamas made was scrutinized. I admire that Michelle and her mom, who was also in residence at the White House, were able to protect First Daughters Malia and Sasha from most of the intrusiveness of the press corps so that they could grow up (mostly) out of the public eye.

Many people share my admiration for Michelle Obama and her accomplishments. Her book tour includes venues that seat thousands of people and her book has sold over three million copies, making it the bestseller of 2018.

She can definitely add best-selling author to her already impressive resume.