I am halfway through the Audible version of Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming. Her roots are the South Side of Chicago — where her parents were hard-working blue and pink collar workers who gave everything so their children could attend college. With degrees from Ivy league Schools, Both Michelle and Barack could have made a shit-load of money as Corporate lawyers, but they each felt called to a higher purpose — a call that proved stronger than the gravitational pull for the wealthy life-style that was well within their grasp.
Michelle’s account gives an up-close portrait of Barack as a voracious reader and author; a supremely talented man with firmly held values and a firm believe that he could make a real difference. Michelle herself was / is no slouch either, whip-smart and hard-working. When they became parents, Michelle’s work schedule was designed to accommodate her priorities as a working mom, and later her career was set aside to focus on being FLOTUS.
The release of this book among the backdrop of the continued horrors of the current White House illustrates the enormous chasm between the Obamas and our current Tweeter in Chief. The chasm is wide and deep on multiple levels: the Obamas consistently displayed intelligence, humor, a strong work ethic, humility, class and above all – human decency. To paraphrase Michelle herself in a recent interview with Stephen Colbert: It is lazy and easy to lead with fear; it is much harder to lead with hope.
For the last two years, It has been hard to keep hope, and to avoid responding in kind to the ignorance, cruelty, vulgarity and nastiness regularly displayed by the current POTUS. Yet, Michelle still believes in ‘going high’, because what is our choice? We have to believe in something better. She reminds us that as FLOTUS, she was able to meet many people across our country, and the vast majority of them are good and kind.
Thank you Michelle for your gift of hope in this Holiday Season.