Michelle Obama Tells Crowd She "Had To Work Harder Than Any First Lady In History.”

Sep 05, 2019 by apost team

Earlier this summer, Michelle Obama had a sit down with Opera Network’s Gayle King at the 25th Essence Music Festival for an interview that covered everything from meeting Barack to becoming First Lady.

During the sit-down, Michelle also covered the struggle of being the first First Lady of color, and how the public had dawned an ‘Angry Black Woman’ narrative upon her, which only made it more crucial for her to work harder than any other First Lady in history. 

Speaking to King, Michelle touched the topic of being the first First Lady of color, a topic she took a deep dive into in her best selling memoir, ‘Becoming’. 

“It was important to tell that part of the story because they see me and Barack now, but they don't know how many punches it took us to get there,” she said.

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The 55-year-old explained that people from all parts of the Political spectrum were trying to “take [her] out by the knees,” and did so by using offensive stereotypes often targeted towards black women.

“For a minute there, I was an angry black woman who was emasculating her husband,” she said. 

The scrutiny she was subject to by the public was, at times, too much for her to bear. 

“Barack knew how to take punches, but I had never been at the center of it. For a minute I thought about quitting the campaign trail. But I wanted to share those moments because people tried to define us,” she explained.

This made it extremely important for her to work hard, to show that she was worthy of where she was. 

“I had to prove that not only was I smart and strategic, but I had to work harder than any First Lady in history.”

What do you think of Michelle’s claims? Do you agree with them? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!