Former first lady Michelle Obama spoke openly about her perceived reputation as an angry Black woman on Saturday during the 25th annual Essence Festival, telling moderator Gayle King and the packed crowd about her fears of being labeled as such during her husband Barack Obama's first term as POTUS.
King and Obama rehashed chapter 17 of her bestselling book Becoming, describing page 250 as especially difficult to write because the media scrutiny took a toll on the first family.
"It was important to tell that part of the story because I know there are a lot of young kids out there who see me and Barack now … but they don't remember how many punches it took us to get there," she explained. "People from all sides, Democrats and Republicans, tried to take me out by the knees. And the best way they could do it was to focus on the strength of the Black woman, so they turned that into a caricature."
"For a minute there, I was an angry Black woman who was emasculating her husband," the mother of two said.
Not only does Obama say she had to present herself as an intelligent public figure, she also mentioned her struggles to work harder than previous presidential spouses.
"I had to prove that not only was I smart and strategic, but I had to work harder than any First Lady in history."
The Chicago native then touched on the 2017 inauguration of President Donald Trump, clarifying her sentiments about what that particular day meant to her and her family.
"And then we had to meet the Trumps. That day was very emotional and then to sit at that inauguration and to look around at a crowd that was not reflective of the country, and I had to sit in that audience as one of the handfuls of people of color, all that I had to hold on to over those last eight years, and it was a lot emotionally."
The Harvard-educated lawyer continues: "Our upset wasn't over our legacy. We weren't there to instill our legacy, but the upset it would cause the country. What saddens me is what it's doing to the country as a whole. What we have to be really conscientious of is what kind of country we're leaving for our children or grandchildren."
While some members of the public have a general idea of who they're tossing their support behind in the Democratic race for president, Obama told King she doesn't plan on making any public endorsements until after the primary, even though her husband's former VP Joe Biden is among many of the frontrunners for the 2020 election.
"Barack and I are going to support whoever wins the primary, so our primary focus is letting the primary process play out, because it's very early," she said. "I mean, that's one of the things that we learned in the campaign. It is early; it's like trying to figure out who's winning the World Series on the first seven games. I mean that's where we are right now, it is so early."
After her captivating remarks, our forever FLOTUS ended her time onstage at the Superdome to share some encouraging words for the audience.
"I feel the power in the Superdome right here," she said. "I feel it. I feel it right now. If each of us does our part and we go out there and we get educated and we register and we get people registered to vote. We can change things."
Becoming is slated to become the bestselling memoir in history.
Watch a segment of the interview below:
