Michelle Obama, the former first lady who is promoting her third book “The Light We Carry” said that her family carried an added sense of responsibility for representing Black people in the White House.
“It was no accident that the administration was scandal-free. It was no accident that … our children had to show up right in the world. They carried a burden of making sure they weren’t messy because it wouldn’t have been laughed off.”
Michelle Obama said in her newly launched “The Light Podcast.” “It wouldn’t have been just, ‘Oh, it’s youthful, whatever.’ It would have been some bigger statement about the soul of Black folks.”
“So we didn’t underestimate that. But that, that weight is exhausting when you’re carrying that,” she added.
Michelle added that being in the first Black family in the White House was not just about being the first family, “because the mission during those eight years was bigger than just my voice. You know, we were the first.”
“Hopefully not the only, but we were the first. And when you’re the first at stuff, especially the first in the biggest spotlight with the world watching you – you don’t want to mess it up and you want to make sure that you are representing,” she told journalist HodaKotb.
“One small misstep isn’t just a misstep for you, but it’s a misstep for your family, for your community, for your race, for all of humanity because we don’t often get a second chance,” she added.
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