Michelle Obama for President 2020

By DEBORAH NGANGA

The first presidential debate, which took place on Monday, Sept. 26, was definitely a wake up call to remind us that very soon, a new President of the United States will be in office. Election Day is about one month away, and we have only October to really cherish our last moments with the Obama family, but most importantly, our First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Seeing a different race represented in the White House after 43 presidencies that offered no diversity has had such an effect on the underrepresented citizens of the U.S. I do not think some people understand how big of a deal it is for women of color, to see another woman of color in such a high position of power and influence. As a black woman myself, having a woman of Michelle Obama’s caliber as a role model helps me to not allow the color of my skin and people’s assumptions stop me from succeeding in life and reaching my goals.

Michelle Obama is known for her elegance and poise regarding the writing and delivering of her speeches. There are numerous online articles that mention how well she delivers speeches, and some even try to emulate her. For instance, Melania Trump plagiarized portions of the speech Michelle Obama gave in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention, so our First Lady must to be doing something right.

Michelle Obama also deserves major props for being able to handle both a demanding position such as First Lady and her job as a mother. She has raised two well-behaved and intelligent teenage daughters. What I love most about her parenting skills is that she recognizes that her daughters are constantly subjected to the public’s eye, but that does not hold her back from letting them be “normal” teenagers.

For example, her oldest daughter, Malia, was harshly criticized during the summer for attending the music festival Lollapalooza instead of attending the DNC. I think any teenager that is interested in music and having fun would prefer to see their favorite artists perform instead of attending a convention that will not be impacted in any way by their absence.

Since day one, Michelle Obama has talked about how important having a healthy diet and being physically active is, not only for her and her family, but also for the younger generation of kids. In 2010, she proved to us that she is not all talk by creating “Let’s Move!” a public health campaign to help combat the growing problem of obesity in children.

When Michelle Obama is not creating and supporting major health initiatives or parenting, she likes to have a little fun. She has a serious get down-to- business side, but I love that she is not shy and will show us her fun and silly side. Her guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Carpool Karaoke with James Corden are just a few examples of how entertaining she is.

While the current election is proving to be quite entertaining as well, Michelle Obama’s lightheartedness and kindness will be missed. We have been extremely lucky these past eight years to have had a FLOTUS that is so beautiful both on the inside and out.