Every night before we go to bed, my daughters and I talk about our worst and best parts of the day. Today, we all agreed that the best part was watching Michelle Obama’s warm and passionate speech, and then seeing her girls come onto the stage. As a mom, I felt we were experiencing a piece of history together…
The fact that today a smart, articulate, beautiful and accomplished black woman from the South side of Chicago stood before seasoned politicians, an audience of men and women, of whites, blacks, Latinos (and did you see the Indian sardar on CNN!), and addressed the world on national television, to celebrate the accomplishments of American society through her own story, is something to be proud about.
When she spoke about being at the crossroads of a woman’s right to vote and the anniversary of Martin Luther Kings “I Have a Dream” speech, Michelle Obama recognized the accomplishments of the so many leaders that came before her. Most importantly, she set a tone of dignity and a reminder of what we are capable of as a humanity.
“And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they’ll have families of their own. And one day, they – and your sons and daughters – will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They’ll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country – where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House – we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.”
As a mom, I was grateful that my daughters heard the words of gratitude, hope, and pride from Michelle Obama. As I tucked my daughters in tonight, Michelle Obama’s powerful, personal words indeed echoed in our home…