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By Veronica Mackey
Michelle Obama electrified the crowd Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, making her case to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket. From the time she stepped onto the stage at the Chicago’s United Center, until she introduced her husband former President Barack Obama, the crowd held onto every word. Her speech was often met with thunderous applause, laughter and spontaneous chants.
Like a well-tuned conductor, she knew when to turn up the volume and turn it down. She began on a personal note, talking about the recent passing of her mother. It was a tender moment that drew compassion from the crowd. She then talked about mothers as role models, and how both her mom and presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ mom encouraged them to actively serve their communities. Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was a community activist who took young Kamala to political rallies. Michelle’s mother, Marian Robinson, instilled in her daughter the importance of always doing her best, that no one was above or beneath her.
Having served two terms as the wife of the nation’s first Black president, Michelle knows all too well the racist backlash that will come if Kamala becomes the first Black and female president:
“We know folks are going do everything they can to distort her truth,” she said. “My husband and I sadly know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happened to be Black.”
She followed up making fun of Trump’s attempt to create division by suggesting immigrants (mostly Hispanics) are taking jobs intended for African Americans. “I want to know,” she said, “who’s going to tell him, who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?”
Throughout the speech, Michelle held out her verbal knife, ready to tear Trump to shreds, characterizing him as a self-serving fraud, racist and misogynist. She referred to him as a product of “the affirmative action of generational wealth” who has been given the “grace of failing forward.”
Referencing his incitement of violence on January 6, 2021, when he failed to get the votes needed for a second term, Michelle painted his behavior as a spoiled brat, in contrast to most Americans who are mature enough to accept defeat:
“If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance,” she said. “If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. No. We don’t get to change the rules so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top.”
Michelle ended her speech with a call to action. She reminded the audience that there are 77 days left to go in the race. Everyone must vote, volunteer and make sure everyone they know votes. She said that despite Trump’s record, this will be a close election and some states will be won by just a few hundred votes.
“We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected,” she said.
