Michelle Invites Kiddies to the White House (Slideshow)

I was having a conversation with my friend Negro Intellectual over how for so many children the Obamas will be their first real image of a president and First Lady. Just as I have some dusty memories of Reagan, Iran Contra and the fall of the Berlin Wall, countless children will have the Obamas as their first taste of our political process on its highest level. I can only dream and hope what that could do for the self-esteem of countless children who can finally shake off some of the pessimism of their parents, grandparents and anti-intellectual peers and look towards a slightly brighter future — if only in the aspirational sense.

Other than the ghosts of black history past and Thurgood Marshall, all my heroes were remarkably older than me or dead. (And every month was black history month at The Snob house.) I was always frustrated how my peers seemed to only know and love athletes and entertainers and I was some sort of freak because I’d been raised to admire the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. (All who advocated a rigorous education and unbridled creativity with a healthy dose of pragmatism with a touch of hope.) Nothing like trying to argue that by being a nerd I was truly “blacker than black” to sixth graders who believed Bobby Brown’s Gumby fade proved otherwise.

If Barack and Michelle do nothing but give nerdy black kids the respect (and the much needed break) they deserve, I will die a happy nerd.

Teach on, First Lady. Teach on.

Sidenote: This goes without saying really, but … she looks pretty awesome. Love the mint sweater top with the woven knit skirt and heels. Even the blue belt. Very nice.

daniellebelton
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11 responses to “Michelle Invites Kiddies to the White House (Slideshow)”

  1. 1990 Avatar
    1990

    I love these pictures. Especially the one when she’s hugging the black girls. She makes it seem so natural like she’s their aunt or something.I also like the pic. of the kids taking pictures of sasha with his cell phone. It’s like a sign of the times.

    Reply
  2. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    Man, Malia and Sasha looked like they were. not. feelin. it. They are so cute, though. They’re probaby just tired of having their pictures taken.

    Reply
  3. Danielle Belton Avatar
    Danielle Belton

    @ ChristinaYeah. And they’ve got four-to-eight years of these suckers. You know they’re all thinking "I could be playing Wii Super Mario Golf but nooooo." And every time I see Sasha I think of my little sister Deidre who was magically bored no matter where we went or what we did. Even Disney World was filled with wails of it being too hot, too loud, too crowded and too much walking. And the trip to New Orleans to the French Quarter and Astroworld. Oh, the complaining!But if you ask her now she’ll say she had a great time.

    Reply
  4. KarenZ Avatar
    KarenZ

    I do believe Mrs. O is wearing the J. Crew skirt from the Vogue spread. Putting the green sweater with it changes the look entirely. (Yes, I’m becoming obsessed.)And yes, the little Os do not look too excited. But they’re kids, so have not yet acquired the ability to smile without meaning it.

    Reply
  5. moja31 Avatar
    moja31

    that kid is probably putting those pictures up on his myspace as we speak; i wouldn’t look too thrilled if somebody was gawking at me with his cell phone either. it sounds like it was a great event, i adore the photos of the kiddies getting hugs, and of course both michelle and the girls look wonderful ( i love that the girls dress like kids not mini adults, it looks like sasha is rockin another sparkly peace sign).

    Reply
  6. rikyrah Avatar
    rikyrah

    love that Malia and Sasha aren’t feeling it. love the First Lady’s outfit. love her outreach to the kids. co-sign about ‘respect’ for the Black Nerd.

    Reply
  7. rikyrah Avatar
    rikyrah

    OT Snob:a Zahara Jolie-Pitt sighting in New York. Just Jared has the pics.

    Reply
  8. Yankee Bwoy Avatar
    Yankee Bwoy

    Amen to that, Ms. Snob.That evening when the pundits called the election for Barack, my mind flashed back to the early seventies and settled on an image of myself sitting in an Elementary school classroom – a solitary black face in a sea of white ones. Me, focused on the Nun as she spoke about the life and legacy of Martin Luther King; the others, focused on me and my blackness…a novel specimen in their midst who they regarded with open, unkind stares…waiting, and watching me for the slightest reaction to something (I felt) they would never fully understand.When I resurfaced from that mental cloud, I then thought about my children – about the political process they’d just experienced, and the discomforts I prayed they would never have to endure…and then I cried. For myself and for them – albeit in a praise and thanksgiving sort of way. If you asked my youngest (who was five at the time), he could tell you in complete, cogent sentences all about Barack Obama – hell, for that matter, he could even tell you about Hillary and McCain. For anyone now residing in the United States whose families came from the Motherland, South America or (like my wife) the Caribbean Islands of their own volition, this might not apply. As for myself, I just sat there taking it all in…and then it suddenly dawned on me that maybe… just maybe, we had arrived at the point in history where it would finally be possible to break free from the grip of Double Consciousness that has haunted even those of us raised in hard working, middle class families – no matter that academic achievement was always encouraged, and where physical, mental and spiritual nourishment was dished out on a daily basis.

    Reply
  9. Roslyn Holcomb Avatar
    Roslyn Holcomb

    I made sure to take my son with me to vote in both the primaries and the general election. He’s four now, and of course on election night he was sound asleep. I had a brief moment of madness whereas I considered waking him up when they declared for Obama, fortunately, saner heads prevailed. On inauguration day he sat still long enough to see the swearing in, but the rest, not so much. Here’s the thing, for him, the election of Obama is no big deal, though he thinks Malia and Sasha are ‘really pretty’. He doesn’t understand, to him, Obama being elected is normal. and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

    Reply
  10. dkan71 Avatar
    dkan71

    What great pictures. And I’m so delighted to see that Sweet Honey in the Rock performed. They are incredible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Uus–gFrc&feature=related

    Reply
  11. Rachel Avatar
    Rachel

    I see so much healing in those hugs between First Lady O and the girls…truly powerful images

    Reply

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