Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, the first African-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
The Day Michelle Obama cried because of Donald Trump
By Chido Nwangwu, Founder & Publisher of USAfrica.
Michelle Obama, the first African-American woman who became America’s First Lady does not quite leave you in any doubt whether she likes your politics or not.
In the competitive arena of politics, she makes her position on social issues and liberal causes with contrasting juxtaposition against those of conservative opponents.
There is no doubt that the biggest ideological opponent of the Barack and Michelle Obama legacies from the 8 years of the Obama presidency and even after the presidency remains the hard-charging, confrontational and very divisive former president and Republican, Donald J. Trump.
Although Michelle Obama, in the proper mannerism and appropriate language of a gentle lady recommend to her fellow Democrats that when Donald Trump and some notable Republicans “go low, we go high….”
I do know that in the combustion of partisan politics, you can only stay so much “high” and so cherubic that you may end up losing the elections. Michelle Obama, a lawyer, is no wallflower. Without a doubt, for anyone attacking her charismatic husband, she would counter those – especially the Republicans and even some Democrats with very persuasive and critical language.
Then, came the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. Understandably, for Mr. Obama, who is known for being Mr. Cool took care of the formalities of the ceremony and left with his family.
For Mrs. Obama, it was a far more challenging day. She saw the contrast between her husband’s mix of appointments, and preference for the tapestry of backgrounds of different people who served in the White House and all the stations of public service in the United States in striking contrast with the man who was coming in, Donald Trump.
During the official ceremonies and protocols, Mrs. Obama contained the pressure of that historic day.
But it was only three days ago, on March 7, 2023 premiere episode of Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, via People, that the former first lady revealed that she was “uncontrollably sobbing” while “saying goodbye to the staff and all the people who helped to raise” the Obama daughters, Sasha and Malia.
She also said in the podcast that looking at the attendees at Donald Trump’s inauguration: “There was no reflection of the broader sense of America…. To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display — there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage.”
Now, let’s go back to the beginning and to hopefully put her thoughts in the context of the time. Certainly, one of the most important legacies of the Obama presidency remains the issue of diversity, the continuing battle for the expanding inclusion of persons of different races and backgrounds….
•Dr. Chido Nwangwu, author of the forthcoming 2023 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity., is Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston, Texas.He has appeared as an analyst on CNN, Al Jazeera, SKYnews, and served as an adviser on Africa business to Houston’s former Mayor Lee Brown. Follow him @Chido247
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