E1 Michelle Obama’s New Podcast: My Top 3
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In episode one, Michelle chats with husband Barack about the big things we’re all thinking about in the most beautifully human terms. I felt like I was at the Obama dinner table, which is exactly what Michelle said at the end of the episode. Heart melt!
Her words spoke to all of us in different ways. I wanted to share my biggest moments from episode one, and following Michelle’s model, decided to get personal.
1. “Livin on the second floor of my great-aunt’s house”
At the beginning of the episode Michelle and Barack tease that Michelle came from a “Leave-it To Beaver” family. I was surprised because I didn’t think she had grown up in an upper-middle class, “we’ve got it all” family.
A few beats later I learned that in fact she didn’t. They lived on the second floor of her great aunt’s house so they could save money. She had dreamed of a house with stairs, or of having her own room, but by saving money Michelle’s mom was able to stay home, go to PTA meetings and field trips. Like the Cleavers, they lived their own nuclear family dream.
On a personal note: this was important for me to hear. I grew up in Stockton with a single mom struggling to raise three kids, every other weekend with dad. Mom was going to school full time to get that degree and running day care at our house to make ends meet. Dad worked extremely hard and long hours to make his ends meet and cover child support. He even worked between the Bay Area and Stockton with a long commute at one point, and always had a roommate in his apartment back in those days.
We did everything we could to save money, sharing our house with another family, and at one point two families. I’ll never forget the day I came home to discover that we were turning the living room into a giant bedroom for me and my two best friends, Kara and Brianne. Melanie and Michael would be in the room I usually shared with my sister Melanie, and Steve and Brandon would be in his room. It didn’t occur to me that there was a reason all three families would be under one roof. The reason for us was simple: Perpetual sleep over! All the friends, all the time. For a few months anyhow. (And they wonder why I’m an extrovert. Actually, anyone who knows me doesn’t really wonder).
Everything was always changing, constant community and chaos. When one family moved out, and then another, a pseudo grandma, Grandma Peggy, moved into the garage and then she ran the day care and took care of us while mom worked.
The real world wasn’t exactly cool with our situation. Kids did tease me for not having the right clothes or the right lunch. Playground popularity was based on the cool snacks you could trade and there was no way I was gonna show up with a Twinkie. We didn’t have money for that! Didn’t matter. In third grade I made friends with the smartest, coolest girls because they needed one more person to play their pretend game.
They had discussed the big problem with Molly’s mom. Molly, Meredith, and Melanie told Molly’s mom that they needed one more girl for their game. They thought I was the right girl because I was so creative and my name also started with M. Score! They didn’t know what to do though because we weren’t friends, and luckily Molly’s mom told them exactly what to do. The next day during lunch the three M girls stayed at the table until we were the last ones there. Then they offered me crackers from one of their lunch packs (gold!) and asked me if I would play their pretend game with them because I was so creative (gold!).
Growing up was a roller coaster, with the ups and the downs, and I learned to hide it from the 3-M friends and so many others I would befriend over the years. Not anymore.
I’m from Stockton, y’all. Wanna aks me bout it, dawg? Hit me up: malinda@lessonsup.com.
2. “One of the reason’s I fell in love with you”
…you are guided by the principle that we are each other’s brother’s and sister’s keepers. And that’s how I was raised!”
This spoke to me because I’m enamored with the love story of Michelle and Barak, can’t help but perk up at the sound of those words, but I‘m mostly enamored with why they fell in love with each other. They both care. A lot. About everyone.
It is not enough that I succeed on my own. I have to care about the kid in the desk next to me at school because he’s just as smart but his mom works.
— Michelle Obama
On a personal note: I’m so impressed that Michelle spelled out the problem of privilege without using the word privilege once. It’s simple: It is not enough to care about yourself, you need to care about the kid next to you. Thank you, Michelle.
I’m going to put this in other terms that might get the point across for the people who think they got the point, or who think they care. I know them, I grew up with them: a culture of people who:
- “I’m not racist, it’s just a joke”
- “I’m not homophobic, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman”
- “I’m not against minorities, I’m voting for proper regulations. My friend from Mexico is a doctor and went through proper processes and it’s not fair if…”
- “I’m not putting anyone at risk. There’s no scientific proof that masks work so why should I…”
If you identify with any of the above statements then you might identify with this:
If you care about everyone else as much as you do yourself, then YOU will be richer, wiser, more successful, better, stronger, etc. Whatever it is that you’re protecting, or that you’re so afraid of losing, I promise you, you will have more of it. The more you give in this world, the more you will get. If you help lift up others, they will lift you up in return. Good begets good. There is plenty to go around. The more you give, the more you get.
If you start living your life in a way the helps everyone, everyone will want to help you.
If you give to someone with less, someday you’ll get something in return.
If you keep on trying to keep everything for yourself, no one will have anything to give you.
In other words:
“When you have an advantage, don’t hoard it.” — Michelle Obama
3. “Government is us collectively making decisions together” — President Barack Obama
Michelle saved the best part for last. I listened to the podcast because 1) it’s Michelle! 2) I want to know how the Obamas are thinking about our current situation.
The danger for this generation is that they have become too deeply cynical of government. Not understanding that all government is us collectively making decisions together. — President Barack Obama
The point they made: Government does a lot for us, but most of us don’t see it until it stops working.
- We’re now seeing what happens when government doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do.
- This could lead to increased cynicism of government and this is dangerous.
- “The problem is, again we’re getting a pretty good lesson in this right now, there’s some things we just can’t do by ourselves or even groups of us can do by ourselves. As a general proposition: we can’t build infrastructure by ourselves, we can’t deal with a pandemic by ourselves”
On a personal note: Catharsis. “We can’t deal with a pandemic by ourselves.” Government is how we work together collectively to manage the big things that we can’t manage alone. I needed that reminder, and that’s all I have to say about that.
