21/08/2024
Obamas Light Up Day Two
Commentary by Linda S. Lawson
The Obamas returned to Chicago where it all started as the main speakers for the second night of the Democratic National Convention. They did not disappoint the capacity-filled auditorium. While America is accustomed to former President Barack Obama’s love of politics, former First Lady Michelle Obama, who despite duty, has always been reticent of it. Still reeling from the death of her mother, Marian Robinson, Michelle felt duty called her to step forward and do her part to help save democracy.
“I wasn’t even sure if I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight, but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty that I feel to honor her memory and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future.”
Michelle, known for the famous response to vitriol criticism and hate of “when we go low, they go high” took the gloves off, possibly feeling unencumbered from the glare of any misstep while in the White House, both by inference and name called out former President Donald Trump, including addressing the attacks she and her husband personally endured during their tenure.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” Michelle Obama said of Trump’s campaign in 2016. “His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black. Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those 'Black jobs'?" the former first Lady asked.
She charged at his dismal business record that includes six bankruptcies and telling the audience in the stadium and at home the average person doesn’t have the option of “failing forward”.
“We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth,” she said. “If we bankrupt a business, or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator there waiting to take us to the top. We don’t get to change the rules so we always win. We have to put our heads down” and power through the “ugly, misogynistic, racist lies.” she said Trump will spread on the campaign trail.
She made the case is qualified for the highest office of the land, by way of district attorney, a state attorney general, senator, and now vice president, counteracting Trump’s volleys that Harris is “as dumb as a rock”
My girl, Kamala Harris, is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency. And she is one of the most dignified—a tribute to her mother, to my mother, and to your mother too.
The former first lady referenced the values instilled by her mother, the late Marian Robinson, the same as the ones passed on by Harris’ late mom.
The sense of “hard work, humility and decency” instilled by Robinson in her, she said, was also instilled in Harris by her own mother, who immigrated from India at the age of 19.
“She’d often tell her daughter, ‘Don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something!’” Michelle Obama said.
The 44th president concurred in his address: “Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. As you heard from Michelle, Kamala was not born into privilege. She had to work for what she’s got. And she actually cares about what other people are going through.”
“Donald Trump and his well-heeled donors, they don’t see the world that way,” he explained. “For them, one group’s gains is necessarily another group’s loss. For them, freedom means that the powerful can do pretty much what they please, whether it’s fire workers trying to organize a union or put poison in our rivers or avoid paying taxes like everybody else has to do. Well, we have a broader idea of freedom. We believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you’re willing to work hard. The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they’ll come home. We believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life, how we worship, what our family looks like, how many kids we have, who we marry. And we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours. That’s okay.”
“We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos,” Obama added. We’ve seen that movie. And we all know that the sequel’s usually worse.”
Their word of the 44th president and the former first lady were encapsulated in the chant breaking out from her speech for November 5th: “Do Something!
