WEBVTT - Grace Under Fire: What Michelle Obama Taught Us About Power 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:04.720 I'm a homegrowl that knows a little bit about everything 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:10.000 and everybody. You know, if you don't lie about that. Right, Hey, y'all, 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:12.680 what's up? Is Lauren len Rosa And this is the 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.040 Latest with Lauren Lenrosa. This is your daily deal on 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.640 all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all of the 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.480 conversations that shake the room. Baby. Now checking in behind 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:25.599 the Scenes of the Grind, which is our segment here 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.160 at the Latest with Laura l Rosa where I get 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:29.920 a chance to really sit down and think about how 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.600 I'm feeling. And hopefully you guys at home are doing 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.440 the exact same thing as I am doing it. That 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.480 is the intention, because a lot of times when you're moving, 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.400 you're hustling, your grinding, you're trying to figure things out, 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.960 you solving problems for yourself, your mom, your dad, whoever, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.760 you don't ever really take the time you need to 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.280 just check in, just sit down, check in and see 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:55.080 how you're really feeling about some real things. So checking 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.960 in behind the scenes of the Grind. This connects to 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:06.840 the episode a bit. I am feeling very empowered. Now. 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:08.520 I'm not gonna hold y'all, I'm not one of them 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.200 girlies who like it, loves all of the women empowerment brunches, 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.960 and you know, all the things I think. I think 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.000 sometimes a lot of that stuff can be very performative. 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.200 I know people who do it and it's not performative, 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:22.000 but I think it can be performative. And I think 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.360 the performance of it has taken away from the true 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.679 essence of like, Yo, I'm gonna get together a bunch 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:31.920 of dope people to have a bunch of dope conversations 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:35.759 because we all be going through things for real, for real, 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:40.080 I mean men, women, black, white, yellow, and different. Everybody 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.280 goes through things. Yes, it is very different as you 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.400 start to change the color you're not. You know, I've 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.360 not ever here at the latest with Laura the Roads. 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:53.440 We ignore that. But when people get together, I think 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:55.400 we can solve so many different issues if we were 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.640 ever able to sit down and have honest conversations about 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:02.960 how things made us feel, what we're experiencing and why. 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.360 And I think Michelle Obama and what she has been 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:11.000 doing in her podcast space. She has her own podcast 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:15.320 with her brother Craig called In My Opinion, and what 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:17.799 she's been doing in the conversation she's been having over 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.480 there are just amazing. At first, I'm not gonna lie, 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.000 I was a bit, like, not skeptical. I mean, it's first, Lady, 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:28.600 Michelle Obama, Are you crazy? Right? Like? I knew that 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.000 whatever she decided to put her mind to after the 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.000 White House would take off, But I was just a 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.120 bit nervous I guess that's the better word for her 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:37.760 when I saw that she was going to be doing 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:40.400 a podcast, because I know in the podcast space, the 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.640 beauty of it is that you can really, you really 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:44.600 can connect with your audience. You can be very real 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.240 about how you're feeling, what you got going on. You 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.360 get to cultivate your guests in the conversations, and you 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.920 could really lean into who you are and expose so 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:55.200 much about yourself and learn so much in real time 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:56.959 in front of your audience, if you choose to. I've 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.480 done the right way. Everything about Michelle Obama in the 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:03.400 White House, from the time we first met her when 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.920 Obama was elected back in twenty eighteen to today in 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:11.680 twenty twenty six, has been super authentic. Like, nothing about 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.200 Michelle Obama gives fake girly empowerment branches at all. Okay, 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.600 not at all, so I think my worry it was 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.800 more of a protection of like, y'all don't deserve my 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.480 first lady, not on a regular basis, not her thoughts, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.160 not her opinions, because all people are gonna do is 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:32.000 ribom Park. But nonetheless she has pressed on and you know, 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:35.480 she is tons of episodes and guests from everyone from 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:42.040 Taraji p. Hinton to Tracy Ellis Ross. They've had everybody 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:45.119 on the podcast, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union, like they 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.480 go in and out of entertainment, pop culture, sportscat Williams 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:52.200 was there recently. Just a ton of people in great conversations. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:56.160 And the biggest thing I think that I've been really 0:03:56.240 --> 0:04:00.040 inspired by is seeing Michelle Obama, regardless of all the 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.360 critiques in the headlines and the pushback that have come 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.000 from her having this platform and opening up about things 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:08.320 power through as if she don't even hear the noise. 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.440 I mean, she was in the White House. She's the 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:16.920 first black, first Lady of the United States, so I mean, yeah, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.240 she's used the noise right, but I don't know it 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:22.280 still just I mean it was inspired in the watch 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:24.440 when they were in the White House because they had 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.560 so much coming at them like Barack Obama's you know, 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.440 race and identity being questioned, and you know, just the microscope. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.960 Seeing the microscope that is on black people in the 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.640 world day to day be placed on your president and 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.400 your first lady is like a very different thing to 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:45.520 watch because you would think that with great achievement comes 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:47.200 great respects. And I think that there was a lot 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.120 of respect for Obama in the first Lady in the 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.560 first family, being the first Black first family in the 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.400 White House by people, but I think it depended on 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:57.640 who you were talking to, and that was hard to watch. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.560 So she's used to it. But seeing her push through, 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.360 I'm always like, oh my god, my two mantras I have? 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:10.919 I have three? Maybe three that possible? What would Beyonce do? 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.800 Will Michelle Obama go lower, go high with ri Kabad, 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.120 cuss you out or pull out the incense and then 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:22.640 my final one with Easter Ray even invite you to 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:26.360 her Red cup yacht party in the summer. Those are 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:28.599 the ways, like, those are the boundaries I put on 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:32.000 my life when I'm thinking about certain things at certain times. 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.800 So it's just been inspiring to see her grow and 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.360 now she's doing a ton of other platforms, Like you know, 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:41.520 she sat down with so many people within this last year, 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:45.400 more recently on the Call Her Daddy podcast. So let's 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.240 get on it into the latest because we got to 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.400 talk about Michelle Obama and some of the things that 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.920 she's been able to talk about on this podcast. So 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.239 in the latest, first up is Michelle Obama sitting down 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:02.280 with Alex of Call Her Daddy. And I'm not even 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.960 gonna lie. I was a bit nervous because I'm like, 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.680 first of all, Alex Cooper and Call Her Daddy podcast 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:10.320 can get it. Like I know it's a very like 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:17.919 pro woman feminist movement podcast, but they get into very sexual, intimate, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:23.479 flirtery conversations and I just yeah, that's not what I 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.120 want anybody to ever try and have with Michelle Obama. Like, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.800 don't get me wrong. On her own podcast, Michelle Obama, 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.560 you know, like she gets a little personal, I mean, 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.680 not like insanely, but she's talked about, you know, the 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.800 things that she finds Barack Obama, you know, what she 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.240 finds attractive and what she finds sexy, not even just 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.600 on her podcast, but you know, just in headlines in 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:45.359 different places where she's been and she's been speaking. They 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.120 their love is very on the forefront, right, but call 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.400 her daddy kind of gets a little bit crazy sometimes. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:56.440 But in the conversation, as they very the minute they 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.279 open the conversation, Alex Cooper makes it very plain and simple. 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.320 You are not going to the gate nol raunchy sex 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:03.679 talk when it comes to Michelle Obama. Let's take a listen. 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.080 When I was preparing for this interview, yes, I realized 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.600 that there were kind of two ways I could go 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:17.360 about it. Option one would be more og call her 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:22.160 daddy days, you know, talk some relationships, try to ask 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.640 you a couple questions about what Zarack. 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:26.560 Obama wants to get reports on. 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.000 But then there's the other side of this show, which 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:36.480 is option two, which is hard but important conversations that 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:41.120 are relevant to young women and girls all around the world. 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.640 And so as juicy as option one would be, or. 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.320 Not or not actually fair, it could have been like 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:49.080 that's that. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:53.520 I'm like, oh right, fair, I just thought about it, 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:57.000 and like you sitting here today, as one of the 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:01.960 most influential and powerful women is the world, it would 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:05.720 be too great of an opportunity not to have you 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.080 impart your wisdom on the next generation who is watching 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.720 and listening today, So we're going with the option too. 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.720 Now after this, they didn't get into the real things, Okay, 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.560 they get on into what is going down lately. So 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.400 Michelle Obama has always been such a prominent for women 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:24.520 and for girls on top of a ton of other 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:30.800 things right like education, underserved communities, health, like so many things. 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:35.160 But the platform that in the stance that she has 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:37.720 had to take when it comes to being a black woman. 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:44.400 And I mean, if we're being honest, becoming the national 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:49.800 poster child of the least respected person in the world 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.480 or in America, is the black woman seeing that on 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:57.559 a national platform as Michelle Obama gracefully and so fashionably, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:00.960 Oh my god, it pissed me off. Make me think 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.600 about it. It's so fashionably. Gave these people the time 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:06.600 of day as our first lady. And once I gave 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:08.719 these people the time of day, I mean, some of 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.160 y'all did not deserve her at all, from the fashion, 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:15.160 to the elegance, to baby the high roads that she 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.800 deserved to take. I'm so glad that when she was there, 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:20.920 we did as much as we could be outside swinging 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.760 about Michelle Obama and she deserved every cousin coming off 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.400 the porch. Y'all did not deserve her whatsoever. But they 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:32.800 get into that almost instantly. I mean, the platform is that, 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.120 as we mentioned, but that has just been such a 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.439 big calling card from Michell Obama, especially because she was 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:41.199 so publicly ridiculed. Let's take a listen to Michelle Obama 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.480 on just what her life was like in the White 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:49.400 House and what that dragging publicly all the time felt like, 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:50.880 looked like, and what it turned into. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.400 You've talked a lot about how we live in a 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.480 world where a woman's appearance and our bodies are overly 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:03.160 scrutinized and objected. What was that experience like for you 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:05.640 and how did you navigate it day to day and 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:07.040 not let it distract you? 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.520 You know, when Brock announced, I was hesitant, But once 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:13.679 I was on board, I was on board, and I 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.000 knew that I needed to be out there campaigning and 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.959 introducing the world, not just to him but to us. 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.439 We worked hard at the grassroots and understood that we'd 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:27.040 have to meet people in their homes and in their communities. 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.600 But as my popularity rose, I was being covered more. 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:36.640 After all, this great conversation and connection. The top of 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.680 the article would be she was wearing and it got 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:47.520 worse as we got better. So I understood it as 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:52.640 campaign tactics. Right, what better way to beat a moving 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.280 engine is to try and slow it down. And so 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.839 with women, what do we do with women? We'd start 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.199 sort of talking of their strength and their So then 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.959 I became I was angry, not passionate. It was a 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:09.880 rolling thing, and I attributed it totally to politics, and 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:12.720 I didn't write it off to what people really thought, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.599 because I had months and months of understanding that the 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.839 people in those auditoriums and in those school buildings and 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.319 at those speeches, they understood who I was. 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.800 Okay, So first of all, let me just say this 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.360 is what I mean by as nervous as I was 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.719 for Michelle Obama to step into a freely space and 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.560 inter media, I am like so inspired by her resilience 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.719 because even here in this interview, I'm like, so many 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.079 people are gonna grab this and they gonna ugh twist 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.200 turn it upside down. They love to say she's still whiny, 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.000 she plays a victim card or whatever. But what this 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:56.719 does for women in spaces who really understand what she 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:02.199 is talking about. Baby, It's it's like the feeling of 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.199 let me okay. The best I can describe, you know, 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.480 people be like I felt seen. The best way I 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:12.240 can describe feeling seen by watching Michelle Obama talk about 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.280 being a black woman who cared about her hair, her nails, 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.679 and her outfits while also put a cape on. It 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:19.679 went and saved the world and came home and was 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.640 mommy and wife every day. For a woman, it's like 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.040 coming home after a twelve hour day and taking off 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:29.360 your heels and your bra. For a man, it's like 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.880 coming home every day after working a twelve hour shift. 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:37.080 Dinner is prepared, the kids asleep, and baby girl about 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:38.160 to tuck you in to sleep. If you know what 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.319 I'm saying, You know what I'm saying right, It is 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.280 such a refreshing, like a like you can breathe a 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:48.040 moment to hear her be and she's so honest. Oh 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.320 my god, when she said she had so much to say, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:54.920 but she wanted to make sure that you know, the 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.000 clothes and the things that she were wearing didn't take 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:01.400 over what she was the messaging and what she wanted 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:05.400 to say. It is like the tightrope that you have 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.080 to walk as a woman, especially as a black woman too, 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.840 because normally you're like one a few, one of first 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:18.880 Michelle Obama in these spaces so or to reach certain heights, 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:20.800 and even if you're not the first person to reach 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:22.719 that height at like the company you work at, or 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.079 with an organization or whatever. Maybe even family wise, like 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:27.880 I'm first generation When I say that, I have to 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:29.480 be clear because a lot of people talk about immigration. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.360 Now I'm not. I'm not first like a you know, 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.320 firstborn in the US in my family, but I'm first generation, 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.480 Like I'm first generation HBCU graduate in college graduate. I 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:41.599 am first generation for a lot of the different like 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:44.520 just life success that I'm seeing, So that makes me 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:46.959 I'm first generation for a lot of other things, just 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:51.800 under those brackets. Every time I mess up something or 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:57.120 every time I intend for one thing to happen one way, 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.240 or there's a you know, you know, like she talked about, 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:02.880 like with the clothing, Like you put on an outfit 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.120 and you're like, Okay, I'm showing up powerful and together 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.080 and I feel good. But I've you know, I've been 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.079 on platforms where it's like you do all of that 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:12.920 and when you leave, the only thing people were talking 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:14.280 about is what they did or did not like about 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.200 your your clothes, and it's like you missed the whole message. 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:21.640 Do you understand that like this opportunity can and will 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.680 continue and will and has changed the lives of these 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.080 people that I'm telling you didn't make it the word 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.320 I made it to and that is all you care about. 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.480 I care because I have to, like I mean, and honestly, 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:35.280 it's nothing wrong with careen just because it's a passion 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.200 as well. I know for me, like I like to 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.200 look good. You feel good when you look good. But 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:41.960 also I'm into fashion. I love the stories that you 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.040 could tell through clothing. I love using articles of clothing 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.120 as my story and like you know, conveying how I'm feeling. 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.680 I just like showing up looking damn good, period. But 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.600 also I can't afford to not show up looking good, 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.600 because the conversation around a black woman when she shows 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.760 up somewhere hair and not together, clothes not together. I 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.640 remember they labeled this was some years back during Barack 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:11.440 Obama's presidency, but I remember Michelle Obama being labeled one 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.760 of Barack Obama's baby moms. Let me, look up the 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:21.600 guy's name who called her that. Yes, Fox News anchor 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.760 Ed Hill had to apologize after he referred to Michelle 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:29.640 Obama as baby Mama. You know that fist bump photo, 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:31.760 like that moment that we always referred to when we 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.400 couples goals, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama. He referred to that 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.600 moment as a terrorist fish jab. So not only can 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:41.960 she not show up, she can't even fist bumping and 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.240 love her man, love on her man, right, Like that's 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.200 just not a thing. But there's just always been so 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.440 much conversation about Michelle Obama and the clothing that she 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.400 wears and how she wears. And don't get me wrong, 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.400 the first lady in the White House had there's always 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.600 a lot of attention to what they wear, what they do, 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.680 how they present. Very different conversation. Though when it came 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:03.880 to a black woman in the first I don't and 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:08.000 when I read Kamala Harris's book one hundred and seven Days, 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:10.440 one hundred and four Days, I said both because I 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:11.920 don't remember what it is. I think it's one hundred 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.520 and seven. She talked a lot about how once she 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.320 got into the White House, just as Vice president. Right, 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:20.320 this is the first time that they've ever seen a 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:24.680 black woman vice president. Right. How she realized, Oh, this 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:26.920 th ain't set up for me. They don't even know 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:28.200 what to do with me. They don't know how to 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.720 talk about me. They don't know how to tend to me, 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.360 they don't know how to defend me. It was a 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.840 lot of that. It was everything was criticized. Michelle Obama 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:40.120 got it worse. I don't even say got it worse. 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:45.000 Michelle Obama got it first. Literally, she got it first. 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.240 So at that point, you know, a Kamala Harris kind 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.120 of had like we all knew what to expect when 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.200 Michelle Obama and Barack Obama were headed into the White House. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.920 If you black, you knew like, okay, great that there 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.800 we need this. But baby, these people were about to 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:00.720 make it try and make their lives hell. These people 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:05.480 they ain't gonna like it. Kamala Harris kind of, you know, 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.359 she got a chance to see all of that, and 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.639 I think at some point you would kind of assume 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.480 that the White House would kind of prepare for those things, 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:14.720 especially on like the press side and the communication side, 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.120 And Kamala Harris talked a lot about not feeling supported 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.400 by the White House's team, and you know, even down 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:24.000 to Michelle Obama talked about her resume and the fact 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.280 that no one knew it. They didn't know that she 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.520 had done all these amazing prestige Ivy League things. She 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:33.520 was just Barack Obama's wife, and the first lady in 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:35.560 the White House gets that, you know what I'm saying, 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.639 Like I don't. Honestly, I can't even tell you much 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.480 about a lot of the first ladies and where they've 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.200 went to school. Besides Jill Biden because she's from Delaware. 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.240 I know that, you know, I know her platform, I 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:47.920 know all the things. But just historically, I think women 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:51.800 in the White House there's always been, depending on who 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.200 you're talking to, a certain wayed there look at and critiqued. 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.800 But I don't think people even gave Michelle Obama a chance, 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:02.800 at least with Jill. You know, there was conversation about 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.879 the things she was doing. Michelle Obama's headlines about you know, 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.880 people calling her let me read it verbatim at ape 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.000 and heells there was a a West Virginia official who 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.280 called her ape and heels those headlines were bigger. I 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.360 need to get that officials name, so we can put 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.320 them on notice right here, right now. But those headlines 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.800 were bigger than any of the work that Michelle Obama 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.359 was actually doing. And she talked about the fact that 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.159 like no one cared about a resume. Let's take a 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.879 listen to that. How do you know what to do 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:32.720 in this role? 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.640 And to me it was clear that, oh my god, 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.960 you you don't. You don't know anything about what I 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.840 did before I came here. I went to Princeton and Harvard. 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:46.119 I mean, I practiced law. I was an assistant to 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.760 the mayor in Chicago. I ran a nonprofit of five. 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:50.440 Oh one c three. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.960 I was a vice president for community relations at the 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.640 University of Chicago Hospitals. That was a dean of students. 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.440 It was like all that just disappeared in the course 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.160 of this whole election, and you now see me as 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:11.800 just Barack Obama's wife. I shied away from fashion leading 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:15.680 the conversation, but I knew I couldn't. I didn't completely 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.560 control it. So let's lean in. 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:22.520 Let's lean in with what we do. 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.840 Let's make sure that we have a plan and a 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.439 strategy in place for how fashion. 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:30.399 Just like everything we. 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.200 Did in the White House would have meaning and impact. 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:37.360 Now I thought that this was like such a positive 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:41.520 spin on it. And if anybody knows me, I'm like 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.199 everything black, Like if we could do black designers, if 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:45.560 we can do you know what I'm saying, Like I 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.760 always want to try and platform people because I be 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.080 needing to be platformed, Like I understand what it can 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:53.840 do for someone to, you know, lend a tag on 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.520 Instagram or tell a friend about them, or even if 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:00.000 none of that, just pay for the services in a business, 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:04.280 whatever you can do right. Michelle Obama talked about how 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.480 when she was in the White House, because she was 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.199 getting so much scrutiny because she was getting so much 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:12.520 scrutiny for what would wear, she was like, let's be intentional, 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.800 and that intention honey ate down. Okay. I remember there 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:20.840 would religiously be a push for people to cover Michelle 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.680 Obama's outfits as they do the First Lady. But what 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:25.639 was so beautiful about it is when you got to 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.800 see the outlets and a lot of them didn't even 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.239 know what was happening. But if you were on our 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:34.480 in side of things, you knew exactly what was going on. 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:38.879 Like I would see Michelle Obama like pop up and 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:41.480 various dresses and I'd be like, oh, that is fire, 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:43.320 and I would go researching and be like a designer 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:47.399 from Johannesburg, Makai oh, and a lot of times she 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:49.520 like make sure, made sure she leaned it on like 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:52.200 women designers like that was like a big thing of 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:54.720 hers as well too. There's so many different lists of 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:59.560 Michelle Obama and black designers, but there's one moment, and 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.719 I know Sergio Hudson also worked with Kamala Harris as 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.960 well too, and Lawan Smith shout out to Lawan Smith. 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:09.520 She wore Sergio Hudson a few times. But the moment 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:12.639 that I remember the most is when Michelle Obama popped 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.479 out the Joe Biden's inauguration when they were saying goodbye 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.040 to the White House, and she had on that purple 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.960 baby and that side part was partner and she popped 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:23.840 out with them leather gloves. The girls that get it 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:28.159 got it, we knew Sergio Hudson. And what I love 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.120 about this is is if you're not in the fashion world, 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:34.359 it might not be something that you care about, but 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:37.240 I'm gonna break it down anyway. When you put on 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:39.479 a designer and you're a person like a Michelle Obama, 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:43.320 and you have outlets like The Cut, Vogue, Essence, fashion 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:46.600 Bomb Daily, all of these places covering, refining you, twenty nine, 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:52.320