Unless you are living under a rock, you know that Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming” is the best selling book of 2018, selling over 2 million books in just two short weeks it has been out.
When it was announced that she was going on her book tour, I thought why not get tickets and I did.
This past Saturday, my friend Michele and I went to see her at Barclays Center.
Before she came out, I have to say it was like going to a concert, there big jumbotron screens, dramatic lighting and thanks to Questlove who curated the Becoming Michelle Obama play list, the music kept us entertained and moving and grooving. They played a montage of iconic photos of her and the first family, the funny videos with Jimmy Fallon, James Cordon, Conan, and Ellen. The photos with kids and military really reminded us how busy she was. And hearing from Malia and Sasha talk about their mom was quite touching because we have never heard them “talk” and now they are young women, not children. Weird.
And I had to take a video of the arena so you could gain perspective that this is where the Nets play and concerts are held. This is a book tour, people, a book tour!! And it was sold out almost immediately that they added another date to the tour.
Elizabeth Alexander, poet, Yale professor and writer (The Light of the World memoir) was the moderator for the evening. FYI, Alexander read a poem at President Obama’s 2009 inauguration and has known Obama since their days in Chicago raising their kids.
Listening to Michelle was a breath of fresh air so needed right now. Not because of the political environment but because I needed to hear that I need to think of me so much more for my own happiness. I loved how she was very open about her days before the White House which what we all “remember” her by.
Her comments were funny, honest and one slip up that dissed “Leaning In” got a huge response from the crowd including me. She touched or should I say talked about her upbringing, her meeting Barack Obama (this was funny because it was a bit of diss on white folks because when they came to her that she would be mentoring this “intelligent Harvard Grad? she was really, “He’s black and can talk, let see if he is all that.”
And for us moms in the audience, when she talked about finding her community amongst the moms from her daughter’s school was all of us “figuring which moms to run from.”
I look forward to reading her book when it arrives. I want my daughter to read it as well because given where she came from, what she has weathered before she went to the White House and she is still becoming, I think she will be inspired.
Finally, I have to admit, I got a teary-eyed walking around Barclays Center before the event. It is the America I know and love, black folks, white folks, lots of men with their wives and girlfriends, gay couples, you name it. It gives me hope and faith that we are a country of many hues and opinions.
P.S. I have no idea why people thought this but this was not sponsored nor did I receive free tickets. This was a moment in my life I just could not pass up and happy I was lucky enough to get the seats I did.
Life is short as they say and should be filled with moments, not regrets!!
