Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is done with politics, at least in the traditional sense.
And for anyone who has paid attention to Obama over the last few years, this pivot should come as no surprise. Like most first ladies, Obama, 61, was a reluctant one.
Her misgivings about politics and the spotlight that she and her husband commanded in the White House as historic figures have only grown in recent years. She notably skipped President Donald Trump¡¯s second inaugural as well as the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.
Her absence will be felt. She has shown up since the 1990s for her husband and her party, delivering rousing speeches and memorable quotes. That era is now over, a shift that echoes some other Black women¡¯s disengagement with politics.
It¡¯s a reclaiming of their time, to paraphrase Maxine Waters.
¡°I am not going to be in politics,¡± the former first lady said on NPR¡¯s ¡°Wild Card with Rachel Martin,¡± released Thursday. ¡°I¡¯m not giving another political speech. I¡¯m not campaigning for another candidate. But I¡¯m here.¡±
Obama now hosts a podcast, IMO, which stands for ¡°in my opinion¡± or ¡°I¡¯m Michelle Obama,¡± with her older brother Craig Robinson.
On the podcast, she talks to friends, some famous, about life, about parenting, marriage and friendship, but largely avoids overt discussions of the current political climate. She is more the chatty friend next door offering advice than the former first lady.
Obama¡¯s traditional political oeuvre is unmatched, particularly her convention speeches beginning in 2008, which is when I started covering her. It is those speeches, delivered with ease, humanity and authenticity, that began the buzz about Obama one day becoming a candidate herself. This was always farfetched given her disdain for politics and her unnerving experience as a constant target of the right. Remember ¡°terrorist fist jab¡± and the ridiculous, but supposedly satirical, New Yorker cartoon that featured a gunslinging Obama?
To hear Obama talk about that time is to hear a woman who was deeply fearful of the forces that emerged during those years. It is also to hear a woman who recognizes similar forces at play now and sees her warning signs falling on deaf ears.
Her last political speech at former Vice President Kamala Harris¡¯ nominating convention was among her sharpest and boldest, a clear-eyed indictment of Trump and Trumpism.
¡°For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black,¡± she said in Chicago.
One of her biggest applause lines of...
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