Library Staff Book Review
The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own by Veronica Chambers
The name Michelle in Hebrew or French when translated means Close to God, Gift of God or Who is like God. Whichever translation you use the connection to spirituality and reverence is included in the meaning of Michelle. I chose Gift of God for this book review. In truth, we are all gifts of God; we are life’s miracle, each with our talents and abilities. It is how we use our talents that set us apart, makes others take notice and encourages admiration and respect. Veronica Chambers book, The Meaning of Michelle is an anthology of 15 essays written about Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama. Written by people who knew her well, or just admired and respected her. The book is a short read and once you get started you pretty much don’t want to stop. Chambers says in her introduction that the book is “less an intellectual analysis of Michelle Obama as First Lady and more a series of musings, reminiscences, and pash notes to Michelle Obama as homegirl, the woman who … we all want to be friends with (p. 8).” I agree, reading the book was like talking to a friend, some authors more than others.
Damon Young’s piece, Crushing on Michelle: Or the Unapologetic Power of Blackness, took me back to my hometown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Damon starts his essay discussing how he learned about Barack Obama, while teaching in a high school in Wilkinsburg, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He did his research, Barack had promise, but it was Michelle that sealed the deal. “She was our litmus test. The final and most important exam Barack had to pass. We weren’t just voting for Barack. We desired to see Barack and Michelle and Sasha and Malia in the White House (p. 38).” Damon concludes with the thought that many children, like his nieces and nephews who are of the age where they only know America as having a Black president. Their recollection of a First Family will be one that included people that looked like them. Imagine that.
A few years ago, a colleague and I did a presentation at the ASALH conference entitled, Fitting the First Ladies: Black Women Fashion Designers in the White House. While researching the subject, I found that Michelle Obama's impact on the fashion industry, during her tenure in the White House, equated to about 14 million in stock revenues for each clothing brand she wore. Tanisha C. Ford wrote in her essay; She Slays: Michelle Obama & the Power of Dressing Like You Mean It, “when Michelle dresses the world watches (p. 116).” Ford talks about Michelle Obama’s style as a mode of survival and a symbol of many Black Americans’ hopes and dreams, a symbol of our collective hurt and pain (p. 119). What the author notes, so many of us also notice, is that the older Michelle gets, the younger she looks. Ford’s essay is more than a critique of Michelle fashion sense it is an acknowledgment of Michelle as a Black women, a leader, a rebel, a “bawse”.
The essay by Karen Hill Anton was interesting because it compares a life lived in Japan with a life lived in Chicago. The Freedom to be Yourself is a letter to Michelle from a woman who left the United States forty years ago and never went back. One of the benefits she cites, living in Japan, no one has guns. In 2013 Japan recorded 0 gun deaths (p. 161). Anton concludes her essay with a Japanese saying,” Ichi go ichi e. Treasure this moment, it will never come again (p. 169).”
All of the essays in the book offer a different perspective of Michelle Obama. Benilde Little talks about the South Side Michelle, Alicia and Jason Moran talk about the power and audacity of the Obama’s to believe Barack could be President. Brittany Cooper compares Beyonce and Michelle, because Michelle compares herself with Beyonce. Their lady friendship is unique but not so unexpected. Benilde Little goes deep in her comparison. It is an intellectual analysis that you need a cup of tea to really appreciate all she put in her few pages. Although, each essay could be an assignment for literature analysis and would make a good book club discussion. Therefore, before I steal someone’s thunder, I will stop right here and just encourage everyone to read the book. It is a stress free, light read and a nice way of reminiscing about a time when we didn’t have controversy in the White House.
Published by Elizabeth Jean Brumfield in BCALA News, Spring 2017, vol. 44, pg 62-63
https://www.bcala.org/wp-content/themes/blackc/pdf/BCALA_Newsletters/Spring2017Spreads.pdf
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