Pictured US first lady Michelle Obama hugs young people at Nanga Vhutshilo Community Centre in Soweto, South Africa
Words Lola Ogunnaike
This article is from the current issue of ARISE Magazine (issue 13), out now.
When Michelle Obama stepped onto the stage at Regina Mundi, the South African church that once served asa refuge for anti-Apartheid campaigners, the crowd of nearly 2,000 leapt to their feet and welcomed her with thunderous applause. Near tears, she initially struggled to keep her composure, so overwhelmed was she by the outpouring of genuine and palpable emotion. The aim of the US First Lady’s week-long goodwill mission to South Africa and Botswana in late June was to instil young people with the belief that they can make a difference in the world and that the success of the continent depends on them, as well as promoting the education and empowerment of young women. I was there on behalf of BET news, covering her second international trip without the president.
Over the course of her 30-minute address, Obama shared the story of her rise from Chicago’s gritty south side to the White House. She praised the work of “lions” such as Mandela, Sisulu and Luthuli and urged all in the room to take action. “You can be the generation that ends HIV/Aids,” she said. “You can be the generation to ensure that women are no longer second-class citizens.” And she thanked those “who risked and sacrificed everything they had for the freedom they deserved... It is because of them that I stand before you as First Lady of the United States of America”.
It’s hard work being a world figure. And reporting on one is exhausting. Every morning secret-service men searched us and giant dogs sniffed through our bags. Once we were deemed clean it was off to the 15-car motorcade, where armed guards were packing more heat than GI Joe. For the rest of the day we weren’t permitted to leave this inner sanctum, known as the bubble. Those outside of the bubble were called dirty – not because of their hygiene but because they hadn’t been frisked.
Madame O’s schedule was crammed with museum and memorial visits, meetings with heads of state and the downtrodden, and countless handshakes and cheek kisses. On my first day this political rookie wore a sleeveless Marc Jacobs frock and Sergio Rossi pumps.On my last day I wore jeans and a pair of Nikes. Fashion had to suffer. Keeping up was essential.“This is an average trip for the president,” Obama pointed out, about her hectic itinerary. “This is what happens when Barack Obama travels and this is nothing compared to what he does. This isn’t entertainment. It’s real work.”
Her mother, daughters and a niece and nephew accompanied her on the journey. Juggling diplomacy and mommy-in-chief duty was also real work – but worth it. “I want my kids to see the world,” she told me. “When I was younger we couldn’t afford to travel. My mother has only just started to travel outside of the country. It wasn’t something that middle-class black folks felt like they could do; get a passport, get on a plane and go the other side of the world.”
The highlight of Obama’s trip was meeting Madiba. “That was powerful,” she told me during one of our museum tours. “I never thought that I would ever meet Nelson Mandela. I’m not a head of state. That’s what my husband does. For me to be in his home, with his children and grandchildren, that was powerful.”Since my interview, everyone has asked me what I thought of the First Lady. I found her to be down to earth, gracious and charmingly self-deprecating.
Like her husband (who I have yet to meet), Obama possesses her own unique charisma. She greeted me with a hug and personal compliments. Was I being played? Who knows. But she had me at the hug. And I wasn’t the only one taken by her. From the airports to the marketplace, in both countries, the name Michelle Obama was on everyone’s lips. Schoolchildren in crisp, blue uniforms sang for her on street corners in South Africa. And for Mpho, a Botswana college student who introduced the First Lady at a women’s leadership event, meeting Obama was life changing. “She’s the first person to ever say that they believe in me,” she said.
The trip changed me as well. Going in, I must admit, I was a bit sceptical. The president has only been to sub-Saharan Africa once since assuming office – a fact not lost on those who question his commitment to the continent. And his wife’s lavish vacation to Marbella, Spain, last summer left some on the right accusing her of Marie Antoinette-like haughtiness. Could this be an attempt to kill both of those birds with one proverbial stone? I don’t know. But what I learned in my time following Obama is that she is one of her husband’s best emissaries. And that if you’re rolling with FLOTUS always bring sensible shoes.
Lola Ogunnaike is a CNN Entertainment journalist and BET interviewer. Follow her column, First Thoughts, in every issue of ARISE magazine.