Michelle Obama tells Halifax crowd about parenting in the White House and the day Trumps took over

HALIFAX, N.S. — Opening for former First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday night was a bucket list item for North Preston musician Reeny Smith.

“She’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to, someone who has inspired me,” said Smith.

Michelle is an author, lawyer and is married to the 44th American president Barack Obama (2009-2017). Michelle is the first Black First Lady.

She walked on stage of the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax to Rachel Platten’s Fight Song and a standing ovation from the crowd of over 10,000. For an hour, she answered questions from moderator Dianne Kelderman, president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council. Michelle shared funny stories about her life in (and exit from) the White House, as well as inspirational words and advice.

‘Just love her’

Sisters Darlene Upshaw-Tynes and Debbie Upshaw were excited to hear from someone who means so much to them.

“She is actually a national figure for us women, all women, but especially Black women. That’s the first Black lady in the White House which we thought we would never see in our lifetime. I’m glad to be here to be a part of it.”

Added Debbie: “She’s very intelligent and she’s very kind and understanding, she’s a woman that breaks all barriers … I just love her.”

Fear and life in the White House

Michelle started with a tale about the lead-up to the presidential campaign and how at first she said no. She said she didn’t want to upend their family’s lives, she didn’t know if the country was ready for a Black president, she was worried for her husband’s safety and wondered how they would raise their two daughters in the White House.

Then she realized that initial response was a fear that she didn’t want her life to change.

“Oftentimes fear can keep us safe, but fear can also keep us stuck,” she said.

Michelle said she realized that when she pushes herself past discomfort and into the unknown, that’s when she’s grown the most.

“So I said yes (to Barack running for president) — but I also said yes because I didn’t think he was going to win.”

She said entering the White House “is like being shot out of a rocket ship.”

But she worked really hard to make it a normal experience for her daughters — Malia and Sasha — including making sure the housekeeping staff didn’t clean their rooms for them.

She would tell her girls, “this is fine. You’re not the president. Just keep moving … and yes, there are SWAT teams on your roof because your dad is here for parent-teacher conferences,” she said. “We had to act like it wasn’t a big deal — the cameras, lights, the attention, the dinners.”

Kelderman also interviewed Barack during his visit to Halifax in 2019. Michelle said that he “sends his love” and that she loves Canada.

“It’s so beautiful. Just flying over this area, it’s spectacular and driving through Halifax, the diversity — I was like ‘we’re coming back,'” Michelle said.

Trumps transition

Michelle had the crowd laughing with a story about the day Donald and Melania Trump took over at the White House. She said she barely got her daughter’s friends — who begged for one last sleepover in the White House — out the back door just as the Trumps arrived that morning in 2017.

But she said it was a sad time.

“It was disappointing on a number of different levels because Barack had made so much progress.”

Youth potential and advice for facing doubters

The event was hosted by the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council, a non-profit organization, as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations. In collaboration with six Atlantic Canada post-secondary institutions, charities and non-profit organizations, the council paid for the admission of over 3,000 “bright minds” to attend.

Michelle devoted a large portion of her talk offering advice and inspiration for young people.

“If you take anything from me, Michelle Obama sitting here on this stage as the former first lady is any of you can be where I am.”

She said she wants young people to know her whole story — growing up in a working-class family on the south side of Chicago without money or connections “but we did have a lot of love and we understood the power of education and the importance of hard work.”

Michelle advised them to start practicing now for the people they want to be. She said she always wanted to be excellent and always got to school on time.

And she said she used other people’s low expectations of her as fuel.

“My strategy was when someone doubted me … that made me think ‘Oh you don’t think I can do that? You don’t think I can go to Princeton? You don’t think I can be the best first lady on the planet?’ … I will outwork you, I will outhink you, I will be better, faster, stronger,” she said. “That’s how you get here and all of you have that potential.”

In an interview after Michelle left the stage, Smith said that she connected with that advice of facing down doubters — and sometimes that’s ourselves.

Just “to wake up everyday with the mentality of I’m going to be better than the expectation that you had for me,” Smith said.

She said she was struck by Michelle’s authenticity and obvious affection for people.

“Just to see her humility, to know that she’s a real person and that she cares about people for real and it’s not just a facade — that’s what sticks out the most.”