Michelle Obama writes new chapter with 'The Light We Carry'

The daughter of a water pump operator and a stay-at-home mom from the South Side of Chicago became living history in January 2009 when she strode into the White House as the first lady to America’s first African American president. This was not the life expected for little Black girls born in the 1960s. But it happened to Michelle Obama.

“A girl like me, she was never supposed to be up there next to Jacqueline Kennedy and Dolley Madison,” she said when her official portrait by artist Sharon Sprung was unveiled alongside the one of her husband, Barack Obama, during a September ceremony at the White House. “She was never supposed to live in this house, and she definitely wasn’t supposed to serve as first lady.”

The portraits, she added, are “a reminder that there’s a place for everyone in this country … whether you’re a kid taking two buses and a train just to get to school; or a single mother who is working two jobs to put some food on the table; or an immigrant just arriving, getting your first apartment, forging a future for yourself in a place you dreamed of. It’s a place where everyone should have a fair shot.”

Indeed, Michelle Obama — now one of the best-known and most-lauded women in the country, and arguably, on the planet — availed herself of the shot she was given. She was by her husband’s side through eight years in the White House, shattering barriers, too. “You embody dignity beyond measure, Michelle,” said President Joe Biden during the portrait unveiling. “And together, you and Barack made history. You both generated hope for millions of people who were left behind for so long. And it matters. You both did it with such grace and such class.”

Purpose and passion

While some have urged the former first lady to seek political office, that is “completely out of the question,” Obama tells USA TODAY’s "Modern Woman." “It’s just not who I am, and after spending decades watching Barack make his way from state government to the presidency, there’s no doubt in my mind that politics just isn’t for me.”

These days, she and the 44th president are settled into private life in the nation’s capital where they are empty nesters; their daughters Malia (a Harvard University graduate) and Sasha (a college student) are now 20-somethings — both are “doing well” and have developed into “amazing young women,” she said during a guest appearance on the final episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in April.

Obama has curated a third act that is purposeful, passion-ate and, not surprisingly, steeped in public service with faith, family and friends as her guiding light.

“I think we all know that families come in all shapes and sizes — and for so many of us, the very idea of family can include so much more than blood relations,” she says. “The older I get, the more I can see the foundational role our friends play in our lives and how we can come to rely on them as much as we would a sibling or parent.”

Obama describes those tight friends as her “kitchen table.”

“These are the friends and confidantes who I trust, delight in and rely on most,” she says. “They’re people for whom I would do anything. And they’ve taught me that support, love and validation can come from anywhere and everywhere — not just from your home. Some of the most important people who’ve sat at my table are older than me. They’re people who took the time to mentor me when I was young, opening their own lives as examples of what’s possible, supplementing what my parents could not offer. And there are others who’ve pulled up a chair to the table who are many years younger than me — whose perspectives I deeply value and keep learning from day in and day out.”

Surviving through uncertainty

Scores of people look up to Obama, too. They find guidance in her words of wisdom, such as her motto “When they go low, we go high.” She shares plenty more in the books she authors. Her latest, "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times," is scheduled for global release Nov. 15, the same date her six-city U.S. book tour kicks off. She says the book discusses how “when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us.”

Obama says she started solidifying the idea for the book over the past few years, “as so much around us began to feel uncertain.” She recounts, “From a global pandemic that left so many of us isolated, to a rising tide of hate, to a constant drumbeat of traumatizing news stories — all the Black folks killed by police, all the horrific shootings, all the long-held rights being rolled back — we’ve all had a lot to handle. And I know it left so many of us, including me, feeling wobbly and unsettled at times.”

"The Light We Carry," with 336 pages of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenges and power, is her way to address those feelings.

Writing isn’t the only thing that’s occupied Obama since leaving the White House. In 2018, in partnership with the organization Civic Nation, she launched a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative called When We All Vote. That same year, she and the former president unveiled Higher Ground Productions, which develops scripted and unscripted TV, film and podcast projects. The company, which partners with Netflix and Spotify, has won an Oscar and an Emmy award.

“I don’t think there was any scenario in which I ever anticipated any of this — I never thought I would be an author, or that I would have a kids’ show, or a podcast or TV deal, let alone travel the world as first lady of the United States of America,” she says. “All of these experiences have been so surprising and powerful and affirming — and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I’m no good at predicting where my path might take me.”

Mission inspired

Another pillar in the legacy that Obama and her husband share is the Obama Foundation, which has a mission to “inspire, empower and connect people to change their world.”

Valerie Jarrett, who served as senior adviser to the president during the Obama administration and back in 1991 hired Michelle Obama to work with her in the Chicago mayor’s office, is now CEO of the foundation.

Last September, the foundation broke ground on the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center, which Jarrett says will inspire visitors from near and far.

The world-class museum with public gathering spaces is being erected on the South Side of Chicago, bringing jobs and investment to a community where the Obamas have deep roots.

The former Michelle Robinson and her older brother Craig were born and raised in the neighborhood on Euclid Avenue by her mother, Marian Robinson, and her late father, Fraser Robinson.

Michelle would later meet a man some once called “Barry” — her future husband — in Chicago when the two Harvard-educated attorneys worked at a Windy City law firm. Moreover, their daughters were born there.

The center’s offerings will range from a new branch of the Chicago Public Library to leadership training and an imaginative playground for children. A fruit and vegetable garden will be a nod to Obama’s healthy eating programs and her kitchen garden at the White House, while a water garden will pay homage to the former president’s late mother, Ann Dunham.

To honor Marian Robinson, who also resided at the White House with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters, and became America’s “First Grandmother,” there will be an exhibit called Opening the White House, which will feature replicas of the East Room, Blue Room and South Lawn. “President and Mrs. Obama have adhered to one simple yet powerful idea their entire lives: Ordinary people working together can change history,” Jarrett says. “Rooted in the example set by the Obamas over the course of their lives, the foundation is the embodiment and continuation of this vision.”

She notes, for instance, that Michelle Obama is uplifting young women through The Girls Opportunity Alliance, a program that seeks to empower adolescent girls around the world through education.

“What I am excited about is to see young folks all over the country step up to lead the way,” Obama says. “A few years from now, when Barack and I are old and gray, we’ll be looking to them to guide us — and we’ve already gotten a sneak peek of how talented and passionate they are through the work of our foundation. I can’t wait to see what they do next.”

We know that little girls can grow up and achieve anything. As Obama said at her portrait unveiling: “And this little girl from the South Side is blessed beyond measure.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michelle Obama discusses life and new book 'The Light We Carry'