Michelle Obama just explained her reasons for not attending the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a move which has inspired a lot of speculation among her followers.
The former first lady discussed her decision in a newly released episode of her podcast, “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson,” where she spoke with actress Taraji P. Henson.
“My decision to skip the inauguration — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me — were met with such ridicule and criticism,” Obama explained. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”
“I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me,” she said of the viral rumors of impending divorce.
Obama said she had to “basically trick” herself into creating a situation where she wasn’t able to go to the inauguration.
“It started with not having anything to wear,” she said. “I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right? Because it’s so easy to just say let me do the right thing.”
The “Becoming” author said not having anything to wear would essentially force her to make the decision she actually wanted to make in the first place.
Obama said it’s all part of her goal of mastering the “art of saying no.”
“It’s a muscle that you have to build,” she said during the episode. “And I think we suffered, because it’s almost like we started training late in life to build that muscle, right? I am just now starting to build it.”
“I want our daughters, I want the young women out there… I want my girls to start practicing different strategies for saying no,” she continued. “After all that I’ve done in this world, if I am still showing them that I have to keep- I still have to show people that I love my country, that I’m doing the right thing, that I am always setting, going high all the time, even in the face of a lot of hypocrisy and contradiction, all I’m doing is keeping that crazy bar that our mothers and grandmothers set for us.”
[#item_full_content]
[[{“value”:”
Michelle Obama just explained her reasons for not attending the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a move which has inspired a lot of speculation among her followers.
The former first lady discussed her decision in a newly released episode of her podcast, “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson,” where she spoke with actress Taraji P. Henson.
“My decision to skip the inauguration — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me — were met with such ridicule and criticism,” Obama explained. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”
“I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me,” she said of the viral rumors of impending divorce.
Obama said she had to “basically trick” herself into creating a situation where she wasn’t able to go to the inauguration.
“It started with not having anything to wear,” she said. “I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right? Because it’s so easy to just say let me do the right thing.”
The “Becoming” author said not having anything to wear would essentially force her to make the decision she actually wanted to make in the first place.
Obama said it’s all part of her goal of mastering the “art of saying no.”
“It’s a muscle that you have to build,” she said during the episode. “And I think we suffered, because it’s almost like we started training late in life to build that muscle, right? I am just now starting to build it.”
“I want our daughters, I want the young women out there… I want my girls to start practicing different strategies for saying no,” she continued. “After all that I’ve done in this world, if I am still showing them that I have to keep- I still have to show people that I love my country, that I’m doing the right thing, that I am always setting, going high all the time, even in the face of a lot of hypocrisy and contradiction, all I’m doing is keeping that crazy bar that our mothers and grandmothers set for us.”
“}]]
