Becoming

In Chapter 24, the election of Donald Trump disheartens Michelle, Barack, and many of their members of staff. Although many might expect Michelle to be diplomatic about the next President of the United States, considering her position as former First Lady, Michelle has long demonstrated her commitment to telling the truth: “I said only what I absolutely believed and what I absolutely felt” (406). Michelle believes that the greater wrong would be to pretend to honor and esteem someone whom she disagrees with on such a fundamental level. Michelle views Trump as a bully, someone who wields his power to hurt those who are often most in need of protecting. As a woman of color, Michelle feels doubly targeted by Trump’s rhetoric, which is used to belittle and diminish others: “Dominance, even the threat of it, is a form of dehumanization. It’s the ugliest kind of power” (408). Yet even though Michelle feels demoralized by Trump’s election, she focuses on a message of hope for those who feel the same sense of fear at his presidency. She encourages her staff—as well as her readers—that “Everyone was not lost. This was the message we needed to carry forward” (412). During their last months in office, Barack and Michelle continue to promote change, striving to build the kind of world that they want for themselves and for their daughters.

Michelle uses the Epilogue to remind her readers that there is power in their own unique, individual voice, as well as the choices that people make. In a democracy, leaders aren’t appointed or inherited; as Michelle notes, “We all play a role in this democracy. We need to remember the power of every vote” (419). Before they became the President and First Lady, both Michelle and Barack worked with encouraging people to vote and make their voices heard. Michelle writes of many times where she encouraged communities to become the change that they want to see in the world, rather than waiting for some outside force to step in and fix everything for them; if we have problems with the people in power or the way that the system is being run, it’s up to us to fix those problems by exercising our right to vote, by speaking out against injustices, and by believing that change is possible.

Michelle muses that her own upbringing can be viewed in two different lights. Because she lived in a small apartment and her father battled with multiple sclerosis, some might view her childhood as deprived; however, her parents were filled with hope, always believing that better things were possible. Michelle has seen similar optimism in Barack, in veterans and their families, and in Hadiya Pendleton’s mother, Cleopatra, who continues to fight for better gun laws. Rather than allowing setbacks and negativity to overwhelm them, these people continue to work for a better future, and Michelle encourages her readers to do the same.