“OK. We got a big night ahead. Thank you all so much. Thank you so much. OK. There you go.
Hello, Chicago! Yeah. All right. Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? You know, we’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading across this country we love. A familiar feeling that has been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope.
The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation, the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.
America, hope is making a comeback.
Yeah. But, to be honest, I am realizing that, until recently, I have mourned the dimming of that hope. And maybe you’ve experienced the same feelings, that deep pit in my stomach, a palpable sense of dread about the future.
And for me, that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief. The last time I was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother — the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency, the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.
Folks, I still feel her loss so profoundly. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight, but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty that I feel to honor her memory. And to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future.
You see, my mom, in her steady, quiet way, lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life. She believed that all children, all — all people have value. That anyone can succeed if given the opportunity. She and my father did not aspire to be wealthy. In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed. They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.
So, my mother volunteered at the local school. She — she always looked out for the other kids on the block. She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation. The belief that if you do unto others, if you love thy neighbor, if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off. If not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren.
You see, those values have been passed on through family farms and factory towns, through tree-lined streets and crowded tenements, through prayer groups and National Guard units and social-studies classrooms. Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath.
Kamala Harris and I built our lives on the same foundational values. Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country. That’s why her mother moved here from India at 19. It’s why she taught Kamala about justice, about the obligation to lift others up, about our responsibility to give more than we take. She’d often tell her daughter, ‘don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something.’”
I typically don’t write about politics on this blog. But I do warn readers that this blog will contain things that I cannot stop myself from writing about. I reproduce the entire text of the speech here because I can. I found and read the entire text of the speech, at the price of giving the New York Times my email address, so I could respond to a dopey post of Facebook saying that the Obamas have more than they need so why don’t they give it away. Presumably, to discredit them, their support of Kamala Harris and the content of their speeches at last night’s DNC.
What Michelle Obama said was “[her parents] understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.” She said give back. Help. Volunteer. Do the unglamorous work. Love your neighbors. DO SOMETHING.
I agree with Mrs. Obama and the Former President’s admonition in his speech to treat those who oppose us with the dignity that we wish they would extend to us. I hope I was courteous in my Facebook retort to the cleaver poster. I thought it was important to expose his false and mean spirited argument. And I don’t think it will hurt to cannot encourage others to love their neighbors at least once on the blog.
Michelle Obama at the 2024 DNC. Photo credit CBS News.
