Introduction of Michelle Obama

Introduction of Michelle Obama by Pamela Y. Cook

UCC Fellowship Hall

Decorah, Iowa

December 19, 2007

“I have only just a minute.

Only sixty seconds in it.

Forced upon me, can't refuse it,

Didn't seek it, didn't choose it,

But it's up to me to use it.

I must suffer if I lose it,

Give account if I abuse it,

Just a tiny little minute,

But an eternity is in it!

Time is of the essence. That is why a diverse group of women came together as Women for Obama to assert that it is time for a change in America. Each of us has our own individual reason for supporting Barack Obama; yet, all of us are convinced that Barack Obama is the leader that the United States needs at this time to make our nation safer, to restore our standing in the world, and to inspire Americans to be active participants in our democracy. We believe that Barack Obama has come for such a time as this.

Therefore, we are pleased to welcome a very important woman in Barack’s life, his wife Michelle Obama. I am especially pleased to host her in this space because even though we were members of the same church in Chicago for several years, I never had the chance to meet her, so I am happy to greet her in my new UCC home.

While we are getting to know Michelle because she is Barack’s wife, she is certainly accomplished in her own right. If I were doing a conventional introduction, I would tell you about how Michelle is a product of the Chicago public schools. She received an undergraduate degree in sociology from Princeton University and her law degree from Harvard University. I would talk about how for three years after law school, she worked as an associate in the area of marketing and intellectual property at the Chicago law firm Sidley and Austin, where she met Barack Obama. I would tell you how she left the corporate law world in 1991 to pursue a career in public service, serving as an administrator with the City of Chicago followed by a stint as the founding executive director of Public Allies - Chicago, a leadership training program that helped young adults develop skills for future careers in the public sector. I would highlight how in 1996 she joined the University of Chicago as associate dean of student services and developed the University's first community service program and since 2005, she has served as vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

If I were doing a customary introduction, I would tell you that Phyllis Bell, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago describes Michelle as “down to earth, authentic and empathic about issues concerning our country, women and our families.” And I would tell you how Valerie Jarrett, Michelle’s former boss at the City of Chicago, describes Michelle as “really good at taking nothing and creating something. "; how Howard County Democratic Chair Greg Murphy describes her “as the woman who should be running for president.”; how first year Luther College student Eloise remarked that “She is so dynamic, She is my new role model.”; and how Vanity Fair included her on its list of International Best Dressed People for 2007.

But I am not conventional and neither is Michelle.

I say Michelle has the patience of Martha Washington, the feminism of Abigail Adams, the intellect and civic mindedness of Eleanor Roosevelt, the grace and beauty of Jackie Kennedy, and the motherly concern of Rosalyn Carter.

She is like Mary McLeod Bethune, she knows that knowledge is the prime need of the hour.

She is like Ida B. Wells, she has a passion for justice.

She is like Fannie Lou Hamer, She is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

She is like Shirley Chisholm, she is unbought and unbossed.

And like Coretta Scott King, she is the keeper of a dream.

I present to you, Marian and Fraser Robinson’s baby girl, Malia and Sasha’s mom, and Barack’s sweet thing; our next First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.