ATLANTA — First lady Michelle Obama was welcomed with thunderous cheers and told the 550 students graduating from historically Black Spelman College that no matter where they go, they need to bring the school’s ideals to the world.
The graduates welled with pride upon her arrival, even as she clapped enthusiastically for their achievements. In Obama, the young women see the essence of the successful, Black career women many of them hope to become. But her message of service to others and helping the underserved also reflected her roles as first lady and a major campaigner for her husband.
Obama delivered four commencement addresses this season, and her choices were politically strategic as the president gears up for his reelection campaign. She was in Iowa last week and in coming weeks will speak at Quantico Middle High School in Virginia to students whose parents serve at the Quantico Marine Base.
“Find those folks who have so much potential but so little opportunity and do for them what Spelman has done for you,” Obama told the HBCU students during her speech. “No matter where you go in the world, you will find folks who have been discounted or dismissed, but who have every bit as much promise as you have. They just haven’t had the chance to fulfill it. It is your obligation to bring Spelman to those folks. Be as ambitious for them as Spelman has been for you.”
Obama’s appearance was a coup for the 130-year-old college, which competed with institutions across the country for her to appear as commencement speaker.
Her popularity, which rivals her husband’s in the Black community, was built on her image as a strong, supportive wife and mother accomplished in her own right as a lawyer and corporate professional. That image changed some two years ago when she took on a much scrutinized role as matriarch of the country’s first Black first family.
“I felt like Spelman stands for all that she stands for,” said Lindsay Alston, 21, of Los Angeles, who graduated with a degree in fine arts. “Being the first lady just adds to her esteem. She’s even more powerful, even more of a role model.”
Others in the audience shared similar sentiments.
“She definitely is a representation of what African-American women are about and what we are: believing in yourself and believing in your dreams, being proud of who you are,” said Terrolynn Perry-Ponder, who got a coveted graduation ticket from her sister-in-law. “We believe in giving back, making the world a better place, providing an opportunity for other people to achieve their dreams. Her role has changed, but she can empower more people.”
As first lady, Obama has continued to stick to the issues that carried her professionally for years — including health care and families — but she does not force her way into the policy arena, unlike an equally accomplished Hillary Clinton during her years in the White House.
In many ways, her changing responsibilities still speak to Black women like Shandria Stanley. The 36-year-old Atlanta educator and her husband run a nonprofit after school and summer camp program focused on academics and athletics.
“Her mission for kids is our mission as well,” Stanley said, adding that her opinion of Obama has only gotten better. “She has a major role now. People are always watching her. It takes a special person to deal with everything it takes to be first lady.”
Marian Mereba, who graduated with an English degree, said Obama is still a working mother who is using her position for the greater good.
“She’s still a beacon of strength and intelligence,” said Mereba, 23, from Philadelphia. “She’s an amazing mother, which is also what a lot of us aspire to be. She shows that you can change the world and still raise a family.”
In speaking at Spelman, Obama talked directly to the members of her husband’s most loyal electorate. Turnout at the polls among Black women in 2008 was 68 percent — making them the single largest voting bloc that helped Obama become the country’s first Black president.
Many in this generation liken the Obamas to the real-life version of the fictional iconic Black couple, Cliff and Claire Huxtable, the doctor-lawyer duo who, along with their family, represented the African-American version of the American dream on “The Cosby Show.” Actress Phylicia Rashad — who played the role of Claire — shared the stage with Obama on Sunday, receiving an honorary doctorate.
While Rashad gracefully declined to comment directly on the comparison, she called Obama “a great lady who represents many of the ideals of womanhood as powerful, dynamic, creative and nurturing.”
Perry-Ponder has heard Obama speak twice before and hopes to one day meet her to say thank you.
“She has moved from a state, to the nation, to the world,” said Perry-Ponder. “I get goose bumps just saying that.”
