Michelle Obama shares her story, passion with adoring Southern California fans
They needed to be inspired, to feel her grace, to applaud the way she has handled her power.
This was not a political rally, but it could have been. It was a night of adoration, without evidence of protesters.
Michelle Obama sold out the Forum on Thursday night, the second stop of a book tour that will take her through 12 cities. Fans clutched Obama’s new book “Becoming” like it was a sacred text.
They came from Oakland, from San Diego, from Santa Barbara and further. There were mothers and daughters and grandmothers and friends and book clubs, all feeling a connection with the former first lady.
Obama took the stage just before 9 p.m. to a standing ovation. She was preceded by dozens of people announcing what they are becoming. “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross served as the moderator, announcing the crowd was going to meet “Michelle Robinson” the little girl from the south side of Chicago who made it all the way to the White House.
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“I was kind of a feisty kid from day one …” she began, and then described getting in a fight and rolling around on the ground kicking until she earned the respect of girls in her neighborhood. She praised her parents, especially her father, Fraser Robinson. “He was incredibly kind,” she said.
“Men, don’t underestimate the role you play in making girls feel love and support,” Obama said.
Her mother, she said, is the kind of person who would ask, after the huge crowd arrived at the Forum, who everyone was coming to see.
She talked about overcoming racism, striving in school, her favorite childhood books (“Pippi Longstocking” and “Peter Pan”) and stepping outside her comfort zone to learn she could go to Princeton. Obama got a lot laughs when she talked about falling in love with Barack Obama.
“I looked at his picture and thought, nah,” she said. “Then I heard that voice.”
She described her future husband as a “unicorn,” respectful, nice, smart and a very good basketball player. “That’s sexy,” she said. “Come on ladies.” Her marriage took hard work and counseling to get through difficult times.
On marriage: “You can’t come into a relationship looking for the other person to complete you,” she said.
Ellis Ross guided her through funny stories and more poignant moments including Obama’s miscarriage and difficulty conceiving children.
“There are millions of couples who struggle with infertility,” she said. “That’s part of my story. I hope we as women talk to one another more when we have these challenges.”
She talked about the importance of her speech after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Donald Trump talked about grabbing women by the genitals.
“We know how we feel when we are demeaned,” Obama said. “As a kid, I hated bullies. That, for me, came through in that speech. I wanted to name the bully.”
She didn’t use his name at the Forum on Thursday night.
Signed copies of the book were selling for $40 in the parking lot. Tickets for the event were going for between $250 and $800 on the secondary market. Meet-and-greet tickets were on sale for more than $4,000.
“She is so positive,” said Jill Shade, an engineering manager from Culver City. “She seems like she’s your mother, your aunt, your neighbor, your friend.”
Some of them came in need of hope.
“The state of affairs in this country is less than positive,” said Misty Bordofsky of Santa Barbara. “I’m feeling in the need to be inspired.”
Misty’s daughter, Sophia, looked around the Forum crowd with pride.
“You see people of color, young people,” Sophia said. “Michelle Obama is such a graceful figure. She received a lot of criticism. How she handled it has been very graceful.”
Fans didn’t talk about her running for president because Obama herself has said that is not part of her plans. Her role somehow seemed higher than that.
“She is what an American woman should be,” said Vyry Herrington of Los Angeles. “She’s a mother, a wife. She took her platform and used that for the betterment of our country. At the same time, she seems like a regular person.”
Robyn Jordan, who hosts the website BlackGirlsCreate.org, and drove from Oakland for the event, looks at Obama as a “moral figure.”
“We can look at her for kindness,” Jordan said. “I look at her as an aspirational figure.”
Three high school students came from Moreno Valley. They were thankful to get free tickets from Rancho Verde High School. Kia Hines, Lorie Reyes and Jennifer Chavez agreed that the best word to describe Obama was “powerful.”
Hines looked around the crowd.
“Their love for her is infectious,” she said.