January 22, 2026 • 28 mins
In this episode of The Latest, Loren LoRosa breaks down Michelle Obama’s revealing conversation on Call Her Daddy — and why it hit deeper than headlines. From being reduced to her clothes and appearance to carrying the weight of being the first Black First Lady, Michelle’s reflections spotlight the impossible tightrope Black women are forced to walk in powerful spaces.
Loren connects Michelle Obama’s words to a larger truth about visibility, respect, and resilience — unpacking how fashion became strategy, why her résumé was ignored, and what “when they go low, we go high” really looks like in practice. This episode is about being seen, surviving scrutiny, and still showing up with purpose.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm a homegrowl that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody. You know, if you don't lie about that. Right, Hey, y'all,
what's up? Is Lauren len Rosa And this is the
Latest with Lauren Lenrosa. This is your daily deal on
all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all of the
conversations that shake the room. Baby. Now checking in behind
(00:23):
the Scenes of the Grind, which is our segment here
at the Latest with Laura l Rosa where I get
a chance to really sit down and think about how
I'm feeling. And hopefully you guys at home are doing
the exact same thing as I am doing it. That
is the intention, because a lot of times when you're moving,
you're hustling, your grinding, you're trying to figure things out,
you solving problems for yourself, your mom, your dad, whoever,
(00:43):
you don't ever really take the time you need to
just check in, just sit down, check in and see
how you're really feeling about some real things. So checking
in behind the scenes of the Grind. This connects to
the episode a bit. I am feeling very empowered. Now.
(01:06):
I'm not gonna hold y'all, I'm not one of them
girlies who like it, loves all of the women empowerment brunches,
and you know, all the things I think. I think
sometimes a lot of that stuff can be very performative.
I know people who do it and it's not performative,
but I think it can be performative. And I think
the performance of it has taken away from the true
essence of like, Yo, I'm gonna get together a bunch
(01:29):
of dope people to have a bunch of dope conversations
because we all be going through things for real, for real,
I mean men, women, black, white, yellow, and different. Everybody
goes through things. Yes, it is very different as you
start to change the color you're not. You know, I've
not ever here at the latest with Laura the Roads.
We ignore that. But when people get together, I think
(01:53):
we can solve so many different issues if we were
ever able to sit down and have honest conversations about
how things made us feel, what we're experiencing and why.
And I think Michelle Obama and what she has been
doing in her podcast space. She has her own podcast
with her brother Craig called In My Opinion, and what
(02:15):
she's been doing in the conversation she's been having over
there are just amazing. At first, I'm not gonna lie,
I was a bit, like, not skeptical. I mean, it's first, Lady,
Michelle Obama, Are you crazy? Right? Like? I knew that
whatever she decided to put her mind to after the
White House would take off, But I was just a
bit nervous I guess that's the better word for her
(02:36):
when I saw that she was going to be doing
a podcast, because I know in the podcast space, the
beauty of it is that you can really, you really
can connect with your audience. You can be very real
about how you're feeling, what you got going on. You
get to cultivate your guests in the conversations, and you
could really lean into who you are and expose so
much about yourself and learn so much in real time
in front of your audience, if you choose to. I've
(02:56):
done the right way. Everything about Michelle Obama in the
White House, from the time we first met her when
Obama was elected back in twenty eighteen to today in
twenty twenty six, has been super authentic. Like, nothing about
Michelle Obama gives fake girly empowerment branches at all. Okay,
not at all, so I think my worry it was
(03:17):
more of a protection of like, y'all don't deserve my
first lady, not on a regular basis, not her thoughts,
not her opinions, because all people are gonna do is
ribom Park. But nonetheless she has pressed on and you know,
she is tons of episodes and guests from everyone from
Taraji p. Hinton to Tracy Ellis Ross. They've had everybody
(03:42):
on the podcast, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union, like they
go in and out of entertainment, pop culture, sportscat Williams
was there recently. Just a ton of people in great conversations.
And the biggest thing I think that I've been really
inspired by is seeing Michelle Obama, regardless of all the
critiques in the headlines and the pushback that have come
(04:03):
from her having this platform and opening up about things
power through as if she don't even hear the noise.
I mean, she was in the White House. She's the
first black, first Lady of the United States, so I mean, yeah,
she's used the noise right, but I don't know it
still just I mean it was inspired in the watch
when they were in the White House because they had
(04:24):
so much coming at them like Barack Obama's you know,
race and identity being questioned, and you know, just the microscope.
Seeing the microscope that is on black people in the
world day to day be placed on your president and
your first lady is like a very different thing to
watch because you would think that with great achievement comes
(04:45):
great respects. And I think that there was a lot
of respect for Obama in the first Lady in the
first family, being the first Black first family in the
White House by people, but I think it depended on
who you were talking to, and that was hard to watch.
So she's used to it. But seeing her push through,
I'm always like, oh my god, my two mantras I have?
(05:05):
I have three? Maybe three that possible? What would Beyonce do?
Will Michelle Obama go lower, go high with ri Kabad,
cuss you out or pull out the incense and then
my final one with Easter Ray even invite you to
her Red cup yacht party in the summer. Those are
(05:26):
the ways, like, those are the boundaries I put on
my life when I'm thinking about certain things at certain times.
So it's just been inspiring to see her grow and
now she's doing a ton of other platforms, Like you know,
she sat down with so many people within this last year,
more recently on the Call Her Daddy podcast. So let's
get on it into the latest because we got to
(05:47):
talk about Michelle Obama and some of the things that
she's been able to talk about on this podcast. So
in the latest, first up is Michelle Obama sitting down
with Alex of Call Her Daddy. And I'm not even
gonna lie. I was a bit nervous because I'm like,
first of all, Alex Cooper and Call Her Daddy podcast
(06:08):
can get it. Like I know it's a very like
pro woman feminist movement podcast, but they get into very sexual, intimate,
flirtery conversations and I just yeah, that's not what I
want anybody to ever try and have with Michelle Obama. Like,
don't get me wrong. On her own podcast, Michelle Obama,
(06:29):
you know, like she gets a little personal, I mean,
not like insanely, but she's talked about, you know, the
things that she finds Barack Obama, you know, what she
finds attractive and what she finds sexy, not even just
on her podcast, but you know, just in headlines in
different places where she's been and she's been speaking. They
their love is very on the forefront, right, but call
her daddy kind of gets a little bit crazy sometimes.
(06:51):
But in the conversation, as they very the minute they
open the conversation, Alex Cooper makes it very plain and simple.
You are not going to the gate nol raunchy sex
talk when it comes to Michelle Obama. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
When I was preparing for this interview, yes, I realized
that there were kind of two ways I could go
about it. Option one would be more og call her
daddy days, you know, talk some relationships, try to ask
you a couple questions about what Zarack.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Obama wants to get reports on.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
But then there's the other side of this show, which
is option two, which is hard but important conversations that
are relevant to young women and girls all around the world.
And so as juicy as option one would be, or.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Not or not actually fair, it could have been like
that's that.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I'm like, oh right, fair, I just thought about it,
and like you sitting here today, as one of the
most influential and powerful women is the world, it would
be too great of an opportunity not to have you
impart your wisdom on the next generation who is watching
and listening today, So we're going with the option too.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Now after this, they didn't get into the real things, Okay,
they get on into what is going down lately. So
Michelle Obama has always been such a prominent for women
and for girls on top of a ton of other
things right like education, underserved communities, health, like so many things.
But the platform that in the stance that she has
(08:35):
had to take when it comes to being a black woman.
And I mean, if we're being honest, becoming the national
poster child of the least respected person in the world
or in America, is the black woman seeing that on
a national platform as Michelle Obama gracefully and so fashionably,
(08:59):
Oh my god, it pissed me off. Make me think
about it. It's so fashionably. Gave these people the time
of day as our first lady. And once I gave
these people the time of day, I mean, some of
y'all did not deserve her at all, from the fashion,
to the elegance, to baby the high roads that she
deserved to take. I'm so glad that when she was there,
we did as much as we could be outside swinging
(09:20):
about Michelle Obama and she deserved every cousin coming off
the porch. Y'all did not deserve her whatsoever. But they
get into that almost instantly. I mean, the platform is that,
as we mentioned, but that has just been such a
big calling card from Michell Obama, especially because she was
so publicly ridiculed. Let's take a listen to Michelle Obama
(09:41):
on just what her life was like in the White
House and what that dragging publicly all the time felt like,
looked like, and what it turned into.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
You've talked a lot about how we live in a
world where a woman's appearance and our bodies are overly
scrutinized and objected. What was that experience like for you
and how did you navigate it day to day and
not let it distract you?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You know, when Brock announced, I was hesitant, But once
I was on board, I was on board, and I
knew that I needed to be out there campaigning and
introducing the world, not just to him but to us.
We worked hard at the grassroots and understood that we'd
have to meet people in their homes and in their communities.
But as my popularity rose, I was being covered more.
(10:32):
After all, this great conversation and connection. The top of
the article would be she was wearing and it got
worse as we got better. So I understood it as
campaign tactics. Right, what better way to beat a moving
(10:52):
engine is to try and slow it down. And so
with women, what do we do with women? We'd start
sort of talking of their strength and their So then
I became I was angry, not passionate. It was a
rolling thing, and I attributed it totally to politics, and
I didn't write it off to what people really thought,
(11:13):
because I had months and months of understanding that the
people in those auditoriums and in those school buildings and
at those speeches, they understood who I was.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Okay, So first of all, let me just say this
is what I mean by as nervous as I was
for Michelle Obama to step into a freely space and
inter media, I am like so inspired by her resilience
because even here in this interview, I'm like, so many
people are gonna grab this and they gonna ugh twist
(11:46):
turn it upside down. They love to say she's still whiny,
she plays a victim card or whatever. But what this
does for women in spaces who really understand what she
is talking about. Baby, It's it's like the feeling of
let me okay. The best I can describe, you know,
people be like I felt seen. The best way I
(12:08):
can describe feeling seen by watching Michelle Obama talk about
being a black woman who cared about her hair, her nails,
and her outfits while also put a cape on. It
went and saved the world and came home and was
mommy and wife every day. For a woman, it's like
coming home after a twelve hour day and taking off
your heels and your bra. For a man, it's like
(12:29):
coming home every day after working a twelve hour shift.
Dinner is prepared, the kids asleep, and baby girl about
to tuck you in to sleep. If you know what
I'm saying, You know what I'm saying right, It is
such a refreshing, like a like you can breathe a
moment to hear her be and she's so honest. Oh
my god, when she said she had so much to say,
(12:52):
but she wanted to make sure that you know, the
clothes and the things that she were wearing didn't take
over what she was the messaging and what she wanted
to say. It is like the tightrope that you have
to walk as a woman, especially as a black woman too,
because normally you're like one a few, one of first
Michelle Obama in these spaces so or to reach certain heights,
(13:19):
and even if you're not the first person to reach
that height at like the company you work at, or
with an organization or whatever. Maybe even family wise, like
I'm first generation When I say that, I have to
be clear because a lot of people talk about immigration.
Now I'm not. I'm not first like a you know,
firstborn in the US in my family, but I'm first generation,
Like I'm first generation HBCU graduate in college graduate. I
(13:39):
am first generation for a lot of the different like
just life success that I'm seeing, So that makes me
I'm first generation for a lot of other things, just
under those brackets. Every time I mess up something or
every time I intend for one thing to happen one way,
or there's a you know, you know, like she talked about,
(14:01):
like with the clothing, Like you put on an outfit
and you're like, Okay, I'm showing up powerful and together
and I feel good. But I've you know, I've been
on platforms where it's like you do all of that
and when you leave, the only thing people were talking
about is what they did or did not like about
your your clothes, and it's like you missed the whole message.
Do you understand that like this opportunity can and will
(14:21):
continue and will and has changed the lives of these
people that I'm telling you didn't make it the word
I made it to and that is all you care about.
I care because I have to, like I mean, and honestly,
it's nothing wrong with careen just because it's a passion
as well. I know for me, like I like to
look good. You feel good when you look good. But
also I'm into fashion. I love the stories that you
(14:42):
could tell through clothing. I love using articles of clothing
as my story and like you know, conveying how I'm feeling.
I just like showing up looking damn good, period. But
also I can't afford to not show up looking good,
because the conversation around a black woman when she shows
up somewhere hair and not together, clothes not together. I
(15:03):
remember they labeled this was some years back during Barack
Obama's presidency, but I remember Michelle Obama being labeled one
of Barack Obama's baby moms. Let me, look up the
guy's name who called her that. Yes, Fox News anchor
Ed Hill had to apologize after he referred to Michelle
(15:25):
Obama as baby Mama. You know that fist bump photo,
like that moment that we always referred to when we
couples goals, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama. He referred to that
moment as a terrorist fish jab. So not only can
she not show up, she can't even fist bumping and
love her man, love on her man, right, Like that's
just not a thing. But there's just always been so
(15:48):
much conversation about Michelle Obama and the clothing that she
wears and how she wears. And don't get me wrong,
the first lady in the White House had there's always
a lot of attention to what they wear, what they do,
how they present. Very different conversation. Though when it came
to a black woman in the first I don't and
when I read Kamala Harris's book one hundred and seven Days,
(16:08):
one hundred and four Days, I said both because I
don't remember what it is. I think it's one hundred
and seven. She talked a lot about how once she
got into the White House, just as Vice president. Right,
this is the first time that they've ever seen a
black woman vice president. Right. How she realized, Oh, this
th ain't set up for me. They don't even know
what to do with me. They don't know how to
talk about me. They don't know how to tend to me,
(16:31):
they don't know how to defend me. It was a
lot of that. It was everything was criticized. Michelle Obama
got it worse. I don't even say got it worse.
Michelle Obama got it first. Literally, she got it first.
So at that point, you know, a Kamala Harris kind
of had like we all knew what to expect when
Michelle Obama and Barack Obama were headed into the White House.
(16:52):
If you black, you knew like, okay, great that there
we need this. But baby, these people were about to
make it try and make their lives hell. These people
they ain't gonna like it. Kamala Harris kind of, you know,
she got a chance to see all of that, and
I think at some point you would kind of assume
that the White House would kind of prepare for those things,
(17:12):
especially on like the press side and the communication side,
And Kamala Harris talked a lot about not feeling supported
by the White House's team, and you know, even down
to Michelle Obama talked about her resume and the fact
that no one knew it. They didn't know that she
had done all these amazing prestige Ivy League things. She
was just Barack Obama's wife, and the first lady in
(17:33):
the White House gets that, you know what I'm saying,
Like I don't. Honestly, I can't even tell you much
about a lot of the first ladies and where they've
went to school. Besides Jill Biden because she's from Delaware.
I know that, you know, I know her platform, I
know all the things. But just historically, I think women
in the White House there's always been, depending on who
you're talking to, a certain wayed there look at and critiqued.
(17:54):
But I don't think people even gave Michelle Obama a chance,
at least with Jill. You know, there was conversation about
the things she was doing. Michelle Obama's headlines about you know,
people calling her let me read it verbatim at ape
and heells there was a a West Virginia official who
called her ape and heels those headlines were bigger. I
(18:17):
need to get that officials name, so we can put
them on notice right here, right now. But those headlines
were bigger than any of the work that Michelle Obama
was actually doing. And she talked about the fact that
like no one cared about a resume. Let's take a
listen to that. How do you know what to do
in this role?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
And to me it was clear that, oh my god,
you you don't. You don't know anything about what I
did before I came here. I went to Princeton and Harvard.
I mean, I practiced law. I was an assistant to
the mayor in Chicago. I ran a nonprofit of five.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Oh one c three.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I was a vice president for community relations at the
University of Chicago Hospitals. That was a dean of students.
It was like all that just disappeared in the course
of this whole election, and you now see me as
just Barack Obama's wife. I shied away from fashion leading
the conversation, but I knew I couldn't. I didn't completely
(19:15):
control it. So let's lean in.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Let's lean in with what we do.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Let's make sure that we have a plan and a
strategy in place for how fashion.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Just like everything we.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Did in the White House would have meaning and impact.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Now I thought that this was like such a positive
spin on it. And if anybody knows me, I'm like
everything black, Like if we could do black designers, if
we can do you know what I'm saying, Like I
always want to try and platform people because I be
needing to be platformed, Like I understand what it can
do for someone to, you know, lend a tag on
Instagram or tell a friend about them, or even if
(19:57):
none of that, just pay for the services in a business,
whatever you can do right. Michelle Obama talked about how
when she was in the White House, because she was
getting so much scrutiny because she was getting so much
scrutiny for what would wear, she was like, let's be intentional,
and that intention honey ate down. Okay. I remember there
would religiously be a push for people to cover Michelle
(20:20):
Obama's outfits as they do the First Lady. But what
was so beautiful about it is when you got to
see the outlets and a lot of them didn't even
know what was happening. But if you were on our
in side of things, you knew exactly what was going on.
Like I would see Michelle Obama like pop up and
various dresses and I'd be like, oh, that is fire,
(20:41):
and I would go researching and be like a designer
from Johannesburg, Makai oh, and a lot of times she
like make sure, made sure she leaned it on like
women designers like that was like a big thing of
hers as well too. There's so many different lists of
Michelle Obama and black designers, but there's one moment, and
I know Sergio Hudson also worked with Kamala Harris as
(21:02):
well too, and Lawan Smith shout out to Lawan Smith.
She wore Sergio Hudson a few times. But the moment
that I remember the most is when Michelle Obama popped
out the Joe Biden's inauguration when they were saying goodbye
to the White House, and she had on that purple
baby and that side part was partner and she popped
out with them leather gloves. The girls that get it
(21:24):
got it, we knew Sergio Hudson. And what I love
about this is is if you're not in the fashion world,
it might not be something that you care about, but
I'm gonna break it down anyway. When you put on
a designer and you're a person like a Michelle Obama,
and you have outlets like The Cut, Vogue, Essence, fashion
Bomb Daily, all of these places covering, refining you, twenty nine,
(21:48):
covering what you're wearing. That puts this designer in such
a different conversation and elevates them, like it literally can
take a designer from a person who was like just
trying to figure it out because of their life a
clothes to one of the biggest designers in the world,
especially in the couture space. Because Sergio Hudson is a designer,
we've talked about him here on the podcast. Shout out
(22:08):
to Sergio Hudson. We went to his Fashion Week show
last season and not last season, last February, I believe
it was, or no, it was September. It was last
season September, New York Fashion Week. We went to Sergio
Hudson's show, and he is so big on supporting black talent.
But he talks a lot about people showing up and
(22:31):
supporting each other, and it's because he's had so many
people show up and support him, including Michelle Obama. The
culture world itself, which he talks a lot about, is
not the most friendly, and katuur is like the stuff
that is more expensive, harder to get to. It just
it's it's it's. It ain't for everybody. It's not the
most friendly to black people, people of color in general,
(22:53):
black people specifically, especially designers, models, all of that. So
when you got the first Lady of the United States
wearing your clothes, can't nobody tell you nothing, These other
flashion houses can't sit next to you, It does so much.
So to hear her talk about taking this moment that
was so I know it had to be so hard
for her to this day. There's no way she doesn't
still deal with just the cause you begin to like
(23:15):
start really thinking so much about everything, like, uh, how
does this look like you? Like you're so timid about
things you would never have been timid about even unconsciously,
even with her being as you know, prominent and confident
as Michelle Obama is, Like, there's no way that you're not.
They used to be on her hair, everything. I'm just
(23:39):
happy to hear. I'm happy to hear her talk about
this every single time. I don't care how many times
she talks about it, and anybody has upset about it.
This is not the interview for you. Every single time
she talks about it, I'm happy to hear because I
think it inspires people in the space, in all different spaces,
to just push through. You're good and you're doing something
(24:00):
for other people. Like I had read this Essence article.
They're the two black women who do Michelle Obama's hair.
They talked about they did an article based on, like,
you know, meeting the hairstylists behind Michelle Obama, the former
First Lady's hair looks and her hairstylace and the Jerry
Roadway and yayin dim two ohfey. I'm saying that, right, y'all,
(24:22):
don't be disrespected. I get ever right, name wrong, my bad.
I tried. But they talked a lot about, you know,
just what the recognition meant, because Michelle Obama did a
lot to make sure, not even did a lot, she
just did what she was supposed to do to make
sure these women. People knew that these black women were
behind some of the hair styles that we loved, and
(24:43):
they talked about how it meant the world to them.
Here's a quote from the article. This little black girl
inside of me is jumping for joy because representation is
representation was always important to her. Seeing someone who looks
like you matters. Beauty and identity are deeply connected for
all people. I'm proud to be a part of historic
body of work that shows how our hair allows us
(25:05):
to express ourselves freely. Then they ask, you know, hair
is culture, community, and care essence acts. How was working
with Michelle Obama deepened your understanding of this? And the
women say, our hair is our identity. Helping my clients
move confidently through the world is an honor. The significance
that comes from how women responds to seeing Michelle and braids, curls, baby.
(25:27):
I remember seeing Michelle Obama and braids and I was like,
I know, that's why you better slip them baby, edges, curls, blowouts.
It just reinforces that they are seeing. And that's what
we opened up this episode talking about people be like,
oh my god, I feel seen. It's just like you know,
sometimes you would be like, I need to go and
find myself and it's like, okay, you about like basically,
you ain't got nothing figured it out, and you're trying
(25:49):
to figure this whole thing out and you're probably about
to go do a whole bunch of drugs, and that's
fine if that's what you do, but you just need
to take that time for yourself and you know, go
do what you're gonna do over there. We're not jokingly
seeing it when we said about Michelle Obama. It is
not the oh my god, I need to gap your
feel seen. It is not the oh my god, I
feel seen in her. It is the I feel seen,
like we really getting down to the shits of like
(26:10):
what it is like navigating through the world every single
day as a black person. Baby, this family, they are
the billboard of it, period and everything that they've had
to put up with. And since it's still rising, Okay,
let's end this what Michelle Obama talking about when we
go high, and then let's talk about when she says
sometimes you get a little bit of medium, because honestly,
(26:31):
these last couple of days, I feel like I need
to go low. I've been too high. I need to
go lower so people can leave me to hellon that.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you
don't stoop to their level.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
No.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Our motto is when they go low, we go high.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Going high is a it's a it's a long term strategy. Yes,
you know, because the truth is is that going high
is about thinking about trying to really get to the
real answer, because a lot of times the low answer
is just our immediate instinct.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
It's just I'm mad and I just want to punch
you in the face. But it doesn't solve anything.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
And if we're all thinking about what the agenda is,
which is getting to a place where we live in
a country that we're proud to pass on to our kids,
going high is the only way we get there. It's
our patience, it's our tolerance, it's our belief in honesty
and truth. It's our belief in hard work. It's not
(27:34):
about getting somebody back. It's not about the immediate clapback.
The immediate clapback is just for your own selfish person
purpose right there in the moment, and rarely does it
solve anything. So I think, yes, we have to be
a people that keeps going high. Now, going high, it
doesn't mean you don't acknowledge the pain, But how do.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
You react to y'all for tuning in is Laura Rosa.
This is the Latest with Laura Rosa, daily digging all
things pop culture, entertainment, news and all of the conversations
that shake the room. Now, I tell you, guys, every
single episode my Low Riders, y'all could be anywhere with anybody,
having these conversations and talking about all of the things.
But you guys choose to be right here with me,
(28:16):
and I appreciate you guys for that. I'm gonna catch
you on to my next episode.
I'm a homegrowl that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody. You know, if you don't lie about that. Right, Hey, y'all,
what's up? Is Lauren len Rosa And this is the
Latest with Lauren Lenrosa. This is your daily deal on
all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all of the
conversations that shake the room. Baby. Now checking in behind
(00:23):
the Scenes of the Grind, which is our segment here
at the Latest with Laura l Rosa where I get
a chance to really sit down and think about how
I'm feeling. And hopefully you guys at home are doing
the exact same thing as I am doing it. That
is the intention, because a lot of times when you're moving,
you're hustling, your grinding, you're trying to figure things out,
you solving problems for yourself, your mom, your dad, whoever,
(00:43):
you don't ever really take the time you need to
just check in, just sit down, check in and see
how you're really feeling about some real things. So checking
in behind the scenes of the Grind. This connects to
the episode a bit. I am feeling very empowered. Now.
(01:06):
I'm not gonna hold y'all, I'm not one of them
girlies who like it, loves all of the women empowerment brunches,
and you know, all the things I think. I think
sometimes a lot of that stuff can be very performative.
I know people who do it and it's not performative,
but I think it can be performative. And I think
the performance of it has taken away from the true
essence of like, Yo, I'm gonna get together a bunch
(01:29):
of dope people to have a bunch of dope conversations
because we all be going through things for real, for real,
I mean men, women, black, white, yellow, and different. Everybody
goes through things. Yes, it is very different as you
start to change the color you're not. You know, I've
not ever here at the latest with Laura the Roads.
We ignore that. But when people get together, I think
(01:53):
we can solve so many different issues if we were
ever able to sit down and have honest conversations about
how things made us feel, what we're experiencing and why.
And I think Michelle Obama and what she has been
doing in her podcast space. She has her own podcast
with her brother Craig called In My Opinion, and what
(02:15):
she's been doing in the conversation she's been having over
there are just amazing. At first, I'm not gonna lie,
I was a bit, like, not skeptical. I mean, it's first, Lady,
Michelle Obama, Are you crazy? Right? Like? I knew that
whatever she decided to put her mind to after the
White House would take off, But I was just a
bit nervous I guess that's the better word for her
(02:36):
when I saw that she was going to be doing
a podcast, because I know in the podcast space, the
beauty of it is that you can really, you really
can connect with your audience. You can be very real
about how you're feeling, what you got going on. You
get to cultivate your guests in the conversations, and you
could really lean into who you are and expose so
much about yourself and learn so much in real time
in front of your audience, if you choose to. I've
(02:56):
done the right way. Everything about Michelle Obama in the
White House, from the time we first met her when
Obama was elected back in twenty eighteen to today in
twenty twenty six, has been super authentic. Like, nothing about
Michelle Obama gives fake girly empowerment branches at all. Okay,
not at all, so I think my worry it was
(03:17):
more of a protection of like, y'all don't deserve my
first lady, not on a regular basis, not her thoughts,
not her opinions, because all people are gonna do is
ribom Park. But nonetheless she has pressed on and you know,
she is tons of episodes and guests from everyone from
Taraji p. Hinton to Tracy Ellis Ross. They've had everybody
(03:42):
on the podcast, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union, like they
go in and out of entertainment, pop culture, sportscat Williams
was there recently. Just a ton of people in great conversations.
And the biggest thing I think that I've been really
inspired by is seeing Michelle Obama, regardless of all the
critiques in the headlines and the pushback that have come
(04:03):
from her having this platform and opening up about things
power through as if she don't even hear the noise.
I mean, she was in the White House. She's the
first black, first Lady of the United States, so I mean, yeah,
she's used the noise right, but I don't know it
still just I mean it was inspired in the watch
when they were in the White House because they had
(04:24):
so much coming at them like Barack Obama's you know,
race and identity being questioned, and you know, just the microscope.
Seeing the microscope that is on black people in the
world day to day be placed on your president and
your first lady is like a very different thing to
watch because you would think that with great achievement comes
(04:45):
great respects. And I think that there was a lot
of respect for Obama in the first Lady in the
first family, being the first Black first family in the
White House by people, but I think it depended on
who you were talking to, and that was hard to watch.
So she's used to it. But seeing her push through,
I'm always like, oh my god, my two mantras I have?
(05:05):
I have three? Maybe three that possible? What would Beyonce do?
Will Michelle Obama go lower, go high with ri Kabad,
cuss you out or pull out the incense and then
my final one with Easter Ray even invite you to
her Red cup yacht party in the summer. Those are
(05:26):
the ways, like, those are the boundaries I put on
my life when I'm thinking about certain things at certain times.
So it's just been inspiring to see her grow and
now she's doing a ton of other platforms, Like you know,
she sat down with so many people within this last year,
more recently on the Call Her Daddy podcast. So let's
get on it into the latest because we got to
(05:47):
talk about Michelle Obama and some of the things that
she's been able to talk about on this podcast. So
in the latest, first up is Michelle Obama sitting down
with Alex of Call Her Daddy. And I'm not even
gonna lie. I was a bit nervous because I'm like,
first of all, Alex Cooper and Call Her Daddy podcast
(06:08):
can get it. Like I know it's a very like
pro woman feminist movement podcast, but they get into very sexual, intimate,
flirtery conversations and I just yeah, that's not what I
want anybody to ever try and have with Michelle Obama. Like,
don't get me wrong. On her own podcast, Michelle Obama,
(06:29):
you know, like she gets a little personal, I mean,
not like insanely, but she's talked about, you know, the
things that she finds Barack Obama, you know, what she
finds attractive and what she finds sexy, not even just
on her podcast, but you know, just in headlines in
different places where she's been and she's been speaking. They
their love is very on the forefront, right, but call
her daddy kind of gets a little bit crazy sometimes.
(06:51):
But in the conversation, as they very the minute they
open the conversation, Alex Cooper makes it very plain and simple.
You are not going to the gate nol raunchy sex
talk when it comes to Michelle Obama. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
When I was preparing for this interview, yes, I realized
that there were kind of two ways I could go
about it. Option one would be more og call her
daddy days, you know, talk some relationships, try to ask
you a couple questions about what Zarack.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Obama wants to get reports on.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
But then there's the other side of this show, which
is option two, which is hard but important conversations that
are relevant to young women and girls all around the world.
And so as juicy as option one would be, or.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Not or not actually fair, it could have been like
that's that.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I'm like, oh right, fair, I just thought about it,
and like you sitting here today, as one of the
most influential and powerful women is the world, it would
be too great of an opportunity not to have you
impart your wisdom on the next generation who is watching
and listening today, So we're going with the option too.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Now after this, they didn't get into the real things, Okay,
they get on into what is going down lately. So
Michelle Obama has always been such a prominent for women
and for girls on top of a ton of other
things right like education, underserved communities, health, like so many things.
But the platform that in the stance that she has
(08:35):
had to take when it comes to being a black woman.
And I mean, if we're being honest, becoming the national
poster child of the least respected person in the world
or in America, is the black woman seeing that on
a national platform as Michelle Obama gracefully and so fashionably,
(08:59):
Oh my god, it pissed me off. Make me think
about it. It's so fashionably. Gave these people the time
of day as our first lady. And once I gave
these people the time of day, I mean, some of
y'all did not deserve her at all, from the fashion,
to the elegance, to baby the high roads that she
deserved to take. I'm so glad that when she was there,
we did as much as we could be outside swinging
(09:20):
about Michelle Obama and she deserved every cousin coming off
the porch. Y'all did not deserve her whatsoever. But they
get into that almost instantly. I mean, the platform is that,
as we mentioned, but that has just been such a
big calling card from Michell Obama, especially because she was
so publicly ridiculed. Let's take a listen to Michelle Obama
(09:41):
on just what her life was like in the White
House and what that dragging publicly all the time felt like,
looked like, and what it turned into.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
You've talked a lot about how we live in a
world where a woman's appearance and our bodies are overly
scrutinized and objected. What was that experience like for you
and how did you navigate it day to day and
not let it distract you?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You know, when Brock announced, I was hesitant, But once
I was on board, I was on board, and I
knew that I needed to be out there campaigning and
introducing the world, not just to him but to us.
We worked hard at the grassroots and understood that we'd
have to meet people in their homes and in their communities.
But as my popularity rose, I was being covered more.
(10:32):
After all, this great conversation and connection. The top of
the article would be she was wearing and it got
worse as we got better. So I understood it as
campaign tactics. Right, what better way to beat a moving
(10:52):
engine is to try and slow it down. And so
with women, what do we do with women? We'd start
sort of talking of their strength and their So then
I became I was angry, not passionate. It was a
rolling thing, and I attributed it totally to politics, and
I didn't write it off to what people really thought,
(11:13):
because I had months and months of understanding that the
people in those auditoriums and in those school buildings and
at those speeches, they understood who I was.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Okay, So first of all, let me just say this
is what I mean by as nervous as I was
for Michelle Obama to step into a freely space and
inter media, I am like so inspired by her resilience
because even here in this interview, I'm like, so many
people are gonna grab this and they gonna ugh twist
(11:46):
turn it upside down. They love to say she's still whiny,
she plays a victim card or whatever. But what this
does for women in spaces who really understand what she
is talking about. Baby, It's it's like the feeling of
let me okay. The best I can describe, you know,
people be like I felt seen. The best way I
(12:08):
can describe feeling seen by watching Michelle Obama talk about
being a black woman who cared about her hair, her nails,
and her outfits while also put a cape on. It
went and saved the world and came home and was
mommy and wife every day. For a woman, it's like
coming home after a twelve hour day and taking off
your heels and your bra. For a man, it's like
(12:29):
coming home every day after working a twelve hour shift.
Dinner is prepared, the kids asleep, and baby girl about
to tuck you in to sleep. If you know what
I'm saying, You know what I'm saying right, It is
such a refreshing, like a like you can breathe a
moment to hear her be and she's so honest. Oh
my god, when she said she had so much to say,
(12:52):
but she wanted to make sure that you know, the
clothes and the things that she were wearing didn't take
over what she was the messaging and what she wanted
to say. It is like the tightrope that you have
to walk as a woman, especially as a black woman too,
because normally you're like one a few, one of first
Michelle Obama in these spaces so or to reach certain heights,
(13:19):
and even if you're not the first person to reach
that height at like the company you work at, or
with an organization or whatever. Maybe even family wise, like
I'm first generation When I say that, I have to
be clear because a lot of people talk about immigration.
Now I'm not. I'm not first like a you know,
firstborn in the US in my family, but I'm first generation,
Like I'm first generation HBCU graduate in college graduate. I
(13:39):
am first generation for a lot of the different like
just life success that I'm seeing, So that makes me
I'm first generation for a lot of other things, just
under those brackets. Every time I mess up something or
every time I intend for one thing to happen one way,
or there's a you know, you know, like she talked about,
(14:01):
like with the clothing, Like you put on an outfit
and you're like, Okay, I'm showing up powerful and together
and I feel good. But I've you know, I've been
on platforms where it's like you do all of that
and when you leave, the only thing people were talking
about is what they did or did not like about
your your clothes, and it's like you missed the whole message.
Do you understand that like this opportunity can and will
(14:21):
continue and will and has changed the lives of these
people that I'm telling you didn't make it the word
I made it to and that is all you care about.
I care because I have to, like I mean, and honestly,
it's nothing wrong with careen just because it's a passion
as well. I know for me, like I like to
look good. You feel good when you look good. But
also I'm into fashion. I love the stories that you
(14:42):
could tell through clothing. I love using articles of clothing
as my story and like you know, conveying how I'm feeling.
I just like showing up looking damn good, period. But
also I can't afford to not show up looking good,
because the conversation around a black woman when she shows
up somewhere hair and not together, clothes not together. I
(15:03):
remember they labeled this was some years back during Barack
Obama's presidency, but I remember Michelle Obama being labeled one
of Barack Obama's baby moms. Let me, look up the
guy's name who called her that. Yes, Fox News anchor
Ed Hill had to apologize after he referred to Michelle
(15:25):
Obama as baby Mama. You know that fist bump photo,
like that moment that we always referred to when we
couples goals, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama. He referred to that
moment as a terrorist fish jab. So not only can
she not show up, she can't even fist bumping and
love her man, love on her man, right, Like that's
just not a thing. But there's just always been so
(15:48):
much conversation about Michelle Obama and the clothing that she
wears and how she wears. And don't get me wrong,
the first lady in the White House had there's always
a lot of attention to what they wear, what they do,
how they present. Very different conversation. Though when it came
to a black woman in the first I don't and
when I read Kamala Harris's book one hundred and seven Days,
(16:08):
one hundred and four Days, I said both because I
don't remember what it is. I think it's one hundred
and seven. She talked a lot about how once she
got into the White House, just as Vice president. Right,
this is the first time that they've ever seen a
black woman vice president. Right. How she realized, Oh, this
th ain't set up for me. They don't even know
what to do with me. They don't know how to
talk about me. They don't know how to tend to me,
(16:31):
they don't know how to defend me. It was a
lot of that. It was everything was criticized. Michelle Obama
got it worse. I don't even say got it worse.
Michelle Obama got it first. Literally, she got it first.
So at that point, you know, a Kamala Harris kind
of had like we all knew what to expect when
Michelle Obama and Barack Obama were headed into the White House.
(16:52):
If you black, you knew like, okay, great that there
we need this. But baby, these people were about to
make it try and make their lives hell. These people
they ain't gonna like it. Kamala Harris kind of, you know,
she got a chance to see all of that, and
I think at some point you would kind of assume
that the White House would kind of prepare for those things,
(17:12):
especially on like the press side and the communication side,
And Kamala Harris talked a lot about not feeling supported
by the White House's team, and you know, even down
to Michelle Obama talked about her resume and the fact
that no one knew it. They didn't know that she
had done all these amazing prestige Ivy League things. She
was just Barack Obama's wife, and the first lady in
(17:33):
the White House gets that, you know what I'm saying,
Like I don't. Honestly, I can't even tell you much
about a lot of the first ladies and where they've
went to school. Besides Jill Biden because she's from Delaware.
I know that, you know, I know her platform, I
know all the things. But just historically, I think women
in the White House there's always been, depending on who
you're talking to, a certain wayed there look at and critiqued.
(17:54):
But I don't think people even gave Michelle Obama a chance,
at least with Jill. You know, there was conversation about
the things she was doing. Michelle Obama's headlines about you know,
people calling her let me read it verbatim at ape
and heells there was a a West Virginia official who
called her ape and heels those headlines were bigger. I
(18:17):
need to get that officials name, so we can put
them on notice right here, right now. But those headlines
were bigger than any of the work that Michelle Obama
was actually doing. And she talked about the fact that
like no one cared about a resume. Let's take a
listen to that. How do you know what to do
in this role?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
And to me it was clear that, oh my god,
you you don't. You don't know anything about what I
did before I came here. I went to Princeton and Harvard.
I mean, I practiced law. I was an assistant to
the mayor in Chicago. I ran a nonprofit of five.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Oh one c three.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I was a vice president for community relations at the
University of Chicago Hospitals. That was a dean of students.
It was like all that just disappeared in the course
of this whole election, and you now see me as
just Barack Obama's wife. I shied away from fashion leading
the conversation, but I knew I couldn't. I didn't completely
(19:15):
control it. So let's lean in.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Let's lean in with what we do.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Let's make sure that we have a plan and a
strategy in place for how fashion.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Just like everything we.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Did in the White House would have meaning and impact.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Now I thought that this was like such a positive
spin on it. And if anybody knows me, I'm like
everything black, Like if we could do black designers, if
we can do you know what I'm saying, Like I
always want to try and platform people because I be
needing to be platformed, Like I understand what it can
do for someone to, you know, lend a tag on
Instagram or tell a friend about them, or even if
(19:57):
none of that, just pay for the services in a business,
whatever you can do right. Michelle Obama talked about how
when she was in the White House, because she was
getting so much scrutiny because she was getting so much
scrutiny for what would wear, she was like, let's be intentional,
and that intention honey ate down. Okay. I remember there
would religiously be a push for people to cover Michelle
(20:20):
Obama's outfits as they do the First Lady. But what
was so beautiful about it is when you got to
see the outlets and a lot of them didn't even
know what was happening. But if you were on our
in side of things, you knew exactly what was going on.
Like I would see Michelle Obama like pop up and
various dresses and I'd be like, oh, that is fire,
(20:41):
and I would go researching and be like a designer
from Johannesburg, Makai oh, and a lot of times she
like make sure, made sure she leaned it on like
women designers like that was like a big thing of
hers as well too. There's so many different lists of
Michelle Obama and black designers, but there's one moment, and
I know Sergio Hudson also worked with Kamala Harris as
(21:02):
well too, and Lawan Smith shout out to Lawan Smith.
She wore Sergio Hudson a few times. But the moment
that I remember the most is when Michelle Obama popped
out the Joe Biden's inauguration when they were saying goodbye
to the White House, and she had on that purple
baby and that side part was partner and she popped
out with them leather gloves. The girls that get it
(21:24):
got it, we knew Sergio Hudson. And what I love
about this is is if you're not in the fashion world,
it might not be something that you care about, but
I'm gonna break it down anyway. When you put on
a designer and you're a person like a Michelle Obama,
and you have outlets like The Cut, Vogue, Essence, fashion
Bomb Daily, all of these places covering, refining you, twenty nine,
(21:48):
covering what you're wearing. That puts this designer in such
a different conversation and elevates them, like it literally can
take a designer from a person who was like just
trying to figure it out because of their life a
clothes to one of the biggest designers in the world,
especially in the couture space. Because Sergio Hudson is a designer,
we've talked about him here on the podcast. Shout out
(22:08):
to Sergio Hudson. We went to his Fashion Week show
last season and not last season, last February, I believe
it was, or no, it was September. It was last
season September, New York Fashion Week. We went to Sergio
Hudson's show, and he is so big on supporting black talent.
But he talks a lot about people showing up and
(22:31):
supporting each other, and it's because he's had so many
people show up and support him, including Michelle Obama. The
culture world itself, which he talks a lot about, is
not the most friendly, and katuur is like the stuff
that is more expensive, harder to get to. It just
it's it's it's. It ain't for everybody. It's not the
most friendly to black people, people of color in general,
(22:53):
black people specifically, especially designers, models, all of that. So
when you got the first Lady of the United States
wearing your clothes, can't nobody tell you nothing, These other
flashion houses can't sit next to you, It does so much.
So to hear her talk about taking this moment that
was so I know it had to be so hard
for her to this day. There's no way she doesn't
still deal with just the cause you begin to like
(23:15):
start really thinking so much about everything, like, uh, how
does this look like you? Like you're so timid about
things you would never have been timid about even unconsciously,
even with her being as you know, prominent and confident
as Michelle Obama is, Like, there's no way that you're not.
They used to be on her hair, everything. I'm just
(23:39):
happy to hear. I'm happy to hear her talk about
this every single time. I don't care how many times
she talks about it, and anybody has upset about it.
This is not the interview for you. Every single time
she talks about it, I'm happy to hear because I
think it inspires people in the space, in all different spaces,
to just push through. You're good and you're doing something
(24:00):
for other people. Like I had read this Essence article.
They're the two black women who do Michelle Obama's hair.
They talked about they did an article based on, like,
you know, meeting the hairstylists behind Michelle Obama, the former
First Lady's hair looks and her hairstylace and the Jerry
Roadway and yayin dim two ohfey. I'm saying that, right, y'all,
(24:22):
don't be disrespected. I get ever right, name wrong, my bad.
I tried. But they talked a lot about, you know,
just what the recognition meant, because Michelle Obama did a
lot to make sure, not even did a lot, she
just did what she was supposed to do to make
sure these women. People knew that these black women were
behind some of the hair styles that we loved, and
(24:43):
they talked about how it meant the world to them.
Here's a quote from the article. This little black girl
inside of me is jumping for joy because representation is
representation was always important to her. Seeing someone who looks
like you matters. Beauty and identity are deeply connected for
all people. I'm proud to be a part of historic
body of work that shows how our hair allows us
(25:05):
to express ourselves freely. Then they ask, you know, hair
is culture, community, and care essence acts. How was working
with Michelle Obama deepened your understanding of this? And the
women say, our hair is our identity. Helping my clients
move confidently through the world is an honor. The significance
that comes from how women responds to seeing Michelle and braids, curls, baby.
(25:27):
I remember seeing Michelle Obama and braids and I was like,
I know, that's why you better slip them baby, edges, curls, blowouts.
It just reinforces that they are seeing. And that's what
we opened up this episode talking about people be like,
oh my god, I feel seen. It's just like you know,
sometimes you would be like, I need to go and
find myself and it's like, okay, you about like basically,
you ain't got nothing figured it out, and you're trying
(25:49):
to figure this whole thing out and you're probably about
to go do a whole bunch of drugs, and that's
fine if that's what you do, but you just need
to take that time for yourself and you know, go
do what you're gonna do over there. We're not jokingly
seeing it when we said about Michelle Obama. It is
not the oh my god, I need to gap your
feel seen. It is not the oh my god, I
feel seen in her. It is the I feel seen,
like we really getting down to the shits of like
(26:10):
what it is like navigating through the world every single
day as a black person. Baby, this family, they are
the billboard of it, period and everything that they've had
to put up with. And since it's still rising, Okay,
let's end this what Michelle Obama talking about when we
go high, and then let's talk about when she says
sometimes you get a little bit of medium, because honestly,
(26:31):
these last couple of days, I feel like I need
to go low. I've been too high. I need to
go lower so people can leave me to hellon that.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you
don't stoop to their level.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
No.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Our motto is when they go low, we go high.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Going high is a it's a it's a long term strategy. Yes,
you know, because the truth is is that going high
is about thinking about trying to really get to the
real answer, because a lot of times the low answer
is just our immediate instinct.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
It's just I'm mad and I just want to punch
you in the face. But it doesn't solve anything.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
And if we're all thinking about what the agenda is,
which is getting to a place where we live in
a country that we're proud to pass on to our kids,
going high is the only way we get there. It's
our patience, it's our tolerance, it's our belief in honesty
and truth. It's our belief in hard work. It's not
(27:34):
about getting somebody back. It's not about the immediate clapback.
The immediate clapback is just for your own selfish person
purpose right there in the moment, and rarely does it
solve anything. So I think, yes, we have to be
a people that keeps going high. Now, going high, it
doesn't mean you don't acknowledge the pain, But how do.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
You react to y'all for tuning in is Laura Rosa.
This is the Latest with Laura Rosa, daily digging all
things pop culture, entertainment, news and all of the conversations
that shake the room. Now, I tell you, guys, every
single episode my Low Riders, y'all could be anywhere with anybody,
having these conversations and talking about all of the things.
But you guys choose to be right here with me,
(28:16):
and I appreciate you guys for that. I'm gonna catch
you on to my next episode.
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