TIME Publishes Michelle Obama’s Message For Teens That Has Trump’s W.H. Chattering

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Change often comes when it becomes too painful to remain the same. The survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting have focused their pain and grief into changing the nation’s gun laws. As President Barack Obama tweeted:

‘Young people have helped lead all our great movements. How inspiring to see it again in so many smart, fearless students standing up for their right to be safe; marching and organizing to remake the world as it should be. We’ve been waiting for you. And we’ve got your backs.’

 

Screen-Shot-2018-02-28-at-12.39.06-PM TIME Publishes Michelle Obama's Message For Teens That Has Trump's W.H. Chattering Education Gun Control Politics Top Stories

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Michelle Obama agreed, and then she challenged people’s thinking. She tweeted:

‘I’m in total awe of the extraordinary students in Florida. Like every movement for progress in our history, gun reform will take unyielding courage and endurance. But @barackobama and I believe in you, we’re proud of you, and we’re behind you every step of the way.’

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The previous first lady has asked people to step up to the plate to “overcome racism, inequality and divisiveness in the U.S.,” TIME Magazine reported. People own the power, not the politicians.

 

Then, the former FLOTUS spoke at Muse, which was an event in New York City and put on by Klick Health. Mrs. Obama said:

‘We give too much credit to leadership. We wait for some leader to tell us what to do. These problems aren’t solved by a man. It is not a leader. It is us. We have more power to change the way people think, to change the way we treat everybody, to change the way people see us in the world, by the actions we take every single day.’

Michelle Obama stayed away from the inevitable questions about the Donald Trump administration. Instead, she took questions about subjects ranging from meeting Pope Francis to her memoir, which will be published soon.

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Then, there was the question of her own run for president in the future. Her answer was a firm “no.”

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Obama is a great believer that people can actually rip the fabric of our culture, changing it for the better:

‘We don’t have to have policy. No edict. The Supreme Court doesn’t have to do anything for us not to be racist, for us to be open, for us to practice equality in our lives, in our workplaces. We’re in charge of that. If we lived in that country where each of us was really, really doing that, and not just worrying about a tax cut or power or holding onto power … it wouldn’t matter who was in the White House.’

Obama also said she believes young people will be the ones to kick off and continue changes, specifically the Black Lives Matter movement and student-led protests that have risen from the ashes of the Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, FL.

‘I’m optimistic about our kids, always. We see these kids in Florida, the Black Lives Matter kids. They are smart, they are passionate, they do have the right values. They know inequity. They know wrong when they see it. There is hope in that next generation. They’re tired of watching us do the same old thing and expect different results.’

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Featured Image via Getty Images/Paul Morigi.