Obamas’ White House Portraits Embody Overcoming Obstacles In America

Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited the White House for the unveiling of their official White House portraits.

Photos: YouTube

As Barack said, “if the two of us can end up on the walls of the most famous address in the world, then, again, it is so important for every young kid who is doubting themselves to believe that they can, too.”

On September 7, former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited the White House for the unveiling of their official White House portraits. The two extraordinary paintings, by Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung, have now taken their place in the historic gallery of former Presidents and First Ladies displayed on the White House walls. The traditional portrait installation ceremony was ignored and delayed during the last administration, but this week, with President Biden, First Lady Biden, Vice President Harris, and Second Gentleman Emhoff all in attendance, once again the Obamas made spectacular and moving history.

Both President Obama and First Lady Obama acknowledged the meaning of the moment as they spoke, and Mrs. Obama expressed the special hope that these portraits will help set a new standard of representation for our nation’s children. She said: “A girl like me, she was never supposed to be up there next to Jacqueline Kennedy and Dolley Madison. She was never supposed to live in this house, and she definitely wasn’t supposed to serve as First Lady. But I’ve always wondered: Where does that ‘supposed to’ come from? Who determines it?

And too often in this country, people feel like they have to look a certain way or act a certain way to fit in, that they have to make a lot of money or come from a certain group or class or faith in order to matter. But what we’re looking at today — a portrait of a biracial kid with an unusual name and the daughter of a water pump operator and a stay-at-home mom — what we are seeing is a reminder that there’s a place for everyone in this country.”

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Marian Wright Edelman is Founder and President Emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to childrensdefense.org.

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