Author: Maiysha Kai / Source: The Glow Up
What happens when the United States’ former forever first lady-turned-bestselling author meets a woman considered one of the greatest writers of our time? The audience at Michelle Obama’s Becoming tour stop in London, England found out when she joined author and acclaimed feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for an hourlong conversation at The Royal Festival Hall on Monday.
According to British Vogue, the fellow phenoms reportedly dished like old friends, despite only meeting that day—which sounds about black girl magical, to us. Speaking about learning the power of her own particular brand of magic, Obama told Adichie:
“My parents believed my voice was relevant; that was the gift they gave me. You have to value a girl and let her speak.”
And yet, as we all know, a black woman’s voice isn’t always received in the tone intended, or with the respect afforded others. As she has increasingly been, Obama got candid about being repeatedly (and erroneously) characterized as an “angry black woman.”
“It’s all in chapter 17 of the book. That was the hardest chapter for me to write,” she told Adichie. “People will literally take our voices, they will take the things from us they like—they will take our hips—because all of a sudden it’s ‘in’—our style, our swagger, it becomes co-opted. But then, we are penalized, we are ‘angry,’ we are too loud, we are too everything. And I experienced that, just by having an opinion. How dare I have a voice and use…
The post Michelle Obama Takes England With Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie—and Advice for Meghan Markle appeared first on FeedBox.