Former first lady visits San Jose.
Before Michelle Obama addressed hundreds of fans during her book tour stop at the SAP Center Friday evening, the former first lady met with around 30 young people involved in a workshop at a community center in south San Jose.
Obama spoke with members and alumni of Public Allies, a national nonprofit aimed at giving young people from diverse backgrounds leadership skills and helping them make a difference in the workforce while making it more equitable
and accessible at the same time. In the 1990s, Michelle Obama founded and led the group’s Chicago chapter and has supported the organization since then.
“I’m so proud of all of you,” Obama told the young people — mostly recent college graduates and those in the early stages of their careers — Friday afternoon during a gathering at Seven Trees Community Center and Library. “All around the country I’m running into Ally alums who are doing powerful things.”
At each stop on the book tour for her new memoir, Becoming, the former first lady has made a point of meeting with community groups — Public Allies, Boys and Girls clubs — in intimate settings to connect, especially, with young people.
On Friday, she told the group of young men and women — who were mostly black and Latino — that they should not shrink from pursuing leadership opportunities just because others might have different ideas or expectations about how success or failure looks, acknowledging, “we still live in an unequal society.”
“You do not enter the field of leadership because other people have different expectations,” Obama said.
Hilary Armstrong, a 27-year-old fellow with Public Allies, was excited to learn leadership tips from Obama.
The nonprofit’s fellows work with communities across the Bay Area, from Oakland to San Jose at nonprofits tackling everything from health to housing. Armstrong, an Albany native, helps students in the East Bay pursue higher education.
“I didn’t know the skills
that I had until I was a public ally,” Armstrong said.
Jaime Uzeta is the CEO of Public Allies.
“It’s almost beyond words,” Uzeta said, about having Obama visit and meet with young people.
Obama, a Harvard Law School graduate who worked in law, city government, higher education and the nonprofit world before becoming first lady, “is an example of what they can do,” Uzeta said.
“Recognizing that we’re all works in progress…that is exactly what she’s modeling,” Uzeta said. “There’s nothing more powerful than that.”
Obama is easy to relate to, in part, he said, because she is transparent about the challenges she’s faced in her life, something that has resonated with young people currently working with Public Allies.
When she curled up with the former first lady’s memoir, Becoming, Armstrong
said, she realized that they weren’t all that different.
“It really validates some struggles that I’ve had,” Armstrong said. “It feels wonderful to connect with her on that more personal level.”
Alysyn Martinez, another fellow, agrees.
“Michelle Obama has really been an inspiration to me for my whole life,” Martinez, a recent San Jose State University graduate who works at First Community Housing.
Obama, she said, is adept at reaching across boundaries and connecting with people from all different backgrounds — a skill Martinez would like to polish.
“That’s something that really resonates with me,” Martinez said.
“It’s just an honor,” Uzeta said. “We’re all very, very excited.”
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