米歇尔：我的祖先身披锁链来到美国

First lady Michelle Obama embraced her family’s African roots in a speech on Wednesday, telling a group of young Africans that the “blood of Africa” runs through her veins as she urged changing traditional beliefs on the worth of educating women.

Her husband had shied away from discussing his African heritage in his own remarks to the 500 Africans finishing a six-week Washington leadership fellowship on Monday, referencing his Kenyan father only once and in the question-and-answer session. But Michelle Obama said as an African American woman, her discussion with the African youth was “deeply personal.”

“The roots of my family tree are in Africa,” the first lady told the cheering crowd. “My husband’s father was born and raised in Kenya. Members of our extended family still live there. I have had the pleasure of traveling to Africa many times over the years, including four trips as first lady, and I have brought my mother and my daughters along whenever I can.”

“The blood of Africa runs through my veins, and I care deeply,” Obama said, addressing her listeners as her “brothers” and “sisters.”

Three months before congressional elections that could determine the fate of much of President Obama’s platform, Michelle Obama’s popularity remains high while her husband’s has sunk.

The White House is making women’s empowerment a theme in a Washington African leaders summit next week. Michelle Obama said problems with girls’ education often stemmed from traditional “attitudes and beliefs” that exist even in the United States and lead to issues such as the gender pay gap and an underrepresentation of women in leadership.

She said men worldwide needed to “look into their hearts and souls and ask if they truly view women as their equals.”

“I am who I am today because of the people in my family, particularly the men in my family, who valued me and invested in me from the day I was born,” Obama said.

“And as I grew up, the men who raised me set a high bar for the type of men I’d allow into my life - which is why I went on to marry a man who had the good sense to fall in love with a woman who was his equal, to treat me as such - a man who supports and reveres me, and who supports and reveres our daughters as well,” Obama said.

7月30日，美国第一夫人米歇尔•奥巴马对非洲青年领袖发表演讲，她与非洲“血脉相连”，当年她的祖先带着锁链来到美国。

7月28日，米歇尔的丈夫，美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马在华盛顿与500名非洲青年才俊的对话中，对其非洲血统避而不谈，仅是在问答环节中谈到他的肯尼亚父亲一次。但是米歇尔•奥巴马大方表示，作为一名非洲裔美国女性，她与非洲青年的对话源自“个人内心深处情感”。

这位美国第一夫人说，“我的家庭的根在非洲，我丈夫的父亲生于肯尼亚，长于肯尼亚。我们的大家庭里还有人住在肯尼亚。多年来，我有幸多次回到非洲，其中以第一夫人身份就有四次。只要条件允许，我总会带上我的母亲和女儿们。”

米歇尔说“我与非洲血脉相连，我非常关心非洲”。演讲中，米歇尔将听众称作自己的“兄弟姐妹”。

“我的祖先身披锁链来到这里，”米歇尔说，“我的父母和祖父母深知种族隔离和歧视的痛苦。但我就读于这个国家最好的大学。我的职业机会超出我最狂野的梦想。今天，我生活在白宫……我的故事和我的国家的故事就是实现不可能的故事。我知道，这也能成为你们的故事，成为非洲的故事。”

距离美国国会中期选举还有三个月的时间，这次中期选举将很大程度上决定奥巴马政府施政计划的命运。目前奥巴马总统的受欢迎程度不断下滑，而米歇尔•奥巴马却依然广受欢迎。

白宫方面将妇女赋权作为下周开幕的美非峰会的一个主题。米歇尔•奥巴马表示，女性教育常常因传统“态度与观念”而受阻，这种“态度与观念”甚至在美国也依然存在。而女性教育受阻则会造成性别收入差异以及女性在领导阶层代表不足。

米歇尔称，全世界的男性都要“审视自己的内心与灵魂，问问自己是否真正平等看待女性”。

米歇尔说，“我之所以成为今天的我，全都因为亲人们的支持，尤其是男人们，他们重视我，并从我出生的那天起，对我教育的投资便毫不吝啬。”

米歇尔说，“当我长大后，我的父亲对我择偶的标准要求很高，这就是我为什么会嫁给贝拉克，他能够爱上一个同自己一样优秀的女性，支持我，尊敬我，对我们的女儿也是一样”。