First Lady Michelle Obama & Mom: On Raising Smart, Confident Kids, Strong Marriages and Future Plans
From our friends at Essence.
A Mother’s Love: First Lady and Mom Cover Essence
In their first interview together, First Lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, sit down in the White House to speak exclusively to ESSENCE Editor-in-Chief Angela Burt-Murray about retaining their family values, what it takes to raise good kids, and being role models for the Black community. Read on for excerpts from the interview.
Mrs. Michelle Obama on what being First Lady means to her:
“It’s an honor and a privilege when you walk into the White House-at least I automatically felt a level of obligation. This is a big responsibility, a wonderful platform and I just want to make sure I take every advantage to serve as a role model, to provide good messages, to be a supportive mate to the President and to make sure that my girls are solid.”
Mrs. Marian Robinson on seeing her daughter step into this historic role:
“Well, to me, it’s overwhelming. I never doubted that she could do this. She is doing it with such grace and dignity. So I am just proud. I just hope she does what she wants to do. [Chuckles] Because the things that she wants to do are very important. They mean a lot to her.”
Mrs. Michelle Obama on finding balance:
“Unlike most women, I have a lot of resources: I have my mother living with me. The White House has a staff of people who are there to make my life easy. I don’t have a full-time job, although I work very hard in the role of First Lady. But I have a lot of resources. So I have been able to achieve the balance because I have the support I need.”
Mrs. Robinson on what her late husband, Fraser Robinson III, would say about this moment:
“You would not be able to shut him up! He would not be able to stand this. He would be beaming until you would just want him to stop talking. He bragged about Michelle and her brother, Craig, before they had even done anything. He always encouraged them, and when he talked about Craig and Michelle, you could just see a smile on his face whether it was there or not. He just enjoyed these two people.” More . . .
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Picture Credit: Timothy White and Stockland Martel
Ghostwriters on Twitter? Yep! Just Ask Britney, Kanye, 50 Cent, Ron Paul, . . .
It looks like some people hire ghostwriters to handle their Twittering . . . Interesting . . .Now let’s think about this . . . It is only 140 characters . . . and the nature of Twitter is that individuals are telling you about their personal activities . . . but maybe for business reasons and because of time constraints they need people to . . . Hmmm. Am not sure how we feel about this . . . For some reason, the word “inauthentic” comes to mind. >:) What do you think?
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When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking
Noam Cohen, The New York Times
The rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars who have recently embraced Twitter to reach fans who crave near-continuous access to their lives and thoughts. On March 1, he shared this insight with the more than 200,000 people who follow him: “My ambition leads me through a tunnel that never ends.”
Those were 50 Cent’s words, but it was not exactly him tweeting. Rather, it was Chris Romero, known as Broadway, the director of the rapper’s Web empire, who typed in those words after reading them in an interview.
“He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Mr. Romero said of 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, “but the energy of it is all him.”
In its short history, Twitter — a microblogging tool that uses 140 characters in bursts of text — has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal.
But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers — ghost Twitterers, if you will — who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star’s own voice.
Because Twitter is seen as an intimate link between celebrities and their fans, many performers are not willing to divulge the help they use to put their thoughts into cyberspace.
Britney Spears recently advertised for someone to help, among other things, create content for Twitter and Facebook. Kanye West recently told New York magazine that he has hired two people to update his blog. “It’s just like how a designer would work,” he said.
It is not only celebrities who are forced to look to a team to produce real-time commentary on daily activities; politicians like Ron Paul have assigned staff members to create Twitter posts and Facebook personas. Candidate Barack Obama, as well as President Obama, has a social-networking team to keep his Twitter feed tweeting.
The famous, of course, have turned to ghostwriters for autobiographies and other acts of self-aggrandizement. But the idea of having someone else write continual updates of one’s daily life seems slightly absurd.
The basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, for example, is a prolific Twitterer on his account — The Real Shaq — where he shares personal news, jokes and occasional trash talking about opponents with nearly 430,000 followers.
“If I am going to speak, it will come from me,” he said, adding that the technology allows him to bypass the media to speak directly to the fans.
As for the temptation to rely on a team to supply his words, he said: “It’s 140 characters. It’s so few characters. If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.” More . . .
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Picture Credit: Webdesignerdepot.com
High-Powered and Low-Key: Obama Adviser Valerie Jarrett
A Profile of Obama Adviser, Valerie Jarrett. See below for additional articles on her.
High-Powered and Low Key
Washington Observes the Influence of Obama Adviser Valerie Jarrett
Michael A. Fletcher, The Washington Post
The nation’s mayors felt left out in the weeks after President Obama’s election. He had met with the governors, but not them. Then, to their surprise, he picked a non-mayor to head his new office of urban affairs. The unhappiness only grew as the president’s economic stimulus package promised to funnel billions of dollars directly into the coffers of states, leaving mayors wondering about their role.
As the frustration mounted, some began grumbling about their White House contact, Valerie Jarrett. “They were starting to get the sense, starting to comment that maybe Valerie Jarrett isn’t the person to bring their concerns to the highest level of the White House,” said Michael Strautmanis, Jarrett’s chief of staff.
They soon learned otherwise.
Before long, Jarrett hosted a forum for more than 80 mayors in the White House East Room, where she moderated a discussion with five Cabinet secretaries who explained how the stimulus plan would help cities. The event last month was capped by remarks from both the vice president and the president. Spotting a once-skeptical mayor after the session, Strautmanis could not resist flicking a little jab. “What do you think of Valerie Jarrett now?” he asked.
Jarrett, 52, serves as senior adviser to the president, and she oversees the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs. She is the principal contact for groups wanting to reach the White House, a stated focus of an administration that prides itself on transparency and outreach to an unprecedented array of grass-roots organizations. Jarrett and her staff have organized meetings and events that bring 450 people a week to the White House. She also recommends and interviews people for top jobs in the administration, is a daily presence in the president’s senior staff meetings, and is someone Obama often calls on for a reality check.
But Jarrett’s array of titles and duties fail to convey the breadth of her influence, which is rooted in a long relationship built on a foundation of trust with the Obamas. More . . .
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More articles on Valerie Jarrett:
Exclusive White House Interview: Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett (Essence)
The New Team: Valerie Jarrett (New York Times)
And to find out who else is in Obama’s Cabinet, click below. The list includes official appointments and names being floated for key posts.:
Obama’s Cabinet (The Hill.com)
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Picture Credit: New York Times, Jerry Lai – Associated Press
Capital Cool: Members of The White House Staff Illustrate the New Rules for Dress in the Workplace
Illustrating the new rules on how to dress for work.
Capital Cool - Members of The White House Staff Illustrate the New Rules for Fashion in the Workplace (Click image to see Slideshow)
Taking a cue from Michelle Obama, Joe Zee redefines women’s fashion role in the workplace.
Joe Zee, Elle
A lawyer friend recently remarked over dinner that her office desperately needed my help. It was full of smart, accomplished women, but they just couldn’t get their clothes right. Look at Michelle Obama, she continued, who, when she was an associate at a Chicago law firm, didn’t trade her style for credibility. She’s certain Michelle was the picture of chic, elegance, and authority. (And hell, she landed her husband at that firm!) My friend had a point: Why have working women put style on the back burner?
As her profile has risen, Michelle has in some ways become a reluctant style hero at the same time that she’s ushered in a new era in political fashion. She’s the ultimate career mom who, balancing success with family in Jimmy Choos and J.Crew, raised the workplace fashion stakes. Will the messages of style hope and sartorial change reach the young women who will now be working at the White House? My next challenge!
Two days after the inauguration, I headed to DC to style seven of the smart, successful—and let it be said, beautiful—women from this new administration and, in doing so, illustrate the new rules for how to dress for work. DC has long been in a style recession. My No. 1 rule? Break all the rules—which is why I dubbed them “The No-Hose Administration.”
From what I’ve seen over the years, getting it right at the office can be tough. It’s a daily high-pressure game: You want to appear authoritative and professional but not look like a career drone. Employee handbooks may highlight terms like business casual and corporate attire, but what does it all mean? How do you start to decipher these complex codes that can ultimately get us hired, fired, promoted, or just plain noticed? April being our Work Issue, I am offering my own get-ahead guide to How to Look Good and Still Succeed in Business. More . . .
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Picture Credit: Elle Magazine
Obama Announces White House Council For Women And Girls
Phillip Elliott, The Huffington Post
“WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama invoked his grandmother, single mother and two young daughters on Wednesday in creating a White House panel to advise him on issues facing women and girls.
Obama, standing with prominent members of his administration and with his wife sitting nearby, signed an executive order creating an across-the-government council designed to help Cabinet agencies and departments collaborate on ways to make sure women were provided opportunities offered to men.
“I sign this order not just as a president, but as a son, a grandson, a husband and a father because, growing up, I saw my mother put herself through school and follow her passion for helping others,” Obama said. “But I also saw how she struggled to raise me and my sister on her own, worrying about how she’d pay the bills and educate herself and provide for us.”
He said he signed the order to honor all the women who came before him, such as his grandmother who was a bank vice president but was denied promotions because of her gender. He said the fight for gender equality is far from over.
“So now it’s up to us to carry that work forward, to ensure that our daughters and granddaughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements _ and that they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers never dreamed of,” Obama said. “That’s the purpose of this council; those are the priorities of my presidency.”
He also said his own experiences with the women in his life reflect the challenges of all women.
“I’ve seen Michelle, the rock of the Obama family, juggling work and parenting with more skill and grace than anybody that I know,” Obama said. “But I also saw how it tore at her at times, how sometimes when she was with the girls she was worrying about work, and when she was at work she was worrying about the girls. It’s a feeling that I share every day.”
Obama cited statistic to back up his case: Women earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make; 1 in 4 women still experiences domestic violence; women are 49 percent of the work force but only 3 percent of Fortune 500 chiefs.” More . . .
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About Us
Brusque is a digital newspaper that focuses on women who rock.
Here we celebrate the excellence of women and examine the issues that we face as we try to move the universe forward. Our primary focus will be on women in business. More specifically, we will focus on women as corporate leaders, and women as entrepreneurs.
The primary focus on business is because that is what we know best. (Go Blue!!!)
But as you (and we) know, women are advancing in many fields (sports, law, medicine, politics, science, etc.), so we will highlight the ascent, the successes and the key issues that pertain to women in other areas as well.
We will also focus on presenting articles that highlight issues pertaining to women in the workplace and work-life-balance.
In addition, we will take a look at how the business world is addressing and responding to the needs of women through marketing and product design; and periodically, we will highlight products that we believe will be of use to women that are also interested in the above topics.
Also note, we love gadgets, we love to cook, we love to travel, we love to shop, we love to read, we love to . . . okay you get the point, we love to have fun. So you’ll also see posts on technology and other stuff we love (cooking, shoes, biking, travel, sports, etc.) as well.
The short version is this, our goal is to create an estrogen-fueled 
digital newspaper that celebrates the successes of women around the globe with a focus on women in business. Again, we are big on business, entrepreneurship and marketing around here; so if you notice a bias, please excuse it, but at least you’ll know where it comes from.
Also, please note, we are new to blogging so forgive us in advance if we make a few mistakes. Feel free to let us know what you think.
Also, some people have asked “Why the name ‘Brusque’?” To put it simply - Because that’s our style (short, blunt, and straight to the point) - ESPECIALLY when we’re having pre-caffeine moments!
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