米歇爾：我的祖先身披鎖鏈來到美國

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，美國第一夫人米歇爾•奧巴馬對非洲青年領袖發表演講，她與非洲“血脈相連”，當年她的祖先帶着鎖鏈來到美國。

7月28日，米歇爾的丈夫，美國總統貝拉克•奧巴馬在華盛頓與500名非洲青年才俊的對話中，對其非洲血統避而不談，僅是在問答環節中談到他的肯尼亞父親一次。但是米歇爾•奧巴馬大方表示，作爲一名非洲裔美國女性，她與非洲青年的對話源自“個人內心深處情感”。

這位美國第一夫人說，“我的家庭的根在非洲，我丈夫的父親生於肯尼亞，長於肯尼亞。我們的大家庭裏還有人住在肯尼亞。多年來，我有幸多次回到非洲，其中以第一夫人身份就有四次。只要條件允許，我總會帶上我的母親和女兒們。”

米歇爾說“我與非洲血脈相連，我非常關心非洲”。演講中，米歇爾將聽衆稱作自己的“兄弟姐妹”。

“我的祖先身披鎖鏈來到這裏，”米歇爾說，“我的父母和祖父母深知種族隔離和歧視的痛苦。但我就讀於這個國家最好的大學。我的職業機會超出我最狂野的夢想。今天，我生活在白宮……我的故事和我的國家的故事就是實現不可能的故事。我知道，這也能成爲你們的故事，成爲非洲的故事。”

距離美國國會中期選舉還有三個月的時間，這次中期選舉將很大程度上決定奧巴馬政府施政計劃的命運。目前奧巴馬總統的受歡迎程度不斷下滑，而米歇爾•奧巴馬卻依然廣受歡迎。

白宮方面將婦女賦權作爲下週開幕的美非峯會的一個主題。米歇爾•奧巴馬錶示，女性教育常常因傳統“態度與觀念”而受阻，這種“態度與觀念”甚至在美國也依然存在。而女性教育受阻則會造成性別收入差異以及女性在領導階層代表不足。

米歇爾稱，全世界的男性都要“審視自己的內心與靈魂，問問自己是否真正平等看待女性”。

米歇爾說，“我之所以成爲今天的我，全都因爲親人們的支持，尤其是男人們，他們重視我，並從我出生的那天起，對我教育的投資便毫不吝嗇。”

米歇爾說，“當我長大後，我的父親對我擇偶的標準要求很高，這就是我爲什麼會嫁給貝拉克，他能夠愛上一個同自己一樣優秀的女性，支持我，尊敬我，對我們的女兒也是一樣”。