Michelle Obama: Leaders can come from unlikely places

Michelle Obama: Leaders can come from unlikely places

By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers


MEXICO CITY — Michelle Obama, in her first solo foray abroad as first lady, said Wednesday that it's time to break down barriers for disadvantaged youth and abandon "wrong and outdated ideas" about who's worthy of becoming a leader.

She described herself and President Barack Obama as examples of leaders emerging from "unlikely places."

On the second day of a three-day trip that took her to earthquake-devastated Haiti and on to Mexico, the first lady admired a huge Aztec stone wheel in a museum, played with underprivileged school children and practiced her Spanish.

"From the moment I arrived, I felt like I was entre amigos" — among friends, Obama told hundreds of students gathered at one of Mexico's most elite universities, the Iberoamericana.

In a talk that focused on the burgeoning global youth population, she exhorted the students to examine their privileged status.

"Those of you who already have a seat at the table must do your part to make room for others who don't," she said.

The world must confront assumptions, she said, "that only certain young people deserve to be educated, that girls aren't as capable as boys, that some young people are less worthy of opportunities because of their religion or disability or ethnicity or socioeconomic class."

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/14/92188/michelle-obama-leaders-can-come.html

So perhaps she should do some listening on the subject of treating some groups as less worthy than others too.

knowing we have Michelle and President Obama out there getting their message to leaders and people of other countries that this is who we are in the USA.