Aw, look at our parents. By January of next year, the Obamas will be out of the White House, Malia Obama will be basking in her pre-Harvard gap year, and Sasha will continue to serve as my emotional muse. We only have a few more months to creepily admire them, so let’s spend it wisely on these photos from Essence’s October issue.
Look at them! Stare. Gaze. Gawk. Lurk. Desperately try to mimic them. Go ahead. Save the performative sadness for later, let’s now revel in the fact that for roughly eight years we’ve had a First Lady who, with all due respect, was blessed with very nice curves, and finally a First Family who resembles our cousins at the cookout. And how the Obamas as a couple have sickened us with their love and all that.
Yep, there’s mom and dad. FLOTUS talked to Essence about what the mere imagery of this family means for the young black generation. “I think when it comes to black kids, it means something for them to have spent most of their life seeing the family in the White House look like them,” she says. “It matters.”
Mrs. Obama adds, “All the future work that Barack talked about, I think over these last few years, we’ve kind of knocked the ceiling of limitation off the roofs of many young kids; imaginations of what’s possible for them. And as a mother, I wouldn’t underestimate how important that is, having that vision that you can really do anything—not because somebody told you, but because you’ve seen and experienced it. I think that will be a lasting impact on our kids.”
