Black Females and Obama

by Dawn Fuller-Ball, Mrs. Fuller-Ball is an African American guest writer for Black Into the Future. She is a respected community activist in Hartford, CT on issues of prison/drug policy reform, undoing racism, and women's rights.



For the first time in history, Barack Obama’s campaign has created space for Black women to discuss issues central to the Black female population in America. This option has never truly existed in the past. Although the majority of conversations about Campaign 08’ have centered on Barack Obama, the man and the issues important him, the potential and significance of Michelle Obama’ as the First Lady has been all the talk in the Black women community and thus is not only transformative and exciting to me as a Black women, it has given me a new since of purpose which is why I choose to write this article.

It wasn’t until this election that critical issues affecting Black women specifically have been talked about and addressed in public spaces. In the past issues that were important to America have come from the old boy network and have been prioritized by White males and negotiated between them and White females. Although it has not been seen on a national level, Michelle Obama’s “campaign for First Lady” has already amplified the voices of Black woman on key issues of pro-choice, pro-life, and healthcare, education, and drug/criminal justice policies. Every where I go, whether it be the beauty salons or supermarket, sisters are talking about issues key to Black women and how this election has made them feel relevant in the political world.

Here is a personal example that brought the revelation of my marginalized role as a Black woman on issues of choice to light.

Several years ago I had a therapeutic abortion; basically a medically prescribed termination of a tubule pregnancy. It was just after George W. was elected. I had to go to the clinic on the designated day with all the other women who were terminating their pregnancies. There were a bunch of protesters outside shouting at me and my fiancé, saying that we were baby killers. After that traumatic experience, I had an interesting discussion with my employer about reproductive rights and whether or not Bush was stacking the Supreme Court with conservatives who would make it difficult or revoke the right of women to terminate pregnancies, therapeutic or otherwise. It made me look at politics in a new way, I often thought after this experience, why were our options for President always about us picking and choosing between different rich White men? Questions like that forced me to think about who would fight for women’s reproductive rights and why were black women so absent and distant from any real discussions about decisions that impact our lives.

While watching this campaign I’ve been thinking about the significance of Michelle Obama and evaluating historical insignificance of my voice and the voice of other Black women on issues. Amazing but true, Michelle Obama as the First Lady will change all of that in an instant. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s work has never amplified the voice of Black women on issues and I can not find solace in a Clinton Presidency because she has had her chance we know what she is about. Although the issues of women are central to her campaign, the unique experiences of Black women and other women of color has never been discussed by Hillary or anyone associated with her campaign. Having Michelle Obama has First lady, the country could not escape the Black women experience.

History tells us that since the 1900’s the First Lady has played the dual role of being the voice of compassion and the leader on family focused issues like healthcare and education. The First Lady has always been the back bone of American politics and family from Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s managing of the White House and her family to; Anna Eleanor Roosevelt’s break from the traditional woman’s role of being behind the throne to being a social activists to; Hillary Rodham Clinton and her leadership on national health care reform to; Laura Lane Welch Bush’s national and international work on education the role of the First Lady has influenced the consciousness of the United States. Michelle Obama as the First Lady conjures up a powerful and respected image of the Black female’s role in determining the destiny of all families in the United States of America.

With a Black First Lady this country would have to acknowledge some historical facts. Those facts include the nurturing of America on our breast milk, feeding America at our tables, and building America on the backs of the eggs from our womb. These unsung contributions and sacrifices by Black women have been ignored despite their historical significance. Michelle Obama’s “campaign for First Lady” changes all that and finally makes our voice and “right” to be heard as an equal in rooms with males and White females on issues that effect all of America.

In the end Michelle Obama’s addition to the list of the most powerful Black women in the United States of America as the first Black First Lady is an event that could round out the contributions of Black women like Oprah Winfrey, Ann M. Fudge, Marian Wright Edelman, Sharon Sayles Belton, Cathy Hughes, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Elaine R. Jones. Post Election 08’ our authenticity and importance can no longer be reduced to the tokenism that is Condoleezza Rice or a consumer base for corporations.