Wishful Thinking

God, how I wish my sister Julie and my mother Eloise were alive to see this image! Two beautiful, proud, elegant African American women presiding over the nation's Christmas celebrations as the First Lady and First Mother-in-law.

Now, I know the past few years haven't been a carefree thrill ride for the Obama-Robinson clan. I got this picture from a fashion blogpost where the very first commenter condemned her for wearing vintage couture. It's the first time a First Lady had ever done that for a holiday affair, and the dress cost about $2,000, instead of 3 or 4 times more for an original holiday gown. The writer suggested she made the choice as some sort of mockery, as if wearing a "second hand dress" made her some kind of hero in these tough economic times.

Spoiler alert: I am about to switch to my automatic race card default setting, which I only use sparingly. Now, I know Michelle Obama is no saint, and I know she's made some not-so-wise comments and some questionable fashion choices. But leveling that critique come from a place of nothing but puredee "Who does that uppity n----r b---h think she is?" And you couldn't give me a million dollars to change that opinion. Trust me, if Laura Bush had done it, she'd be hailed as fashion forward and sensitive to the public zeitgeist.

But don't let me plunge too far into the abyss. All I really wanted to say with this posting is that I wish my mother and sister were alive to see this picture. They would be so astonished and proud. As I will always be, to hail from a country where a scene like this could take place.