Obama Gushes About Sasha and Malia's Participation in Racial Justice Protests: 'I Could Not Have Been Prouder'

In a recent conversation with People magazine about his new memoir, A Promised Land (maybe youโ€™ve heard of it?), former President Barack Obama shared that his daughters, Sasha and Malia, were among the millions of Americans who participated in racial justice protests this past summer. Suggested Reading Expert On Big Development for Black Man Whose…

In a recent conversation with People magazine about his new memoir, A Promised Land (maybe youโ€™ve heard of it?), former President Barack Obama shared that his daughters, Sasha and Malia, were among the millions of Americans who participated in racial justice protests this past summer.

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โ€œI could not have been prouder of them,โ€ he said.

Sasha, 19, and Malia, 22, are both in college, and tapped their dad, a former community organizer, for some advice, Obama told the magazineโ€”though he was quick to add that neither he nor Michelle had to prompt them.

โ€œI didnโ€™t have to give them a lot of advice because they had a very clear sense of what was right and what was wrong and [of] their own agency and the power of their voice and the need to participate,โ€ said Obama.

โ€œI think a couple of times they asked for sort of very specific suggestions about what would be the best way to communicate X or what would be the most useful thing that, if we were mobilizing a whole bunch of friends, to have an impact, what should we be doing?โ€ he continued. โ€œBut they didnโ€™t need to be encouraged.โ€

The girls have successfully kept a low profile through their teenage years, rarely giving interviews in spite of the widespread interest in their lives. Obama said his daughters were not โ€œlooking for limelightโ€ in their demonstrations. Instead, they were โ€œvery much in organizer mode.โ€

Some might be tempted to say the girls are following in their fatherโ€™s footsteps, but the 59-year-old Obama ascribed their interest in social justice to their age, noting that the girls are โ€œreflective of their generation in the sense they want to make a difference.โ€

โ€œThese kids are really focused onโ€”how can I do something that I find meaningful, that resonates with my values and my ideals? And that I think is an encouraging sign for the country,โ€ Obama continued.

Thanks in part to the new book, Obama has been commenting on the state of our democracy, and his own assessment on his job as president, far more than any other time since he left office. But his latest interview with People showcases Obamaโ€™s role as a fatherโ€”and a proud one at that. The former president divulged details about his daughtersโ€™ different personalities, calling Sasha, currently a sophomore at the University of Michigan, โ€œcompletely confident about her own take on the world.โ€

She is โ€œnot cowed or intimidatedโ€”and never has beenโ€”by anybodyโ€™s titles, anybodyโ€™s credentials,โ€ he said. โ€œIf she thinks somethingโ€™s wrong or right, she will say so.โ€

As for Malia, who will graduate from Harvard University next year, Obama gushed that his eldest daughter is โ€œjust buoyant.โ€

โ€œSheโ€™s somebody who enjoys people, enjoys life and enjoys conversation,โ€ he said. โ€œSheโ€™s never bored, which is a badass quality that can take you places.โ€

Straight From The Root

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