Michelle Obama on "The View"

The View" is normally not on my radar because I'm still irked by the way Baba Wawa and that other wench Jo.y mistreated Mo'nique when she was guest hosting. Even had the nerve to make Mo'nique out to be disgusting and uncivilized because she opts not to shave her legs. Makes no damn sense for a show that is supposed to halfway bond and empower women would have two women gang up on one woman.

Today however, the wife of the 2008 presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Mrs. Michelle Obama, was a guest co-host on "The View". Wonderful exposure and great opportunity for people to see her on a casual level and get to know her as a woman. The only reason I even know about this opportunity is because I heard about the appearance today on "The Mich.a.el Ba.is.den Radio Show", and they were disccussing Who.opi Goldb.erg's somewhat controbersial comments.

Simply, Who.opi comments that Mrs. Obama presents a positive image for black women instead of the common image with "no teeth" and can't make a complete coherent sentence to save their lives. But especially for dark-skinned black women. Whoopi thanked Michelle for being a positive representation.

Honestly, I don't see what the fuss is about because Who.opi was speaking the truth. Yeah, Who.opi has been questionable in the past, but folks should stop tripping as if she were B.ill Cos.by telling the truth about black people. Black folks know their used to seeing us on the news looking a damn fool, giving an incoherent account of the details that requires the closed captioning to be understood, or being the accused or red-handed criminal in handcuffs. That isn't how we always are, but that's a damned familiar image. Of course, all representations of black women or dark-skinned sistas or black people aren't bad because there are some strong, eloquent, put-together sistas and brothas in the world. They exist, and we as a culture embrace them.

The difference is that mainstream media doesn't always embrace or display that image. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they'd ask a light-skinned person for the POV since they were the first person they could find. After all, the news station has to have eyewitness accounts in their news coverage. Let a "true refelction" of a black person come along, and you wouldn't even know there were light-skinned people. It's alsmost as if the media feels that articulate accounts from black people in general aren't believable. Maybe their newscast won't be so trusted and dependable if someone articulate and black is on camera.

Thank God that we are in a historical time period where someone like Michelle Obama cannot be ignored because she's supporting her husband who's running for president. She's on the biggest national stage of all during this campaign, and she gets to disprove the myth that Opra.h is the only articulate black woman with influence and charm.

But I can't leave it all roses. I'm figuring that Michelle Obama had to request a "fist bump" for her greetings because that's what the media has been calling it. That ain't no fist bump. It's a "pound". It's probably going to be nicknamed a fist bump while the Obamas are campaigning, but it'll be a a pound once our first black president is elected.