Mi

chel
l
e'sspeechbef
oret
heDemocr
ati
cConv
ent
ion

'
Apr esi
dent
’swor
dshav ethepowertomovemarket
s.Theycanstar
twarsorbr
okerpeace.
Theycansummonourbet terangel
sorawakenourworsti
nst
inct
s.Yousi
mplycannotfake
yourwaythr
oughthi
sjob.
'

Michel
leObama,for
merUSf i
rstlady,del
iv
eredthekey not
espeechattheopeningnightofthe
Democrati
cNati
onalConv enti
on 2020,aweekl ong eventthatcul
minatesi ntheof f
icial
nominati
onofJoeBi denasUSpr esi
denti
alcandidate.Her
eisherfullspeechonTuesday ,
August18(Mani
lati
me) ,
asprovi
dedbyt heDemocr at
icPart
y.

Goodev eni
ng,ever
yone.It
’sahar dti
me,andev eryone’
sfeeli
ngitindiffer
entways.AndI
knowal otoffol
ksarerel
uctanttotunei
ntoapol i
ti
calconvent
ionrightnowort opol
it
icsi
n
general
.Beli
eveme,Igetthat.ButIam heretoni
ghtbecauseIl ov
et hi
scountrywit
hallmy
heart
,anditpai
nsmet oseesomanypeopl ehurti
ng.

I
’v
emetsomanyofy ou.I’
veheardy
ourst
ori
es.Andt
hroughy ou,Ihaveseenthi
scount
ry’
s
pr
omise.Andthankstosomanywhocamebef or
eme,t hankstot hei
rtoi
landsweatand
bl
ood,I
’v
ebeenabletol
ivethatpr
omisemy
sel
f.

That
’sthestor
yofAmerica.Al
lthosefol
kswhosacr
if
icedandovercamesomuchi
nthei
r
owntimesbecauset
heywantedsomethi
ngmore,
somethi
ngbet
terf
ort hei
rki
ds.

There’salotofbeautyinthatst
ory.Ther
e’sal otofpai
ninit,t
oo,alotofstruggleand
i
njusti
ceandwor klef
ttodo.Andwhowechooseasourpr esi
denti
nt hiselect
ionwil
l
determinewhetherornotwehonorthatstruggl
eandchipawayatthatinj
usti
ceandkeep
al
ivetheverypossi
bil
it
yoff
ini
shi
ngthatwork.

Iam oneofahandf ulofpeopleliv

ingtodaywhohaveseenfi
rsthandthei
mmensewei ghtand
awesomepoweroft hepresidency.Andletmeonceagai ntellyouthi
s:thejobishard.I
t
requir
escl
ear-
headedj udgment ,amast er
yofcomplexandcompet i
ngissues,adevot
ionto
factsandhi
story,amor alcompass,andanabili
tytoli
sten–andanabi dingbeli
eft
hateach
ofthe330,
000,000livesinthi
scount r
yhasmeaningandworth.

Apr esi
dent
’swordshavethepowert omovemarket
s.Theycanstar
twarsorbr
okerpeace.
Theycansummonourbet terangel
sorawakenourworsti
nsti
nct
s.Yousi
mplycannotfake
yourwaythroughthi
sjob.

AsI ’
vesai dbefor
e,beingpresidentdoesn’
tchangewhoy ouare;i
trevealswhoy ouare.Well,
apr esidenti
alel
ecti
oncanr evealwhowear e,too.And4y ear
sago, t
oomanypeopl echoseto
beli
ev et hatthei
rvotesdidn’tmat ter
.May bet heyweref edup.May bet heyt houghtthe
outcomewoul dn’
tbeclose.May bethebarri
ersfeltt
oosteep.Whateverthereason, i
ntheend,
thosechoi cessentsomeonet otheOv alOff
icewhol ostthenati
onalpopularv otebynear l
y
3,000,000v ot
es.

I
noneoft
hestatesthatdet
erminedtheoutcome,thewinni
ngmargi
nav eragedoutt
ojust
t
wovot
esperpr
ecinct–twovotes.Andwe’
veallbeenl
iv
ingwitht
heconsequences.

Whenmyhusbandl eftoff
icewi
thJoeBidenathi ssi
de,wehadar ecord-
breaki
ngstret
chof
j
obcr eati
on.We’dsecuredther
ightt
ohealthcarefor20,
000,
000people.Wewer erespected
aroundtheworld,r
all
yingoural
li
estoconfrontcl
imatechange.Andourleadershadwor ked
hand-i
n-handwithscienti
ststohelppreventanEbol aoutbreakfr
om becomi ngagl obal
pandemi
c.

Fouryear slater,t
hest at
eoft hisnati
onisv erydif
ferent.Mor et
han150, 000peoplehavedied,
andoureconomyi sinshambl esbecauseofav i
rusthatt hi
spr esi
dentdownplayedfortoo
l
ong.Ithasl eftmill
i
onsofpeopl ej
obless.Toomanyhav elosttheirheal
thcar
e;toomanyar e
str
ugglingt ot akecar eofbasi cnecessi
tieslikefoodandr ent
;toomanycommuni t
ieshave
been lefti nt he lurch to grapple wit
h whet herand how t o open ourschool s saf
ely.
Int
ernationally
,we’vet ur
nedourback,notj ustonagr eement sforgedbymyhusband,buton
all
i
anceschampi onedbypr esident
slikeReaganandEi senhower.

Andhereathome,asGeor geFl
oy d,BreonnaTay lor
,andanever-
endi
nglistofi
nnocent
peopl
eofcol
orconti
nuetobemur dered,stat
ingthesimpl
efactt
hataBlackli
fematt
ersis
sti
l
lmetwi
thder
isi
onfrom t
henat
ion’shighestoff
ice.

Utt
erlackofempathy
Becausewheneverwel ooktothi
sWhiteHouseforsomel eadershi
porconsol
ati
onorany
semblanceofst
eadiness,whatwegeti
nst
eadischaos,
div
ision,andatot
alandutt
erl
ackof
empathy.

Empat hy
:that
’ssomet hi
ngI’v
ebeent hinkingalotaboutl at
ely
.Theabil
it
yt owalkinsomeone
el
se’sshoes;ther ecognit
ionthatsomeoneel se’sexperi
encehasv alue,too.Mostofus
pract
icethiswit
houtasecondt hought.Ifweseesomeonesuf f
er i
ngorstruggl
ing,wedon’
t
standinjudgment.Wer eachoutbecause,“ There,butforthegraceofGod,goI .”Iti
snota
hardconcepttograsp.It
’swhatwet eachourchi ldren.

Andl i
kesomanyofy ou,BarackandIhavetriedourbestt
oinstil
linourgirl
sastrongmoral
foundati
ontocarr
yfor wardtheval
uesthatourparentsandgrandparent
spour edi
ntous.But
ri
ghtnow,kidsinthiscountryareseei
ngwhathappenswhenwest oprequi
ringempathyof
oneanot her
.They’
relookingaroundwonderingifwe’vebeenlyingtothem thiswholeti
me
aboutwhowear eandwhatwet rul
yval
ue.

Theyseepeopl eshouti
ngi ngr ocer
ystores,unwill
i
ngtowearamaskt okeepusal lsafe.They
seepeoplecalli
ngthepol i
ceonf ol
ksmi ndi
ngt hei
rownbusi
nessjustbecauseoft hecolorof
theirski
n.Theyseeanent itl
ementt hatsay sonlycer
tai
npeoplebelongher e,t
hatgr eedis
good,andwi nningiseverythingbecauseasl ongasyoucomeoutont op,itdoesn’tmat t
er
whathappenst oev er
yoneel se.Andt heyseewhathappenswhent hatlackofempat hyis
ginnedupintooutri
ghtdisdain.

Theyseeourleaderslabel
ingfel
lowcit
izensenemiesofthestatewhi
leemboldeni
ngtorch-
beari
ngwhitesupr
emaci st
s.Theywatchinhor r
oraschi
ldrenar
etor
nfrom t
hei
rfamili
esand
thr
owni nt
ocages,andpeppersprayandr ubberbul
l
etsareusedonpeacef
ulpr
otest
orsfora
photo-
op.

Sadly
,t hi
si st he America t
hatis on di
splayf orthe nextgenerat
ion.A nation t hat
’s
underperf
ormingnotsi mplyonmatter
sofpol i
cybutonmat t
ersofcharact
er.Andt hat’
snot
j
ustdisappoint
ing;i
t’sdownri
ghti
nfuri
ati
ng,becauseIknowt hegoodnessandt hegr acethat
i
soutt her
einhousehol dsandnei
ghborhoodsallacrosst
hisnati
on.

AndIknowthatr
egardl
essofourrace,age,r
eli
gion,orpol
it
ics,whenwecloseoutt
henoi se
andthef
earandtr
ulyopenourhear
ts,weknowt hatwhat’
sgoingoninthi
scountr
yisjustnot
ri
ght
.Thi
sisnotwhowewantt obe.

Goinghighistheonlyt
hingt hatworks
Sowhatdowedonow?What ’
sourst r
ategy?Overthepast4years,alotofpeoplehaveasked
me,“Whenot hersaregoingsol ow, doesgoinghighsti
llr
eall
ywor k?
”Myanswer :goi
nghigh
i
st heonlythingthatwor ks,becausewhenwegol ow,whenweuset hosesamet acti
csof
degradi
nganddehumani zingothers,wej ustbecomepartoft heuglynoi set
hat’
sdrowning
outever
y t
hingelse.Wedegr adeourselves.Wedegradetheverycausesf orwhi
chwef ight
.
Butl et’sbecl
ear:goinghi ghdoesnotmeanput ti
ngonasmi leandsay i
ngni cethingswhen
confr ontedbyv i
ciousnessandcr uel
ty.Goinghighmeanst akingthehar derpath.Itmeans
scrapi ngandclawingourwayt othatmount ai
ntop.Goinghi
ghmeansst andingfi
erceagainst
hatredwhi ler
emember i
ngt hatwear eonenat i
onunderGod, andifwewantt osurvive,
we’ve
gott of i
ndawayt olivetogetherandwor ktogetheracr
ossourdiff
erences.

Andgoinghi
ghmeansunlocki
ngtheshackl
esofl
i
esandmi
str
ustwi
tht
heonl
ythi
ngt
hatcan
tr
ulysetusf
ree:
thecol
dhardtr
uth.

Sol etmebeashonestandcl earasIpossibl

ycan.DonaldTrumpisthewrongpresi
dentf
or
ourcount r
y.Hehashadmor ethanenoughtimetopr ov
et hathecandot hej
ob,butheis
clearl
yinoverhishead.Hecannotmeetthi
smoment .Hesimplycannotbewhoweneedhim
tobef orus.I
tiswhatiti
s.

Now, Iunderstandthatmymessagewon’tbeheardbysomepeople.Weliveinanationthati
s
deeplydivi
ded, andIam aBl
ackwomanspeaki ngattheDemocrati
cConv ent
ion.Butenough
ofyouknow mebynow.Youknow t hatItel
lyouex act
lywhatI
’mf eel
i
ng.Youknow Ihat e
poli
ti
cs.Buty oualsoknowthatIcar
eaboutthisnati
on.YouknowhowmuchIcar eaboutall
ofourchildr
en.

VoteforBi
denli
keourl
iv
esdependoni t
Soifyoutakeonethi
ngfrom mywor dstonight
,iti
sthis:ifyout
hinkt
hingscannotpossi
bly
getworse,t
rustme,t
heycan;andtheywi l
lifwedon’tmakeachangei nt hi
select
ion.I
fwe
haveanyhopeofendi
ngthischaos,
wehav egottov ot
ef orJoeBi
denli
keourliv
esdependon
i
t.

IknowJoe.Hei saprofoundlydecentman,guidedbyfai
th.Hewasat err
if
icvicepresi
dent.
Heknowswhati tt
akest orescueaneconomy ,beatbackapandemic,andleadourcountry.
Andhelist
ens.Hewil
ltel
lthetrut
handtrustsci
ence.Hewillmakesmartpl
ansandmanagea
goodteam.Andhewillgovernassomeonewho’ sli
vedali
fethatt
herestofuscanrecognize.

Whenhewasaki d,Joe’
sf at
herl
osthisj
ob.Whenhewasay oungsenat
or,Joelosthi
swif
e
andhi sbabydaughter
.Andwhenhewasv i
cepresi
dent,hel osthi
sbelovedson.SoJoe
knowst heangui
shofsit
t i
ngatatabl
ewithanemptychair
,whichiswhyhegi v
eshisti
meso
fr
eelytogr i
evi
ngparents.Joeknowswhatit’
sli
ket ostruggl
e,whichi
swhyhegi veshi
s
personalphonenumbertokidsov
ercomingast
utt
erofthei
rown.

Hisli
fei
satest
amentt
ogetti
ngbackup,andheisgoingtochannelt
hatsamegr
itand
passi
ont
opi
ckusal
lup,
tohel
pushealandgui
deusf
orward.

Now,Joeisnotper f
ect.Andhe’dbet hefi
rstt
otel
lyouthat.Butthereisnoperfectcandi
date,
noperfectpresident.Andhi sabil
i
tytolearnandgrow–wef i
ndi nthatthekindofhumi l
ity
andmat uri
tythatsomanyofusy ear
nf orri
ghtnow.BecauseJoeBi denhasser vedthis
nat
ionhisent i
relif
ewi thouteverl
osingsightofwhohei s;butmor ethanthat
,hehasnev er
l
ostsightofwhowear e, al
lofus.

JoeBidenwant sallofourkidstogot oagoodschool ,seeadoctorwhent hey

’resick,li
veon
ahealthyplanet.Andhe’ sgotplanstomakeal lofthathappen.JoeBidenwant sal lofour
ki
ds,nomat t
erwhatt heylooklike,t
obeabl etowal koutthedoorwi t
houtwor ryingabout
bei
nghar assedorarrestedorkil
led.Hewant sal
lofourkidstobeabletogot oamov ieora
mathclasswi t
houtbeingafrai
dofget t
ingshot.Hewant sal
lourkidst
ogr owupwi thleaders
whowon’ tjustservet hemselv
esandt hei
rwealt
hypeer sbutwi l
lpr
ovideasaf etynetf or
peopl
ef aci
nghar dti
mes.

Andifwewantachancet opur
sueanyofthesegoal
s,anyoft
hesemostbasicrequi
rements
forafunct
ioni
ngsociet
y,wehavet
ov oteforJoeBi
deninnumberst
hatcannotbei gnor
ed.
Becauseri
ghtnow,f
olkswhoknowtheycannotwi
nfai
randsquar
eatt
heballotboxaredoing
everythi
ngtheycant ostopusf r
om voti
ng.They’r
eclosingdownpoll
ingplacesinmi
nori
ty
neighborhoods.They’
repurgi
ngv ot
errol
l
s.They ’
resendingpeopl
eouttointimi
datev
oter
s,
andt hey’
rely
ingaboutthesecur
it
yofourball
ots.Thesetact
icsar
enotnew.

Butthisisnottheti
met owi t
hhol
dourv otesinprotestorplaygameswi t
hcandidateswho
havenochanceofwi nning.Wehav egottov ot
elikewedi din2008and2012.We’ vegotto
showupwi ththesamel evelofpassionandhopef orJoeBi den.We’
vegott ovoteearl
y,i
n
personifwecan.We’vegott orequestourmail-
inballot
sr i
ghtnow,t
onight,andsendthem
backimmedi at
elyandfollow-uptomakesur ethey’r
er ecei
ved.Andthen,makesur eour
fr
iendsandfamili
esdothesame.

Wehav
egott ogr
abourcomfor
tableshoes,putonourmasks,packabr
ownbagdinnerand
may
bebreakf
astt
oo,
becausewe’vegottobewi l
l
ingt
ostandinli
neal
lni
ghti
fwehaveto.

Look,wehav ealr
eadysacrif
icedsomucht hisyear
.Somanyofy ouarealreadygoingthat
extramil
e.Evenwheny ou’
reexhaust
ed,you’
remusteri
ngupunimagi
nabl
ecour agetoputon
thosescrubsandgiveourl ovedonesaf i
ghti
ngchance.Evenwhenyou’reanx i
ous,you’
re
deliv
eri
ngthosepackages,stocki
ngthoseshelv
es,anddoi
ngallt
hatessenti
alwor ksothat
allofuscankeepmov i
ngforward.

Evenwheni tal
lfeel
ssoov erwhel
ming,worki
ngparentsar
esomehowpiecingital
ltoget
her
withoutchi
l
dcare.Teachersaregett
ingcr
eati
vesothatourki
dscanst
il
llearnandgrow.Our
youngpeoplear
edesperatelyf
ight
ingtopur
suethei
rdreams.

Andwhenthehorr
orsofsystemicraci
sm shookourcount
ryandourconsciences,mil
l
ionsof
Ameri
cansofeveryage,everybackgr
oundr oseuptomar chf
oreachot her,cry
ingoutfor
j
usti
ceandpr
ogress.

Thi
siswhowesti
llar
e:compassi
onat
e,r
esil
ient
, decentpeopl
ewhosefort
unesareboundup
wit
honeanot
her
.Anditiswel
lpastt
imeforourleaderstoonceagai
nrefl
ectourt
rut
h.

So,i
tisuptoustoaddourv oicesandourv otestothecourseofhistor
y ,
echoingheroeslike
JohnLewiswhosaid,“Wheny ouseesomet hingthati
snotr i
ght,youmustsaysomet hi
ng.
Youmustdosomet hi
ng.”Thatisthetruestform ofempathy:notjustfeeli
ng,butdoing;not
j
ustforour
sel
vesorourkids,
butforeveryone,forall
ourki
ds.

Andifwewantt okeepthepossi
bil
i
tyofpr ogr
essal
i
veinourti
me,ifwewanttobeabl
et o
l
ookourchildrenintheeyeaft
ert
hiselect
ion,wehav
egottoreasser
tourpl
aceinAmer
ican
hi
story.Andwehav egottodoev er
ythi
ngwecant oelectmyfri
end,JoeBi
den,ast
henext
pr
esidentoftheUnit
edStates.

Thanky
oual
l
.Godbl
ess.–