Michelle Obama

Dolores Huerta was a hero of mine. When she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962, people thought Dolores was crazy. “How are you going to organize farm workers,” she remembered being asked. "They are poor, powerless immigrants.” But that’s exactly what she did, helping thousands of migrant laborers working in brutal conditions make their voices heard, and demand something better. Dolores spent the rest of her life fighting for marginalized communities, even as she herself faced sexism and abuse — including, as she revealed earlier this year, from Cesar Chavez and others within her own movement. She also came up with a pretty good slogan, “Si, se puede” — Yes, we can — that I too often get credit for. But as usual, Dolores got there first. Michelle and I are thinking of Dolores’s family, the people whose lives she changed, and everyone who drew inspiration from her example. Photo credit: National Archives, Obama Presidential Library

Yesterday, we lost a cherished member of our family. We got Sunny at the start of our second term in the White House, and all of us – including our first dog, Bo – immediately fell in love. We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature. Athletic and full of boundless energy, she leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren’t even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved. And whereas the way to Bo’s heart usually involved a treat, Sunny was more interested in having us run around with her, roll on the floor with her, or have her belly rubbed for as long as we were willing. She loved the girls, even if they were pestering her when she was napping. She loved our team, and would often follow them around, helping them on the job. She was fiercely protective of Bo, who she rightly sensed wasn’t always as alert and attentive as she was. She had her eccentricities: other than Bo, she preferred people to dogs; she was a loud and sloppy drinker; and despite being a Portuguese Water Dog, she hated getting wet. But as far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect, and for thirteen years, she would be by our side – always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days. We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.

If you were young in 2001, or weren’t even born yet, it can be hard to imagine what 9/11 felt like. The shock of that beautiful, cloudless morning. The heartbreak of the families whose loved ones were taken with such swiftness and cruelty. The realization that the forces of malevolence and violence were closer, and the future less certain, than we knew. But in the days that followed, we felt something else, too. Pride in the rescue workers who had rushed to the scene, and the passengers who had stormed the cockpit. Admiration for the men and women who left behind lives of comfort to serve their country. A deep resolve that nothing would break the will of a truly United States of America. Today Michelle and I are remembering those we lost that day, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars that followed. We pray for their families. And we hope Americans everywhere remember the true lesson of 9/11: that we can survive even our darkest days as long as we move forward as one nation and one people.

Music has always had the power to connect and inspire us. At the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, @EddieVedder and the young people from @GuitarsOverGuns wrote and performed a profoundly moving song, ‘Better Believe,’ that spoke to each of them and all of us.

Some people put their ideas out in the world and hope they catch on. Not Gloria Steinem. Through her writing, her speeches, and her organizing, she demanded that the world pay attention to all the ways that women had been — and in some cases, still are — treated unfairly. And she helped awaken us to problems like domestic violence, the lack of affordable child care, and unfair hiring practices that had too often been ignored or overlooked. Gloria really was larger than life. Today, generations of women are walking a little taller and aiming a little higher because of what she fought for and achieved. Michelle and I are thinking of her family today, and everyone — women and men — who were inspired by her towering example.

There’s nothing like a choir to get you fired up! Michelle and I enjoyed this beautiful performance from the Uniting Voices Chicago during the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center.