In addition to absolutely slaying on the cover of Vogue’s December issue, soon-to-be former (sob) First Lady Michelle Obama will also appear in the magazine’s junior quarterly. For Teen Vogue’s December issue, FLOTUS sat down with fellow magical black girl Zendaya to discuss her next big mission.
Put down your MObama 2020 signs, we’re not there yet. The style star’s long-term priority is the same as it was when she carpooled and karaoked. Now that her time is more her own, Mrs. Obama will be focusing her full attentions on Let Girls Learn, a United States government initiative launched by her and POTUS to ensure that young girls across the globe have access to the education they deserve. “I see myself— and my daughters— in these girls. Once you get to know them, you just can’t walk away. I plan on working on this issue for the rest of my life,” she told Zendaya.
Why is Michelle so passionate about Let Girls Learn? First, education is practically a prerequisite for self-advancement and girls seeking proper educations face so many obstacles. “Sometimes the issue is resources. Parents can’t afford to pay for tuition, uniforms, or school supplies; or the nearest school is too far away and there’s no safe transportation; or there is a school nearby, but it doesn’t have adequate bathrooms for girls, so they have to stay home when they have their periods, and they wind up falling behind and dropping out,” FLOTUS elaborated. “But often the problem is attitude. It’s about whether families and communities think girls are even worthy of an education in the first place. It’s about whether girls are valued only for their labor and reproductive capacities or for their minds as well. And it’s about whether women are viewed as second-class citizens or as full human beings entitled to the same rights and opportunities as men.”
Highlights of Z’s interview with the “dopest First Lady ever” (to quote the author) include Zendaya’s always-captivating voice, Michelle’s general wisdom and the fact that, as we read it, we were reminded that the Obamas aren’t leaving the political sphere, just the White House.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the full, historic interview when it hits newsstands November 15.
