But Obama acknowledges that she has influence, because of others who pushed her and believed in her, and now she wants to continue that service.
She announced yesterday that the White House was creating a Social Innovation Fund as part of the new Serve America Act. The Fund will provide $50 million to help innovative nonprofit groups and social entrepreneurs who focus on public service.
See, what many do not realize is that when Oprah Winfrey characterized Obama as a “Phenomenal woman” in Time Magazine this month, she did so not because Obama is the first black woman to serve as First Lady. She called her phenomenal because as Winfrey puts it “her political power is secondary to her heart power.â€
Talk show personality Tavis Smiley accompanied by Princeton professor Cornell West agreed. Smiley explained that her “humanity and love for people†is what draws people to her. Obama is exceptional because she recognizes that she did not get to her level of “influence†on her own sweat alone, and she knows that others need help just as much if not more than she did.
“Our success was made possible with the encouragement of a diligent parent or teacher, a grandparent who told us we had real talent, an older sibling who paved the way and set a good example, a scholarship or grant that created an unexpected opportunity, or a neighbor or community leader who told us to dream big,†said Obama. “I never imagined that, as a result of all that support, I would be in a position to be a role model for girls around the globe.”