Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love

Last night the first lady swung by NBC studios to chat it up with late night host, Jay Leno. As usual, she was impeccably dressed and chatted with Jay about the upcoming campaign, eating fruits and vegetables (Jay said he hadn’t had an apple in years) and the president’s vocal skills. Check out a couple of clips below.

On eating healthily

On the president’s singing skills

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For a woman who prided herself on affordable fashion for the entire family when she first entered the White House, claims that Michelle Obama shut down part of the Madison Avenue Agent Provocateur lingerie shop in New York City while on a $50,000 shopping spree this past weekend seemed ridiculous, and that’s exactly what they are.

The White House has denied claims reported in The Telegraph that say the First Lady’s knack for racy night wear boosted the boutique’s sales by 12 percent. Kristina Schake, director of communications for Michelle Obama told MailOnline “This story is 100 percent false.”

The Telegraph‘s agenda is obvious by the language it used to describe Michelle Obama’s fake purchases:

“Michelle Obama has risked the wrath of cash-strapped Americans by indulging in a $50,000 shopping spree at Agent Provocateur…

“Along with the the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, she closed off part of Madison Avenue to spend time in the luxury lingerie shop.”

So not only is she making a mockery of the American public by blowing her money on lingerie, she’s doing it with the Queen of Qatar? Even Agent Provocateur has denied the claims, saying it has seen an increase in sales but that has nothing to do with the First Lady because the shop doesn’t discuss any of its clientele or their purchases.

Luckily, the White House got right on this rumor, especially as stories of the First Lady’s expensive wardrobe for the family’s equally pricey Hawaii vacation and the $2,000 State of the Union dress by Barbara Tfank linger. Nice try Telegraph, but you failed this time.

Do you think the public has a right to know how much the President and First Lady spend on clothing?

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The old adage is certainly true, ‘behind every good man, stands a good woman’; and while we modern day ‘feministas’ would prefer to remix the saying to ‘beside every good man, stands a good woman’, these women still made history from behind the iconic men in their lives. Their passion to correct civil injustices may have been publicly carried out by their well known husbands, but it was evident before and after their husbands’ death that they were a driving force behind their men.

Read the rest of this entry »

Of course last night was about President Obama and the words he had for the nation; but honestly, we couldn’t help but notice how stunning Mrs. Obama looked.

She was on point from head to…mid torso (I didn’t get a clear shot of her shoes.) Her hair was luscious and full of body, her makeup was flawless and she just had an overall glow about her.

The sapphire dress she wore that evening was from Barbara Tfank’s spring collection.

And we were feeling the brooch as well.

Did you think Michelle looked particularly dazzling last night?

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Today Michelle Obama turns 48, and the First Lady of the United States of America looks just as vibrant as she did when she entered the white house four years ago.

President Obama sent out a message to supporters today to ask them to show his wife some special love on her birthday while acknowledging that the first lady has been the backbone of his success. Here’s what he wrote:

“I’m writing because our FLOTUS, Michelle, turns 48 on Tuesday, and I know I’m not her only fan out there, join me in wishing her a happy birthday.

“This fall, Michelle and I will have been married 20 years. The next 10 months will be harder than any we’ve experienced together, and I couldn’t do it without her. I know she’d love to hear from you today.”

I’m sure Mrs. O’s twitter account is buzzing with lots of happy bday wishes. Here’s hoping she’s surrounded by love today and that the critics give her a day to simply celebrate who she is.

Check out this video of FLOTUS getting her dougie on at Alice Deal Middle School. There’s no word on how she’ll celebrate her bday but I’m sure there will be lot’s of dancing. Happy Birthday Michelle Obama!

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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First Lady Michelle Obama took the stage at the BET Honor awards ceremony alongside poet Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, and other notable African American celebrities who called the black community to civic action, starting with voting in the 2012 presidential election.

The taping of the BET Honors, hosted by Black Entertainment Television was held at the historic Warner Theatre in downtown Washington. It brought out stars including singers Patti LaBelle and queen of soul Aretha Franklin, as well as Washington political figures such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The politics-meets-glamour event fits in with the recently ramped up efforts by Obama to help her husband, President Barack Obama, win a challenging re-election bid in November.

Speakers at the ceremony praised the Obamas for being the first black family in the White House and told the audience to “vote like your life depends on it.”

“We have to exercise our constitutional right to vote. And there’s a man out there with a vision for this country and he intends to finish what he started,” said Beverly Kearney, head coach of the University of Texas’ women’s track team.

Those honored were filmmaker Spike Lee, World War Two Tuskegee airmen, as well as Angelou, Kearney, Wonder and Carey.

Obama stayed for the three-hour taping during which several acts had to be done over. While posing on stage with the award winners an audience member yelled, “We love you, First Lady!”

Read the rest of the story at Huffington Post….

Well, the week in the celebrity world is over and a few last minute things caught my eye that I wanted to share.  Don’t the celebs always give us some ratchetness to discuss and laugh at? Well, here’s your last “cup of tea” from me! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (DrennaB) so we can laugh and talk together!

Read the rest of this entry »

Lady O is all up and through the news this week. First there was the “angry black woman” statement in the Gayle King interview and now the first lady has signed up for a Twitter account (@MichelleObama).

Since her account launched this morning, the first lady is following five people and has over 152,303 followers…and counting. The account is not for the first lady to engage in Twitter beef with the wives of other nation leaders. No, this account is to help President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

Since it’s official campaign business, Michelle won’t be tweeting personally most of the time but you’ll know when it’s her because she’ll sign her personal tweets with an “-mo”.

Do you think this is a good move for the FLOTUS? Do you plan on following her?

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I don’t know where President Obama’s current approval rating stands, but I know my approval of the first lady just shot through the roof. Where Obama refuses to acknowledge the racism that underpins so many comments, voting choices, and actions set out against him, Michelle Obama just puts it out there plain and simple.

Speaking about New York Time’s reporter Jodi Kantor’s new book, The Obamas, Gayle King asks Mrs. Obama about her portrayal in the book as angry, unhappy, burdened, and frustrated by her position as first lady on “CBS This Morning.” Michelle Obama responds:

“That’s been an image people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced, that I’m some kind of angry black woman.”

It’s an image people try to paint on black women as a whole all the time. Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t white, Asian, Latina, Indian, and all women feel angry, unhappy, burdened, or frustrated at some point in their lives? Don’t these women express that anger, unhappiness, and frustration? Don’t people often sympathize with their anger, unhappiness, and frustration? Why are those feelings suddenly grouped together as a permanent temperamental disposition to describe black women when we express those same emotions?

Offering a response that any mother in America can identify with, the first lady says:

“If there’s any anxiety that I feel, it’s because I want to make sure that my girls come out of this on the other end whole.”

“I just try to be me. … There will always be people who don’t like me.”  But, she says, “Who can tell me how I feel?”

Michelle Obama is absolutely right. It’s no secret that society loves to limit black women’s expression. That limitation includes positive feelings of love, happiness, comfort with our bodies, and even sexual liberation, but we’re especially critiqued for sharing negative emotions, no matter how diplomatic we come across and how legitimate our concerns. I can recall incidents with a previous employer where I’d defended myself against false allegations and in doing so was told I was unprofessional, argumentative, and disrespectful—words no one had ever used to describe me, because quite frankly, I’m often more passive aggressive than I should be. When I reflected back on the situation, it was clear that the authority figures took any sort of attempt from a black woman at protecting one’s reputation or standing up for oneself as aggression or a personal affront. Yet, when I would point out the tone in which I was being spoken to by white women, I was asked whether the issue was my perception.

Even in romantic relationships, the first time a black woman raises a concern or issue, you can almost see the “great, I’ve got another angry black woman on my hands” thought bubble circling above the man’s head, if he isn’t so bold as to just go ahead and let those words come out of his mouth. There is an entire spectrum of emotions that grow in intensity from disappointment, to frustration, to full blown anger. Why is it always assumed any time we say something someone may not want to hear, our emotions are on 10?

When will these government officials learn? I can just see the smirk on Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal’s face as he crafted what I’m sure he thought was the most clever email ever, sending warm wishes over the holiday season.

The subject line of the email reads “Twins separated at birth?” and the body of the message includes side-by-side pictures of Michelle Obama and the Grinch with hair that’s been blown into a similar position. According to the Lawrence World-Journal, the forwarded part of the email reads:

“I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing Mrs. YoMama a wonderful, long Hawaii Christmas vacation — at our expense, of course.”

The email was sent to House republicans along with the text, “Sorry, just had to forward the latest holiday message! I’ve had worse hair days but this is pretty funny.”

As these things usually go, Mike apologized for the email, claiming that he missed the ‘YoMama’ text in the body of the message, however, the picture “made me laugh.” Prior to that, his communications director defended him, saying that political cartoons are a “part of American culture.”

So is racism. Doesn’t make it OK does it?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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