Two years after the death of Hadiya Pendleton, First Lady Michelle Obama gave the commencement address for Pendleton’s graduating class at King College Prep High School in Chicago.
15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was killed in a park near the Obama’s Chicago home shortly after returning from the Presidential inauguration in 2013. An empty chair filled with flowers was set aside in Pendleton’s memory. King College Prep High School presented Pendleton’s family with a class ring and cap and gown.
According to the New York Times, The First Lady encouraged the students to focus on turning tragedy into triumph.
“If Hadiya’s friends and family could survive their heartbreak and pain, if they could found organizations to honor her unfulfilled dreams, if they could inspire folks across this country to wear orange to protest gun violence, then I know you all can live your life with the same determination and joy that Hadiya lived her life. I know you all can dig deep and keep on fighting to fulfill your own dreams.”
She continued by personally sharing her connection with Hadiya.
“Hadiya’s memory is truly a blessing and an inspiration to me and to my husband, and to people across this country and around the world, and we are so grateful for her family’s presence here tonight. Love you all. Love you so much.”
In other FLOTUS news, the Mom-in-Chief is also the guest editor for the July-August issue of More Magazine. The move is ground-breaking: A First Lady has never guest edited a magazine before.
More Magazine’s Editor-in-chief Lesley Jane Seymour told the Associated Press Michelle Obama really worked hands on with the magazine.
“She’s really the editor. She was reading every page and asking for changes up until the last minute. She had to approve absolutely everything. She had to suggest various things, too.”
The theme of the issue is “More Impact” and highlights the First Lady’s top four priorities: helping military families, children having access to healthier foods, encouraging high school students to pursue higher education and helping young women around the world stay in school. The issue contains exclusive photos of the Obama family and she even wrote a book review!
Seymour says the First Lady wasn’t compensated for her work. That means First Lady Michelle Obama is a real writer now!
Is there anything she can’t do?
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