Michelle Obama on The Huffington Post

Kristy Lee Roshia In Custody: Woman Threatened To 'Blow Away' Michelle Obama

2009-12-23T00:25:07Z

HONOLULU — A woman accused of telling the Secret Service she would "blow away" Michelle Obama was in federal custody Tuesday as the Obama family planned to travel to Hawaii.

Kristy Lee Roshia, 35, was charged with threatening a family member of the president and assaulting a federal agent after being arrested Saturday less than two miles from the Kailua home where the Obama family planned to stay during a holiday visit later this week.

Obama Girls Answer Kids' Questions, Bo Barks At Santa (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

2009-12-22T19:31:52Z

***SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO***

The president said all he wants for Christmas is hugs from his daughters, but Sasha and Malia have other plans. During a Q&A with kids at the Children's National Medical Center on Tuesday, the girls revealed they're getting their father "sports stuff." They also talked about how Christmas will be different now that they're in the White House and what they're planning for the holidays.

Bo the dog came along for the visit. The pool report by Kevin Chappell of Ebony Magazine recounted:

As [Michelle Obama] began reading, Bo spotted Santa on the podium behind Sasha and Malia, and began to bark loudly.

"Quiet Bo," FLOTUS said.

But Bo kept barking at Santa, prompting Santa to retreat off to one side of the podium. Seconds later, Santa appeared on the other side of the podium. Bo seemed to be fine with that.

See photos and the full Q&A below.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the First Lady

___________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release December 22, 2009

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY

AND SASHA AND MALIA OBAMA

AFTER A VISIT

Children's National Medical Center

Washington, D.C.

3:36 P.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA: You guys have any questions? You can have questions for Malia and Sasha, too.

Q How will the holidays be different for you this year?

MRS. OBAMA: How will the holidays -- what do you think? Do you think the holidays will be different?

SASHA: Well, it will be easier to get on the plane -- (laughter) -- than last year. But I don't think anything will be very different.

MRS. OBAMA: Yes, we're doing the same things we usually do. Every year, ever since the kids were born and even before, we go to Hawaii, because that's where the President is from. So we go with a group of friends. So as soon as all the work here is done, we'll go there.

So we've done that ever -- I don't think they've ever spent a Christmas --

MALIA: No, there's that one Christmas.

MRS. OBAMA: There's that one Christmas. Any other questions? Yes, sweetie. Here we have one, right there. You want to -- there's a mic. It'll be fun, talk in the mic, talk loud.

Q What did you get the President for Christmas?

MRS. OBAMA: Oh, I can't tell. They're going to -- (laughter.)

SASHA: They're going to tell.

MRS. OBAMA: They're going to tell.

MALIA: It's something good, though. I hope he'll like it.

MRS. OBAMA: It's good. You know, we got him sports -- I got him sports stuff.

SASHA: We got him --

MRS. OBAMA: Don't say it, just give it a category.

SASHA: I'm not. It's something he likes. (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: Okay. Well, there you go.

Well, what do you want for Christmas?

Q A stuffed dog.

MRS. OBAMA: A stuffed dog. Aww. All right, Santa. All right. Okay. This little -- okay, we have one. And she in the pink had a question.

Yes, sweetie.

Q Merry Christmas, Mrs. Obama.

MRS. OBAMA: Merry Christmas to you, too.

Q How many Christmas trees are in the White House?

MRS. OBAMA: How many Christmas trees are in the White House? How many total are there? There are a lot.

MALIA: Like, okay, well, let's see, one, two, three --

MRS. OBAMA: No, wait. (Laughter.) I think it's 24. I think -- where's my team? (Laughter.) It's like 24 -- or 26 --

SASHA: Twenty-six.

MRS. OBAMA: Twenty-six. See, I knew it was close. Yes, that's a lot of Christmas --

MALIA: Unfortunately, you don't get presents under all of them. (Laughter.)

SASHA: What about the wishing tree?

MRS. OBAMA: Well, there's one -- you want to talk about the wishing tree, one of the trees?

SASHA: One of the trees is called the wishing tree, and it is made out of cardboard. And so you can write down a wish and you roll it up and then you can put it one of the holes and it might come true.

MRS. OBAMA: So that's a new tradition at the White House. So what we want you all to do next year is to come to the White House, because you can see all of them. It's open to anybody who wants to come. (Bo barks.) You, too. (Laughter.)

All right, you promise me that next year you'll come by the White House and see for yourself? Okay.

MR. SNOWDEN: Those were great questions, kids.

MRS. OBAMA: Those were great -- wait, wait, wait. We have one. We're going to get them all in, I know. She had her hand up. Sorry, Mr. Chairman.

Q I was going to ask --

MRS. OBAMA: Just make something up. Do you want to ask Bo a question? Bo, can you answer something?

Q I was going to ask, people were saying we're going to get our pictures. And I was going to ask, are we going to take them with you?

MRS. OBAMA: Take pictures?

Q Or are you just going to give one to us? (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: That's a good question -- Alan. (Laughter.) Were pictures promised?

MR. FITTS: Shake hands with everyone.

MRS. OBAMA: Okay.

Q What's your favorite Christmas song?

MRS. OBAMA: What's my favorite Christmas song? Oh, well, Malia and Sasha have been playing two that are just drilled into my head. "Carol of the Bells" and "Jingle Bells."

SASHA: Oh, Malia -- oh, yes.

MRS. OBAMA: Yes, we've heard that for months.

SASHA: Well, I don't play "Jingle Bells" as much as Malia plays "Carol of the Bells." (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: Those are my favorite.

SASHA: I'm getting bored of that song now. (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: All right. Okay, guys, we're going to come around and shake hands. Thank you guys. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy New Year.

END 3:42 P.M. EST

Elizabeth Nicholas: Great Ladies and the Gifts They Gave

2009-12-20T20:56:00Z

I am not one of those people who finds it more exciting to give than to receive. Perhaps due to the intensive labor of love that my Christmas wish list has always been- items organized by probable giftee, qualified by size, color, and addendumed with sourcing information from roughly my seventh Christmas on- I have rarely been disappointed with a gift. But as I've watched others open gifts this holiday season, I've noticed that although their faces sometimes register barely controlled precipitous droops of dismay at an egregiously misjudged gift, other times their faces explode in a smile I started itching to elicit, in the way I'd previously itched for, say, item 15, size small, heather grey, jcrew.com. I began to wonder: what was so great, anyway, about knowing exactly what to get myself? So I set off on search of what made gifting so pleasurable, outside of any sort of pure altruism.

What made some of the most stylish, couture/bauble/Hermes hound women of the past such noteworthy gift givers (as well as getters), I wondered. How could I make the gifts I gave as uniquely, personally exciting as the gifts I decided I would be getting each year? Did the ubiquitous, last-minute dispatch of Diptyque candles each holiday season mean that I didn't really know my friends and family? I set off in search of those I suspected would have been the best of the best at giving remarkable gifts.

Of course I began with Jackie. The first anecdote I stumbled upon is a story of Jackie having decided, for reasons of her own, to surprise Ari Onassis with a present at breakfast one morning. When her husband sat down to his morning meal, he found an old watch of John F. Kennedy's perched on his napkin roll, with the inscription FALJ (For Ari Love Jackie) on one of the links. Onassis had often told Jackie she was his costliest expenditure, and so Jackie found a quotation from an appropriately Greek philosopher, and left it on a card next to the watch-- "Our costliest expenditure is time." Another "just because" gift Jackie gave was to her friend Andy Warhol. Jackie blew up and framed photographs that had run in LIFE Magazine of herself swimming nude in Montauk, and signed them-- "For Andy, with enduring affection, Jackie Montauk"-- a nod to the locale of Andy's beach house and the scene of paparazzic violation.

I discontentedly shifted around in my chair, looking at the candles I intended to give to people I surely had a more intimate history with than a cylindrical stack of wax would imply. What else had Jackie given as a gift? Upon her arrival in France, she gave Charles de Gaulle a letter from George Washington thanking the French for their help during the American Revolution. For her mother, a copy of her beautifully illustrated journal documenting her time in Europe during the summer of 1951. I furrowed my brow, and lit one of the candles. My apartment sure would smell fantastic for the next year, I decided, because I sure wasn't able to give lame little candles out as gifts anymore.

The next obvious great lady-- Michelle Obama. Although much has been made of a snafu involving the Gordon Brown's wife and two White House gift shop helicopters for her sons, Michelle's outstanding gifts have far outstripped her gaffes. For songstress Carla Bruni in Paris, an American Gibson guitar. For Laura Bush, on her way out of the White House, a leather-bound journal that came on the heels of a conversation between the two about Laura's forthcoming memoirs, as well as a Louis L'Amour quotation: "There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning." At the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Michelle gave honey she'd been growing on the White House South Lawn, along with a one of a kind porcellian tea set, inspired by the china used by that other Illinois president, Abraham Lincoln, and his wife.

Candle burning next to me, I continued my search. After all, it wasn't like I had access to custom reproduction presidential china, or presidential watches, for that matter. Perhaps dramatic gift giving simply required a more dramatic life than mine?

What did Diana Vreeland, a master of high drama during her two decades helming Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, recommend for her more pedestrian readers? "Why don't you... wake your children up with silver balloons on Christmas morning?" She asked in one of her famous "Why Don't You?" columns. Okay, fine. Other more accessible holiday trinkets? In an old New York Times society report I found from 1902, a breathless columnist described Caroline Astor's party favors as such: "For women, rose ruffs, and decorated long pipes for the men. Leather and gilt imported photograph frames, large leather and fancy calendars, hoops covered with flowers and ribbons, leather memorandum books, brocaded silk bags, and gilt paper weighs." Had this reporter even been given any of the party favors, or was he awed just by looking at them?

By this point, I was giving my candles withering looks in their corner. How about some practical advice, great ladies? Houston socialite extraordinaire Lynn Wyatt says she always gives gifts that are in some way personalized, and is particularly fond of anything alligator printed with initials. Annette de la Renta, wife of Oscar, is noted as having given Brooke Astor (daughter of the aforementioned Caroline Astor and her rose ruffs) a fur rug that Mrs. Astor kept on her bedroom floor. Maria Callas, of course, gave friends signed copies of her opera programs, so convinced was she of their supreme value. December's issue of Vogue informed me that Parmelia Reed, prima hostess of Hobe Sobe in Florida, sent black sweaters to residents displaying indecorous behavior, indicating that they should exit stage left of the social scene, immediately. So cheeky!

If my trip through elite gift giving taught me anything, other than the fact that candles don't count, it's that much like throwing a rollicking, fabulous party, giving a great gift is a game. Each great lady gift hearkens back to a conversation between the gifter and the giftee, or is the result of some research and thought as to where the giftee is in their life. (What 90+ year old woman wouldn't want to be thought of as a "fur rug kind of woman"?) Another hallmark is a dash of wit. Candles, not funny. Irreverence, however, is the name of the game when gifting a sentimental reminder of a time spent swimming nude, or a black garment to wear like a scarlet A out of sunny Florida's social scene. Lack of necessity seems to be a necessity itself for champion gifts. While everyone (or maybe just every woman) needs candles, who really needs a fur rug or silver balloons? And who doesn't look at a new fur rug or silver balloons and think her life is about to change for the better?

So giftees extraordinaire, listen up. This year, I am ditching the candles, digging deep into my extensive "favorite prints" archives on iPhoto and picking the perfect Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sartorialist, Irving Penn or otherwise attributed print, learning how to gallery frame and mount them, and thus doling out uniform yet unique gifts to everyone on my list. For my father, whose chief edict is "respect nature?", a silhouette of an elephant chasing a little boy, his arms throw up, against a setting African sun. For my most exuberant friend, a Patrick Demarchelier shot of Shalom Harlow jumping on the bed for Vogue. It may not be a Gibson guitar, but I think I can probably find some silver balloons, and perhaps, then, some smiles, a candle just can't elicit.

Michelle Obama & Toys For Tots: First Lady Delivers 500 Toys

2009-12-16T12:51:47Z

QUANTICO, Va. — First lady Michelle Obama is appealing for donations of toys for older children for the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program.

The program helps make sure needy children have something to unwrap on Christmas morning.

Tousled For Tots: Michelle Debuts 'Messy' 'Do At Toy Drive (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-12-16T12:49:03Z

When First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to a Toys for Tots warehouse in Quantico, Virginia on Wednesday (read more about her visit HERE), she departed from the elegant updo she's favored recently for a deliberately more messy look. What do you think of the new style?

Want more Michelle Obama style? Visit the Michelle Obama Style Big News page.

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Read more: Slideshow, Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama Photos, Poll, Michelle Obama Style, Michelle Obama Hairdo, Style News

Michael Henry Adams: The Peculiar Limits of Black Society in New York

2009-12-15T16:02:43Z
Is there really such a thing as 'black society'? Many people certainly used to think so!

Imagine, today we have one African American president and first lady, no African American designers, who are routinely patronize by either, and only ten young African Americans deemed worthy of inclusion on fashionable invitation rosters by some faceless public relations gatekeeper! This at least is what Hamilton Nolan reported rather breezily on the popular gossip site the Gawker last year, according to a communication from a livid lady purportedly included on the list, last year and again now.

Yes, dear reader, 'the black list', is back again, according to my aggrieved correspondent, to lend diversity to the season's round of innumerable entertainments that will play host to the few thousand whites always invited to Manhattan's 'best parties'.

Who knew? Not I, but given my sedate social life that's hardly surprising. And, think of being miffed at making the list, I obviously did not!
"Is it not typical that WASPs have 'the 400'", sniffed my chum Grafton Trew in complaint. Grafton has warily watched and engaged in both the black and white local social scenes for most of his 95 years. "We 'Negros' are expected to be contented with 'the 10'", he said with deliberate irony.

This naturally is a point of contention, not for me in isolation of course, but for me and my friends. Exclusivity is fine and good, even advisable, in limits. But one would hardly wish to attend a gathering, however smart otherwise, that didn't include a goodly quotient of those willing and able to amuse, via brains, beauty, 'booty' and style, as opposed to only having mere whiteness, riches and position to recommend them.

"This Year's Most Fashionable Holiday Party Accessories Are Black People", screamed the Gawker headline as Mr. Nolan related how, "Now that Obama has been elected, a tipster inside a PR firm tells us, clients are demanding "an increased number of African Americans added to the guest list" at their holiday parties. In the spirit of hope!" Admitting that his informant's anonymous email couldn't be verified, Nolan shares his "Diversified Holiday Guest List", which, it's contended, ranks the top 10 acceptable black socialite attendees in order of desirability.

Did the 'no confirmation' part bother you too, gentle reader? Well, it might have annoyed Tiger Woods as well, seeing as how he didn't make the cut. Strangely, in our new 'yes we can Obama-era'; neither did the first couple or Desirée Rogers. Indeed none of the Social Register's quite recent African American contingent are among those favored, to say nothing of most people I might have nominated!

Where is entrancing Michaela Angela Davis; brilliant and dependably fun Michael McCollom; the amiable Gordon Chambers, who when all else fails, will 'charm the birds from the trees', by singing; wise and winsome Norma Darden; astoundingly beautiful Anthony Bryant and Aubrey Lynch, who are dancers; courtly David Levering Lewis and his elegant wife, Ruth Ann Stewart; the inimitable Stanley Crouch; supremely gifted writers,

Clarence Haynes, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts or G. Winston James,

and talented artist, Kevin Bright?

Where are society-page stalwarts like Mr. and Mrs. Chris Rock, Mr. and Mrs. Spike Lee,

Harriet Cole,

Susan Taylor,

Thelma Golden, gregarious Sherry Bronfman, piquant George Faison, Gordon Davis, capable Erana Stennett,

lovely Tamara and Greg Tunie, Rene Cox,

debonair Reginald Van Lee. "Or", those impeccable tastemakers,

Mary Schmidt Campbell, Nancy Lane, Emil Wilbekin, Sheila Bridges, Henry Mitchell,

Courtney Sloane, Cheryl Riley, B. Michael, Montgomery, Stephen Burrows,

Tyson Perez,

Audrey J. Bernard and Audrey Smaltz?

Consultant Kim Heirston,

stylish Cordelle Cleare, Sylvia Waters, the Holders, the E. T. Williamses, the Adairs, the Redheads, the Cosbys, the Chenaults, the Dinkinses,

Pam and Bill Perkins, Alma and Charlie Rangel, Dr. Joyce Brown and Carl McCall, the Governor and Mrs. Patterson, Lana Turner, Robin Bell Stevens,

sage and redoubtable Evelyn Cunningham,

Joyce Mullins-Jackson,

kind Eula Johnson,

Phyllis Briley and Rocky Baron Boler, Curtis Quentin Phelps, hospitable lou Willard, Lowery Stokes Sims,

Kirk Shannon Butts,

dashing Ludget Delcy, cosmopolitan Willard Winter, and Ray Alexander Minter, are nowhere to be found in this evaluation resulting in a roll call of ten souls. To my way of thinking however, these are among the most attractive, compelling, notable and social African Americans in the country.

PR Guru Bonnie Morrison; Genève Jones and Maggie Betts, each described as a socialite; Malcolm Harris, the innovative designer/social activist, Moises De La Renta, famous for being a famous son and pretty; one of my favorite artistS, Kehinde Wiley, the court painter of hip hop; Deitch Gallery Director Nicola Vassell; designer and socialite Rachel Roy, journalist Jason Campbell; and photographer Marc Baptist are the designated 'black elect'. Given the immense capacity of each, some way or another, to hold one transfixed with delight for hours on end, they readily deserve to be invited to any event, which they would be sure to enhance. But are ten blacks out of 2,000,000 a fair representation at festivities with hundreds in attendance?

"It sounds like a publicity stunt, finessed by one of or all of the ten!" said a pal of mine who rejoices in cynicism. Calling on one of two fashion mavens in group who I know well, Malcolm Harris,

I was immediately reassured by his quick answer.
"Oh really? Well tell me you haven't been out at events where you were part of a group of three, or four, or five of the same ten black people you meet at parties all over town. For generations, whether it's jobs, parties or any other kind of opportunity, white society has consciously or unconsciously pursued a pattern of tokenism, and that's that."

Susan Fales-Hill unaccountably somehow missed the 'black list'. A fixture of party pictures, whether in David Patrick Columbia's New York Social Diary or Town and Country,

she lives on Park Avenue with her banker husband and their young daughter. An active social routine, soigné style, good looks and good works make her a community leader in the tradition of Barbara Paley, or Lee Radziwill, whom Truman Capote dubbed "swans" for their ability to make life appear effortless. Mrs. Fales-Hill, for her part, is self identified as a demi-WASP. Several years ago in the Times, discussing her new memoir Always Wear Joy, highlighting her parents' racially mixed marriage and life, against the backdrop of the liberal idealism of the 1960's and 70's, Mrs. Fales-Hill raised questions about the limited integration of New York society today.

"While I find there's openness and people are very lovely, white and black, New York is somewhat segregated," she told Cathy Horyn in a style-page piece poignantly entitled, "Can a Smile Bridge The Divide?" Mrs. Fales-Hill even contended that much of this 'separation is by choice', which is where we part company so far as African Americans are concerned. Ultimately, she did concede, "But one could also argue whether there's been a huge outreach on the part of white society toward blacks. No, not really. I think, frankly, people also don't know where to begin."

"Why," I recently ask of a young friend who works for a black museum in Boston, "are African American cultural institutions so far more diverse when it comes to audience and development both?

When one attends a benefit for the Studio Museum in Harlem or the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, those are 'black 'entities' but there are always plenty of whites in attendance. Not so at the Frick's fundraisers or even at the Museum of Modern Art." "No," responded my friend. "Whites outnumber us in America and they are better educated and have far more money. It's as simple as that, basic arithmetic."

As if this weren't disheartening enough to hear, worse was to come. Dancing at the Rainbow Room with the white development officer of a Fifth Avenue museum, commending her on the mixed crowd at a recent opening for an exhibition of the work of a black painter, I ask,
'Why couldn't this gala have that same sort of blend of different kinds of people?' Both of us were educated at public schools in the mid-West. So, I'd known exactly what she meant when she sighed and said, "I wish it could be different too, but even if it were, I'm afraid it would be just like high school."

Courtesy of DPC New York Social Diary

In my case she might have even said junior high school. Simon Perkins, named for Akron's founder, was a modern model of integration, roughly 60 percent white and 40 percent black. Here, for the first time I encountered soccer, Jews, whites in quantity, rich people and academic ambition among male students. For me and a few others the exposure to people different from what we were used to, was a turning point. But for most of our peers, Perkins was hardly Mod Squad or even Room 222, One had only to visit the cafeteria at lunch time to see the great divides that still persist, even in New York. Not even the brightest smile, but only concerted and repeated effort can ever bridge so great a gulf. Part of the solution is for more and better employment and Trusteeships to be offered to blacks at more cultural and civic institutions, where now, there are few, or none. But, in the mean time, how about a black 100?

Read more: Socialite, Journalist, Maggie Betts, Dale Dobson, Dr. Joyce Brown and Carl McCall, Emil Wilbekin, Cheryl Riley, Courtney Sloane, The E. T. Williamses, Ludget Delcy, Mr. And Mrs. Spike Lee, The Adairs, Michael Mccollom, Erana Stennett, Moises De La Renta, Willard Winter, Eula Johnson, Nancy Lane, Social Activist, Kirk Shannon Butts, Susan Taylor, The Governor and Mrs. Patterson, Kehinde Wiley, Photographer, David Patrick Columbia, David Levering Lewis, Evelyn Cunningham, Audrey Smaltz, Thelma Golden, Rachel Roy, Alma and Charlie Rangel, Michaela Angela Davis, Curtis Quentin Phelps, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Jason Campbell, Norma Darden, Kim Heirston, Ruth Ann Stewart, Sheila Bridges, New York Times, Joyce Mullins-Jackson, The Cosbys, Cordelle Cleare, Rene Cox, Ray Alexander Minter, Stanley Crouch, Back Designer, Bonnie Morrison, The Chenaults, Montgomery, President Obama, Tamara and Greg Tunie, Malcolm Harris, The Dinkinses, Gordon Chambers, Pam and Bill Perkins, Rainbow Room, GenèVe Jones, Aubrey Lynch, Society, G. Winston James, B. Michael, Lana Turner, Audrey J. Bernard, Harriet Cole, Henry Mitchell, Michelle Obama, Writers, Mr. And Mrs. Chris Rock, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Lowery Stokes Sims, Anthony Bryant, Famous, Clarence Haynes, Sherry Bronfman, The Redheads, Dancers, Nicola Vassell, Tyson Perez, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Marc Baptist, Kevin Bright, Phyllis Briley. Rocky Baron Boler, Tastemakers, Lou Willard, Town and Country, Susan Fales-Hill, Robin Bell Stevens, Artist, George Faison, The Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Gordon Davis, Hip Hop; Deitch Gallery, Reginald Van Lee, Stephen Burrows, New York News

Behind The Scenes With The Obamas In Oslo (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-12-14T10:57:35Z
As Barack Obama visited Oslo, Norway last week to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, the White House photographers snapped some of the best behind the scenes moments so far, from the proud president looking at his award to a little Obama PDA on the dance floor. Tell us which 'Obamas In Oslo' moment you think is the greatest. Or check out Michelle's many Oslo outfits.

All photos and captions from the White House Flickr.

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Read more: Slidepoll, Michelle Obama at Oslo, Michelle Obama, Michelle Photo Oslo, Michelle Obama Oslo, Michele Obama in Oslo, Michell Obama Peace Prize Outfit, The Obamas in Oslo, Michelle Obama Nobel, Obama in Oslo, Style News, Michelle Obama Nobel Prize, Michelle Obama Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama, Obama Oslo, Obamas in Oslo, Obama Oslo Photos, Michelle Obama in Oslo, Michele Obama Oslo, Michelle in Oslo, Michelle Obama Oslo Photos, Michelle Obama Style, Pictures of Michelle Obama in Oslo, Michelle Obama Oslo Pictures, Michelle Obama Photos, Michelle Obama Pictures, Barack Obama Pictures, President Obama's in Oslo, Michelle Obama in Oslo Behind the Scenes, Obama Photos, Pictures of Obama, Obama Photos Norway, Style News

Obamas Attend 'Christmas In Washington' Celebration, Make A Stop To See Elves (PHOTOS)

2009-12-13T19:35:02Z
The Obamas stopped by to see some little "elves" on their way to Christmas In Washington, an annual holiday music celebration that benefits the Children's National Medical Center. The event is being taped today at the National Building Museum, but it won't be broadcast until Dec. 20. In the meantime, here are some cute photos of Barack and Michelle's photo shoot with the elves.

Read more: National Building Museum, Michelle Obama, Christmas in Washington, Children's National Medical Center, Slidepoll, Obama Christmas in Washington, Barack Obama, Style News

Timothy Cooper: Nick Cannon's HALO Shines Bright

2009-12-11T19:22:29Z

Nick Cannon and The Halo Awards from Timothy Cooper on Vimeo.

"So how's the chairman position coming along, man?"

This was my first question to Nick Cannon as he warmly greeted me and my partner for an interview leading up to the screening of the Teen Nick HALO Awards at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. As we piled into a reserved room at the tony Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Mr. Cannon accurately looked the part of his position of chairman at Teen Nick. Standing behind a desk in front of a window-view that overlooked the nation's capital as the peak of dusk coated the sky--and dressed nattily in a tailor-made suit that was accompanied by the blinding diamond wedding band he has on his finger at all times--Nick came off as a humble and down- to- earth guy. If you haven't followed his career for the last 17 years, you would never know that his success in television, film and music has made him a multi-faceted human conglomerate. But it seems that's just the kind of guy Nick Cannon is, and this balmy night in D.C. would prove no different.

When my partner and I started to ask questions about Nick and his relationship with his mega-star wife Mariah Carey during the interview--specifically when he came to his wife's aid when rapper Eminem started name-dropping Mariah in his songs--his publicist nearly started to shut our operation down. But she was right to do so, because tonight wasn't about Nick's relationship or his success in the entertainment business; tonight was about his concept to connect inspiring teenagers making a difference in other people's lives with the superstars who felt the need to acknowledge them. Hence we have the creation of the first-ever HALO (Helping And Leading Others) Awards, a unique awards show that forgoes fashion designers getting free advertising from the celebrities wearing their designs on the red carpet. This ceremony instead recognizes extraordinary young people using their specific gifts to change the world.

The screening room in the Newseum was filled to capacity with young people beaming with pride and showing support to four of their own. Even though Justin Timberlake, LeBron James, Hayden Panettiere and Alicia Keys graced the screen as presenters at the awards ceremony, the young people in the audience were just as excited to see the recipients of the awards. The soul-stirring chronicles of Leah Stoltz, Darrius Snow, Megan Kilroy and Brryan Jackson should really put all of our priorities in perspective. To witness the goals that these young people have been blessed to accomplish before the age of 20 is truly remarkable. Take the story of Ms. Stoltz, a 17-year-old young woman from Long Island, NY who turned her condition of scoliosis--a severe lateral curve in her spine--into a foundation called Curvy Girls of Long Island. With the creation of Curvy Girls, Leah has established an essential support system for young girls going through the condition of scoliosis at a time when their awareness of body image is at its peak. You can also look at the life of Darrius Snow, a 19-year-old young man who was reared in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Atlanta, GA. Mr. Snow is the president of BTEAM (Bankhead Teens Encouraging Action by Motivating others), an organization of teens devoted to transforming drug and violence-laden environments into hopeful havens where kids can thrive and live actively. Then there's 17-year-old Megan Kilroy, a marine advocate from Santa Monica, CA who is the captain of an environmental organization called Team Marine. Along with raising money for causes in her hometown and abroad, Ms. Kilroy's main focus is the protection of the ocean.

But the most heart-tugging story might have come from Bryan Jackson; an 18-year-old young man from St. Charles, MO. Mr. Jackson was injected with HIV-tainted blood by his father at the age of 11 months. It was an attempt by his father to avoid paying child support in the midst of a divorce from Brryan's mother-- a crime for which he is now serving life in prison for. Brryan has founded Hope Is Vital (HIV), an organization devoted to the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Even though all of these stories are diverse, the common thread of determination serves as the critical piece to the ever-evolving puzzle of the change, hope and leadership we need from the young people of this generation to lead us into a fruitful future.

This program was near and dear to Nick's heart, as he also volunteered his time to the Boys and Girls Club as a youth. And the end results of the HALO Awards--which features closing remarks from First Lady Michelle Obama--is what has made Nick such a success today, thinking outside of the box to bridge the gap between real life issues and the world of entertainment. He even had some help with hosting the event, with his beautiful wife greeting him on stage in an elegant red gown. With a kiss on the cheek, the power couple officially kicked off the night's festivities. So as Nick continues his various ventures in the field of media, he'll also be looking around the globe to find the next teenager looking to be the mechanism of change in their own community by using the influences of dedication and perseverance. I guess multi-tasking just goes with the territory when you're the chairman of the board.

The HALO AWARDS will air on Teen Nick on Friday, December 11th at 8pm (ET).
Read more: Eminem, Michelle Obama, Poverty, Nick Cannon, Teenagers, Awards Show, HIV/AIDS, Boys and Girls Club of America, Teen-Nick-Halo-Awards, Hayden Panettiere, Mariah Carey, Halo, Newseum, Scoliosis, Environment, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, News, LeBron James, Entertainment News

Mark Bazer: Maria Pinto on The Interview Show

2009-12-11T11:42:37Z
Fashion designer Maria Pinto stopped by The Interview Show, a talk show hosted by Mark Bazer, at The Hideout in Chicago, to discuss her latest collection, her career and designing for Michelle Obama.

Excerpts below.

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

Read more: Bazer, Maria Pinto, Michelle Obama, Tango, Fashion, Hideout, Spring Collection, Inauguration, Living News

Roberto Cavalli Wants To Dress Michelle Obama For Christmas

2009-12-11T06:29:02Z
Dressing the First Lady continues to top holiday's wish lists for many designers here and in Europe, including Roberto Cavalli. "I would like to design a beautiful sheath for her, but it will be really hard to choose the color for Michelle Obama," Cavalli told WWD before taping Thursday's episode of "The Martha Stewart Show."
Read more: Michelle Obama, Robert Cavalli, Michelle Obama Style, Style News

Michelle Madhok: Five Gifts To Get Your Very Particular Friends

2009-12-10T19:17:00Z
We've rounded up our favorite affordable gifts for all your friends - no matter what their weird preferences. Here are five of our favorites, one for each hard-to-buy-for friend:

The Friend: Political Junkie
The Gift: A sartorially correct Michelle Obama doll, wearing her favoite Alaia belt and the purple campaign-trail dress.

The Friend: Brand Addict
The Gift: A Marc Jacobs key pouch, which can double as a tiny makeup case, and will cost you well under $100.

The Friend: The Eco-Chick
The Gift: Feather earrings from Me&Ro, or something equally chic that looks like it just happens to be eco-friendly, not the other way around.

The Friend: Do-Gooder
The Gift: One of our favorites from this season's host of gifts that give back, this limited edition version of Kiehl's popular Creme de Corps donates 100% of profits to an art program for hospitalized children.

The Friend: Well-Read Fashionista
The Gift: Any one of the great fashion books that came out this year - we're particular fans of The Sartorialist's eponymous volume.

Read more: Eco Gifts, Eco-Chic, Political Gifts, Gifts That Give Back, The Sartorialist, Gifts, Michelle Obama, Style News

Michelle Obama's Guilty Pleasure: 'Really Bad TV'

2009-12-10T18:45:38Z
WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama says curling up with the first family's dog and clicking through food and design shows on television provide moments of peace amid a busy schedule.

During an interview to mark her selection as Barbara Walters' most fascinating person of the year, the first lady said her guilty pleasures involve food and "really bad TV." She also said her toned arms are a bit of "revenge" against her in-shape husband, President Barack Obama
Read more: Michelle Obama Guilty Pleasure, Michelle Obama, Style News

Michelle Obama's Many Oslo Outfits (UPDATED PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-12-10T08:59:40Z
The first lady joined her husband as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Thursday. The occasion presented many opportunities for an outfit change, and here's what she's worn so far. Vote for your favorite!

Want more Michelle Obama style? Visit the Michelle Obama Style Big News page.

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Read more: Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama Photos, Michelle Obama Oslo, Slidepoll, Michell Obama Peace Prize Outfit, Michelle Obama Oslo Photos, Michelle Obama Nobel Peace Prize, Michelle Obama Oslo Pictures, Michelle Obama in Oslo, Michelle Photo Oslo, Michelle Obama Style, The Obamas in Oslo, Obama Oslo Photos, Obama in Oslo, Obama Oslo, Obamas in Oslo, Michelle Obama Nobel Prize, Michele Obama Oslo, Michele Obama in Oslo, Michelle Obama at Oslo, Michelle Obama Nobel, Michelle in Oslo, Pictures of Michelle Obama in Oslo, Style News

Barbara Walters Names Michelle Obama 'Most Fascinating' Person Of The Year

2009-12-09T22:57:24Z
Barbara Walters selected Michelle Obama as her most fascinating person of the year.

While the previous nine of Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People" had been revealed, the tenth and most fascinating person is kept secret until the show airs.

Their interview took place December 1 at the White House.

"First Lady Michelle Obama is shaping up to be much more than the sum of her parts," Walters said.

The First Lady described the last year as "a whirlwind," and said that her biggest goal as First Lady is to lead a conversation on the health of America's children.

Mrs. Obama -- who wore a sleeveless dress for the interview -- demurred when Walters asked about her arms, but said that her exercise routine grew partly out of "revenge" against her husband.

"I'm married to a man that has worked out all of his life and regardless of how busy he is he finds the time to work out," she told Walters. "There was a point at which I got a little resentful of that."

Asked if she has any guilty pleasures, Mrs. Obama said she indulges in "really bad TV."

The First Lady added that she still has "pinch me" moments even nine months after moving into the White House.

"There are moments when you're driving up to the White House at night," Mrs. Obama said, "and the white lights are shining on this beautiful home, and you pull up to it, and somebody opens up the door and says, "Welcome home.' Those are the times when you think, 'Really? Wow? OK. Here we go.'"

See Walters' full "Most Fascinating" list here.

WATCH:

Read more: Michelle Obama, Barbara Walters Michelle Obama, Barbara Walters Most Fascinating People 2009, Barbara Walters, 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009, Barbara Walters Most Fascinating People, Media News

Oprah, Obamas Talk Christmas Gifts In "Christmas At The White House" Special

2009-12-09T22:38:35Z
CHICAGO — President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama talked holiday gifts when Oprah Winfrey went to the White House to film a Christmas special.

In quotes released Wednesday by Harpo Productions, President Obama tells Winfrey that as a rule he gives "nicer stuff than I get." Michelle Obama responds, "No way, I gave you good gifts last year."
Read more: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah, Barack Obama Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Obama, Obama Oprah, Obamas Christmas Gifts, Christmas at the White House, Barack Obama, Media News

David A. Love: Jewish Voices of Color Must be Heard

2009-12-09T17:12:47Z
As we enter this holiday season, Jews around the world will celebrate Hanukah. And the global Jewish community is a diverse one, a multicultural and multiracial assemblage, by no means monolithic, representing millions of people throughout the world. Jews in China look like other Chinese, while Jews in India resemble other Indians, as is the case with the Igbo Jews of Nigeria and the Lemba of Southern Africa, and so on. They differ in their religious and cultural expression. For example, some may not know about glatt kosher, but still observe traditional dietary laws. And in some places only women can become a mohel (the person who performs circumcisions on baby boys).

But like a faulty census that leaves out people and portrays an inaccurate picture of what is happening, the Jewish diaspora is not counting all of its members. Part of the reason is that Jews of color are often held in suspicion, not viewed as real or authentic. The reality is that black and brown Jews always existed, and for thousands of years. Given the places where the stories in the ancient scriptures took place, what else could you expect? Yet, media images--including Charlton Heston's portrayal of a blond-haired, blue-eyed Moses in The Ten Commandments-- only serve to create confusion concerning race and Judaism.

"Jews of color have been like Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird, a bird trying to reintegrate itself into its flock, but looks so different that the flock would turn itself on the painted bird, pecking on the painted bird until it falls to the ground," said Rabbi Capers Funnye, head rabbi of the predominantly African-American Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago. The congregation was founded in 1918 by a rabbi from Bombay, India.

Rabbi Funnye converted to Judaism, but his introduction to Judaism was through the lens of Africa. His congregation combines the usual Jewish prayers with gospel music and the beat of the drum. But that is ok, because that is what culture is all about. "Jewish practices are based on cultural adaptations, where people found themselves," the rabbi notes. Although he is a rabbi with extensive knowledge and undeniable passion, Rabbi Funnye is asked if he is really a Jew. "For a Jew who don't look like you, that question is offensive," he responds.

Rabbi Funnye--who is also a member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, and the cousin of First Lady Michelle Obama--recently gave the keynote speech at a symposium on race and Judaism at Temple University. The symposium was convened by Professor Lewis Gordon of Temple's Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, and had participation from the Institute for Jewish and Community Research and Be'chol Lashon, a San Francisco-based group which encourages ethnic, racial and cultural inclusion in the Jewish community.

The conference was refreshing in that it invited a discussion on subjects usually not covered in academia or the mainstream Jewish community. For example, there was a discussion on Rabbi Alysa Stanton, the first African-American woman ordained as a rabbi, and the first black rabbi to lead a majority white congregation. Stanton, whose congregation is in Greenville, NC, received death threats and required a police escort the day she was installed as rabbi.

Another topic of discussion was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, that mythic symbol of black-Jewish cooperation who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. Rabbi Heschel is a great source of pride for the Jewish community, yet he was marginalized during his life, and regarded as an oddball. Other rabbis advised him to stay away from the rabble-rouser King. And today, Heschel's anti-racist, social justice message is defanged.

Further, there was an examination of black-Jewish relations and the civil rights coalition, and the manner in which Jews benefited from civil rights in ways blacks could not; the focus by organizations such as the ADL on issues of Jewish authenticity and Minister Louis Farrakhan, when there are genocides taking place around the world; concepts of whiteness and blackness, and the ways in which the Jewish communities have negotiated race. Participants also tackled such weighty issues as black power, and the attempts to equate it with anti-Semitism; the disproportionate representation of neoconservative Jewish voices in American political discourse, and the use of white Ashkenazi Jewish voices as the authoritative voice against affirmative action.

Included in the symposium was the inevitable discussion of Israel, and the ways in which some immigrants become "white" when they arrive in Israel, although they were not considered as such in their home countries. And of course, there is Israel's occupation of Palestine. Rabbi Funnye, who works with the Palestinian-American community in Chicago, believes that Israel must do a better job of showing its own diversity. He also shed some light on African-American perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Black people don't say anything because they see the Palestinians as David, and Israel as Goliath," Funnye concluded. "They don't want to be called anti-Semites."

These are tough issues, to be sure, and the conversations must continue at Temple University and throughout the country and the world. A culture benefits when its diverse voices are allowed to express themselves. This is how a culture sustains itself and grows. Jews of color have much to contribute, and much to say. And they must be heard.

David A. Love is an Editorial Board member of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project and theGrio. He is a writer and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His blog is davidalove.com.
Read more: Anti-Semitism, India, Jews, Social Justice, Hanukkah, West Bank, Gaza, Affirmative Action, Nigeria, China, Race, Rabbi Capers Funnye, Culture, South Africa, Africa, Chicago, Racism, Israel, San Francisco, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Michelle Obama, Judaism, Martin Luther King Jr., Mumbai, Barack Obama, Religion, Chanukah, Anti-Defamation League, Martin Luther King, Capers Funnye, Neocons, Religion and Politics, Neoconservatives, Diversity, World News

Designer Douglas Hannant Disses Michelle Obama, Says She's No Jackie O.

2009-12-09T10:07:02Z
UPDATE:

Hannant's publicist has emailed the Huffington Post with the following statement from the designer:

"I did say 'Michelle Obama is not another Jackie Kennedy and I do not consider to be a style icon.' But in addition, I also said 'She has so much more to her and has mass appeal. I admire her as a role model and think she will achieve great things in her position as First Lady.' And by the way, I voted for Obama."

****
Page Six notes that not everyone is a fan of Michelle Obama's style. On Monday, at Tobi Rubinstein Schneier's House of Faith & Fashion discussion, designer Douglas Hannant had this to say about the first lady: "Everyone compares her to Jackie O--she is not the next Jackie O." His comments were reportedly met with some gasps.

Hannant has dressed Charlize Theron, Beyonce and Sarah Jessica Parker and his collection is available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and other fine boutiques.

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Read more: Michelle Obama Diss, Michelle Obama Douglas Hannant, Douglas Hannant, Michelle Obama Style, Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama Fashion, Douglas Hannant Michelle Obama, Douglas Hannant Obama, Style News

Lynn Sweet Reviews FLOTUS' 'Calibrated' And 'Fun' First Year

2009-12-09T08:01:42Z
While President Obama has no choice but to take on a heaping agenda -- two lengthy and difficult wars, the Great Recession, a historic legislative battle of attrition over health care, and the U.S. response to global warming -- Mrs. Obama's plate could be as full or light as she chose. So far, Mrs. Obama has charted a careful and calibrated course.
Read more: MIchelle Obama First Year, Michelle Obama, Style News

Peter Soronen: Meet Another Michelle Obama Favorite (PHOTOS)

2009-12-08T08:20:08Z
First Lady Michelle Obama chose Peter Soronen to design her first follow-up to the Naeem Khan gown that created such a sensation at the state dinner. So who is this Peter Soronen guy? According to his website, Soronen began his career in Chicago in the early 90s making vintage corset patterns into wearable dresses. In 1998 the wedding and evening gowns he made to order were popular enough that he moved himself and his team to New York City. Soronen made his New York runway debut in 2007, and now sells his dresses at Barneys New York, Nordstrom, Tender, and, of course, Ikram.

See which other celebrities have worn Soronen, and what other Soronen pieces the first lady has donned:

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Read more: Slidepoll, Michelle Obama, Fashion, Michelle Obama Style, Peter Soronen, Style News

Michelle Obama's Kennedy Center Gown By Peter Soronen (PHOTOS)

2009-12-07T08:14:45Z
On Sunday night, President and Mrs. Obama honored five of the nation's top artists
with the Kennedy Center Honors.

For the occasion, the first lady wore a lavender strapless pleated gown by Peter Soronen. Details about who designed the dress and the necklace to follow.

For now, check out these photos. And see who else attended and what they were wearing.

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Read more: Michelle Obama, Slideshow, Kennedy Center Honors, Michelle Obama Kennedy Center, Michelle Obama Style, Michelle Obama Peter Soronen, Peter Soronen, Style News

8 Michelle Obama Wardrobe Repeats: Which Way Looks Best? (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-12-04T14:48:27Z
Perhaps the best part of watching Michelle Obama's wardrobe is finding out which items she adores so much that they resurface again and again. Before, she couldn't get enough of her Azzedine Alaia belt and green inauguration Jimmy Choos. Now she still loves her J. Crew, Rick Owens and Maria Pinto, but she manages to reinvent the looks with old-fashion accessorizing. Take a look which piece from Michelle's wardrobe do double duty and tell us which way she wore it best.

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Read more: Michelle Obama Clothes, Michelle Obama Style, Michelle Obama Repeat, Michelle Obama Rick Owens Jacket, Slidepoll, Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama Fashion, Style News

White House Christmas: Obama Family Lights The National Christmas Tree (PHOTOS)

2009-12-03T17:52:06Z
Early Thursday evening the Obamas and the Bidens gathered to light the National Christmas Tree. "Ho! It worked," exclaimed President Obama after pressing the button to switch on the lights.

Michelle Obama read aloud from "T'was the Night Before Christmas."

Photos of the lighting below. We'll be adding pictures as the event continues, plus, check out National Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies from past administrations.

Photos of Michelle Obama and the girls receiving the tree last week, below:

Read more: Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama Photos, Obama Family Photos, Obama Christmas Tree, White House Christmas, Obama, Slideshow, Obama Family Christmas Tree, Obama Family Christmas PHOTOS, National Christmas Tree, First Family, Style News

Style Books To Give For The Holidays

2009-12-03T11:31:03Z
Style books are a motley crew. Many offer stale fashion advice or strange recipes for make-your-own-beauty-products; one could fill an unfortunate library with books that analyze the style of celebrities. Like compendiums of sports bloopers and silly home videos, these books offer more comic relief than wisdom.

Still, after sifting through the two-foot-high stacks of the latest style books on my desk, I've found a handful that I can recommend to anyone with a brain and a busy schedule.
Read more: Mrs. O, Michelle Obama, Project Runway, Fashion, Teen Vogue, CoCo Chanel, Mireille Guiliano, Holidays, Nina Garcia, Gift Books, Christmas, Rules for My Unborn Son, Chanel, Holiday Gifts, Christmas Gifts, Hanukkah, Style, Karen Karbo, The Style Strategy, Fashion Advice, Gospel According to Coco Chanel, Books, Style Books, Whowhatwear, Books News

Lucia Brawley: Sanctuary in Harmony: How Music is Saving Lives in LA

2009-12-03T05:38:36Z
REPRINTED FROM THE COMMUNITY MARKETING BLOG-OFF, first published December 2, 2009. Please click on that site and comment there to help me win the contest and draw mass attention to arts education.

(Photo: Harmony Projects founder Margaret Martin and seventh-grader Kiana Coronado-Ziadie receive an award from First Lady Michelle Obama. Credit: White House)

"We look at each student, not as a deficit to be fixed, but as an asset to be nurtured and developed," whispered Margaret Martin, founder of the Harmony Project, as I tried to keep pace with her determined, long-limbed stride between the classrooms of the stunning L.A. County High School for the Arts. This was early on a Saturday morning in October and, rather than high-school students gracing the halls, middle-school students from the Harmony Project were availing themselves of the futuristic building's state-of-the-art acoustics, performing classical music and jazz for their poor, mostly immigrant families. In one room, exhilarated 'tweens demonstrated the concept of improvisation. In another, they taught their hesitant parents to play a song on their own classical instruments. Outside, a gaggle of youth beat out a heart-thumping rhythm on overturned buckets. While we buzzed from venue to venue, I noticed two things: 1.) In every room, Margaret's laser-like gaze trained on the kids' reactions - what excited them, moved them, made them laugh. 2.) Margaret doesn't stop for anyone. Without her telling me, I knew she expected me to match her clip, absorb everything she told me, and eventually write about what I had seen. I was happy to oblige.

Margaret, herself a trained musician, is a woman on a mission - a decidedly successful one, as evidenced by the $10,000 Coming Up Taller award for excellence in arts education she just received from Michelle Obama on November 4, the one-year anniversary of the President's historic election.

I had met Margaret at a campaign event for Tom Torlakson, who is running for California State Superintendent of Schools. Instantly, I'd wondered as to the identity of the hip, statuesque blonde standing in the corner of the host's palatial home, asking the candidate hard-hitting questions about arts education. At first, I'd thought she was a public school music teacher. In a sense, I was right. But instead of teaching 30 kids, she has, with the Harmony Project, extended access to classical music instruction and instruments to over 750 children and counting, in Los Angeles' very poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods.

It all started when Margaret's five-and-a-half-year-old son, a violin prodigy, was busking on an L.A. sidewalk. He'd been playing two years already and a giant talent radiate from his tiny body, attracting a wide array of listeners. Margaret remembers how astonished she felt when a crowd of gang members approached, entranced by the little boy's music. Everything about their body language and words showed deep interest, honor and respect. They threw a few crumpled up bills from their pockets into the violin case. Margaret remembers:

I was being trained to intervene in social problems [as a graduate student in public health, with a focus on community health]. But I learned more from that moment with the gang members than from almost anything in graduate school. I had a background in behavioral science, but we were going at things in a way that was clearly not getting us the product we were seeking. From the respect those young men showed this little white kid they didn't know, I learned how important respect is, how important access is. I realized that these hard-core LA gang bangers would have given their eye teeth to have someone look at them as a precious resource, give them an instrument and five hours a week of rehearsal. A lot of these kids have no father at home. They have parents stressed out with 2, 3 jobs. We haven't created programs to engage them, while gangs are actively recruiting.

So, nine years ago, with a $9,000 check from the Rotary Club of Hollywood, Margaret founded the Harmony Project, with the vision of providing instruments and instruction to the most forgotten, disenfranchised kids in all of L.A. - a city renowned for its vast population of forgotten, disenfranchised kids. Margaret puts it this way:

We get them early. Kids start with us as first-graders and, by the time they get to be 12 or 13 . . . well, now I have one who's applying to shi-shi boarding schools on the East Coast. She lives in a gang-infested, horrible neighborhood. But she plays flute, sings in choir, is self-possessed, willing to give it a shot, knows how to present herself, how to work and achieve - all skills that are generalizeable and transferable. Music is just a vehicle for the life skills that it develops in an organic and joyful way. The kids gain a skill set that they can use as a means of social inclusion all their lives. Every body wants the musicians. If you have a party, don't you want to invite musicians? Every one wants to hang with them. They make magic.

She emphasizes that "initial catalytic support," like that of the Rotary Club is essential, and difficult, for a burgeoning non-profiit to find. "[The Harmony Project] was just an idea 9 years ago. But ideas can have power when you put action behind them. I tell our supporters that youth have powerful ideas. What happens when you put action and support behind them?"

Today, the Harmony Project receives about $1.2 million per year, supporting 7 different full-time youth orchestras with students from more than more than 60 schools. Half of the funding comes from private donors and foundations, the other half from the partnerships with the LA Philharmonic (and its Youth Orchestra LA or YOLA),* LA Unified School District, and LA City College - all of which help the Harmony Project obtain rehearsal rooms, venues, instruments and other resources.

(Photo: Leslie Cardenas, front, and Sara Flores rehearse as part of the Harmony Project in this 2007 photo. Credit: Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)

Right now, the Harmony Project is fundraising together with the Mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development. They have highlighted 12 gang reduction zones (areas with a high documented rate of violent gang crime) in which Harmony Project serves as an official part of the city's strategy to reduce gangs by keeping kids away from predators, and helping them develop discipline, persistence, self-esteem and accountability which will lead them to success in school and in life.

The Los Angeles DA's office has put in an official request to Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez' office to introduce music programs in two new districts. 17 more public schools (4 middle, 13 elementary) have recently requested programs, hoping to develop pipelines between middle and elementary schools, and then on to high schools - at which point, city-wide instruction happens all in one place, at LA City College. LAUSD, through their Beyond the Bell after-school system, have offered to cover one-third of emerging program costs, but Harmony Project must raise the other two thirds. "With enough sponsorship, we can roll the programs out in the most troubled parts of our city," Margaret Martin says. "That's what we're working hard to find funding to do."

In the past few years, Harmony Poject has managed to offer $5,000 scholarships to all students going on to 2- or 4-year institutions of higher education. The students must have remained enrolled in the music program for at least 3 years, have graduated from high school, gained entrance into college, and written an essay about their plans. As long as each student maintains a C average or better in college, he or she will continue receiving their scholarship for the duration of their matriculation. Last year, three students won the scholarship. This year, it was nine. "We are blessed that we have a donor who has agreed to fund 200 such scholarships," says Margaret. Those are good numbers.

One not-so-good number is Los Angeles' high school dropout rate of 57.1%. However, kids who stay in the Harmony Project all the way through school, graduate at a rate of 100%.* Every child must show the program administrators all of their report cards. "Discipline, focus and time management are required for music. They transfer to school work," Margaret continues. Furthermore, "you have your on crew and cohort. Kids mentor one another [and encourage each other to do better.]"

In addition to administrative, artistic, financial and peer support, the kids benefit from rigorous, research-based educational and sociological methodologies:

One of the key factors in the success of our program is that we commit to our children over their entire childhood. We stick with them until they graduate from high school and we commit to helping their transition to higher education. Some kids come from homelessness and great upheaval in their lives - this is the one source of stability for some of them. We transcend [the challenges of] schools, communities, homelessness and other kinds of upheaval. We offer them a supportive, positive, consistent experience. They will continue to grow in ways that help them to develop their own talent and abilities. And become their best self.

But don't just take Margaret's word for it. One girl, whose initials are A.D., writes in an essay about her experience as a Harmony Project kid:

I come from one of the most poor neighborhoods in L.A. because of having Having [sic] an Autistic [sic] brother I suffered from many thing [sic] anxiety, Depression [sic], thoughts of suicide, and low-self esteem [sic] and sometimes I suffered severe Panic [sic] attacks, I thought I would have what I had for my whole life . . . Music has really turned my life around . . . I have found harmony in the art of choir. I don't take choir like just lessons to entertain me but I take it as my sanctuary. I am glad and proud of being in the Harmony Project.

Another student writes, "My school work has improved tremendously. My classes have risen to a higher level. My community enjoys the way I play my instruments. My family is proud of me because I am accomplishing something no one in my family has ever done . . . the Harmony Project is the best thing that could have ever happened in my life."

Recently, nine dedicated students earned their place at an event that would have been the highlight of anyone's life. Five of the Harmony Project's best violinists and four of its best cellists were invited, with Margaret Martin, to the White House to receive the Coming Up Taller Award and to perform for the First Lady of the United States of America. "I dissolved when Michelle Obama began to speak," said Margaret, who seems a pretty tough person to ruffle:

I just dissolved. She articulated every way in which these youth arts programs can transform at-risk kids' lives. She knows how little support we get. And then her voice hardened, 'Which is why it is important that we make you welcome in this house.' The kids were so amazed. It was sort of surreal. Never in their wildest dreams could they imagine that they would be invited to participate in an event at the White House. They couldn't believe the access their instruments provided them. It shook their world. They asked themselves, 'What else is possible?' and were talking about plans for college.

A program as successful as the Harmony Project grows quickly. Today, it has twice the students it had only three years ago. However, in a time of economic crisis, when public and private benefactors alike are cutting back drastically on their giving, administrators of a successful program must remain vigilant about maintaining their upward momentum.According to Margaret, Steve Venz, Head of Music for LAUSD, announced that the school district must reduce its budget by 450 million additional dollars over the next couple of years, which will result - unless a change in plans occurs - with 50% of over 700 elementary arts teachers losing their jobs - saving the system only a little over $14 million. In 2011-12, LAUSD intends to cut the other 50% of the arts teachers, eliminating all arts programs in all school districts within two years.

"This is the 2nd largest school district in the nation," Margaret expounded. She went on to explain the backward fiscal thinking behind arts education budget cuts:

Arts programs keep kids in schools. When kids drop out of schools, schools lose apportionment from the state, so they lose money and the community gets the additional burden of uneducated kids loose in the community with nothing to do, who fall prey to drug dealers, gang members and sexual predators. It's really a false economy that the esteemed managers of our state government have painted themselves into this corner and are seeking to solve their problems at the expense of our kids. And it's never at the expense of kids from affluent homes, is it? Instead of investing in our most vulnerable kids to make them the leaders we need to improve our community, we ignore them, we push them away and then when they get in trouble, we lock them up. It doesn't make sense, and fundamentally, it's not cost-effective. I'm a fiscal conservative and it's a waste of money and it's a waste of talent and lives. Violence knows no zip code. We get what we pay for when it comes to our communities. When we don't invest in our communities, well you see what we have . . . It's actually cheaper and more effective to address and head off problems while they are developing than try to deal with them after they'd developed. We just don't tend to think or work that way in this country. But if we play our cards right and are able to deliver our programs, perhaps we will be able to deliver a sea change in that regard.

With a national award, rapidly replicating music programs that still allow room for local identities and methodologies, and a partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its international sensation musical director, Gustavo Dudamel* - Margaret Martin and the Harmony Project are well on their way to contributing to a sea change in how our nation thinks about the value of arts education.

Still, in this economic climate, even a successful program like the Harmony Project must fight hard to hold on to its funds, to say nothing of raising more for its necessary expansion. The program must prioritize where to spend its precious budget. "Most of our funds go to pay our teachers because the magic happens between the students and the teachers, that relationship building over the years," says Margaret. "By committing to the kids, we're demonstrating what commitment looks like and, over time, they learn to commit to themselves. It's not rocket science. It's pretty basic stuff."

If you would like to see 50 violinits and 50 cellists from the Harmony Project perform in a thrilling hip-hop youth orchestra, conducted by famed composer and arranger, Diane Louie of American Idol fame, you can attend their open-house rehearsal day, coming up on Saturday December 12, from 10-Noon at 2303 S. Figueroa Way, Los Angeles, CA 90007 (off Figueroa, just north of USC). Take the 110 to Adams Blvd. Exit, building straight ahead across exit off ramp.

* I first learned about the Harmony Project, at least a month before I'd met Margaret or even knew of her existence, when I was writing a piece for the Americans for the Arts' Arts Education Blog and the Huffington Post about Maestro Gustavo Dudamel and the Youth Orchestra LA.

*I found and documented a similar differential between the Washington, D.C. high school drop out-rate and the graduation rate of the Washington, D.C. Youth Orchestra in my keynote speech for the Yale School of Music's biennial Music Educators' Symposium, which I published in the Huffington Post this past summer.

*Dudamel had held, as a condition of his coming to work with the LA Phil, that he get to help low-income kids learn music. The LA Phil was able to grant his wish because Margaret Martin - who'd never heard of Venezuela's El Sistema from which Dudamel emerges - when she founded the Harmony Project, already had a program in place with which the orchestra could collaborate.
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