First Lady Michelle Obama Speech at DNC 2016 English subtitles
[Music]
[Applause]
Oh
thank you so much you know it’s it’s
hard to believe that it has been eight
years since I first came to this
convention to talk with you about why I
thought my husband should be president
[Applause]
remember how I told you about his
character and conviction his decency and
His grace the traits that we’ve seen
every day that he served our country in
the White House I also told you about
our daughters how they are the heart of
our hearts the center of our world and
during our time in the White House we’ve
had the joy of watching them grow from
bubbly little girls into poised young
women a journey that started soon after
we arrived in Washington when they set
off for their first day at their new
school I will never forget that winter
morning as I watched our girls just
seven and ten years old
pile into those black SUVs with all
those big men with guns and I saw their
little faces pressed up against the
window and the only thing I could think
was what have we done
see because at that moment I realized
that our time in the White House would
form the foundation for who they would
become and how well we managed this
experience could truly make or break
them that is what Barack and I think
about every day as we try to guide and
protect our girls through the challenges
of this unusual life in the spotlight
how we urge them to ignore those who
question their fathers citizenship or
faith
how we insist that the hateful language
they hear from public figures on TV does
not represent the true spirit of this
country
[Applause]
how we explain that when someone is
cruel or acts like a bully you don’t
stoop to their level
no our motto is when they go low we go
high
with every word we utter with every
action we take we know our kids are
watching us we as parents are their most
important role models and let me tell
you Barack and I take that same approach
to our jobs as president and first lady
because we know that our words and
actions matter not just to our girls but
the children across this country kids
kids who tell us I saw you on TV I wrote
a report on you for school kids like the
little black boy who looked up at my
husband his eyes wide with hope and he
wondered is my hair like yours and make
no mistake about it this November when
we go to the polls that is what we’re
deciding not Democrat a Republican not
left or right now in this election and
every election is about who will have
the power to shape our children for the
next four or eight years of their lives
and I I am here tonight because in this
election there is only one person who I
trust with that responsibility only one
person who I believe is truly qualified
to be President of the United States and
that is our friend Hillary Clinton
[Applause]
see
I trust I trust Hilary to lead this
country because I’ve seen her lifelong
devotion to our nation’s children not
just her own daughter who she has raised
to perfection but but every child who
needs a champion kids who take the long
way to school to avoid the gangs kids
who wonder how they’ll ever afford
college kids whose parents don’t speak a
word of English but dream of a better
life kids who look to us to determine
who and what they can be
you see Hilary has spent decades doing
the relentless thankless work to
actually make a difference in their
lives
advocating for kids with disabilities as
a young lawyer fighting for children’s
health care as first lady and for
quality child care in the Senate and
when she didn’t win the nomination eight
years ago she didn’t get angry or
disillusioned
see
Guillory did not Hilary did not pack up
and go home because as a true public
servant Hillary knows that this is so
much bigger than her own desires and
disappointments
so she proudly stepped up to serve our
country once again as Secretary of State
traveling the globe to keep our kids
safe and look there were plenty of
moments when Hillary could have decided
that this work was too hard that the
price of public service was too high
that she was tired of being picked apart
for how she looks or how she talks or
even how she laughs but here’s the thing
what I admire most about Hillary is that
she never buckles under pressure she she
never takes the easy way out and Hillary
Clinton has never quit on anything in
her life
and when I think about the kind of
president that I want for my girls and
all our children that’s what I want I
want someone with the proven strength to
persevere someone who knows this job and
takes it seriously someone who
understands that the issues the
president faces are not black and white
and cannot be boiled down to 140
characters look because
[Applause]
because when when you have the nuclear
codes at your fingertips
and the military in your command you
can’t make snap decisions you can’t have
a thin skin or a tendency to lash out
you need to be steady and measured and
well-informed
[Applause]
I want a president with a record of
public service someone whose life’s work
shows our children that we don’t chase
fame and fortune for ourselves we fight
to give everyone a chance to succeed and
and we give back even when we’re
struggling ourselves because we know
that there is always some worth one more
saw and there but for the grace of God
go I I want a president who will teach
our children that everyone in this
country matters a president who truly
believes in the vision that our founders
put forth all those years ago that we
are all created equal each of a loved
part of the great American story and
when crisis hits we don’t turn against
each other now we listen to each other
we lean on each other because we are
always stronger together
[Applause]
and I am here tonight because I know
that that is the kind of president that
Hillary Clinton will be and that’s why
in this election
I’m with her
[Applause]
you see Hilary understands that the
president is about one thing and one
thing only it’s about leaving something
better for our kids that’s how we’ve
always moved this country forward by all
of us coming together on behalf of our
children folks who volunteer to coach
that team to teach that Sunday school
class because they know it takes a
village
heroes of every color and Creed who wear
the uniform and risk their lives to keep
passing down those blessings of liberty
police officers and the protesters in
Dallas who all desperately want to keep
our children safe people who lined up in
Orlando to donate blood because it could
have been their son their daughter in
that club
leaders like Tim Kaine
[Music]
whose show who show our kids what
decency and devotion look like leaders
like Hillary Clinton who has the guts
and the grace to keep coming back and
putting those cracks in that highest and
hardest glass ceiling and so she finally
breaks through lifting all of us along
with her that is the story of this
country the story that has brought me to
the stage tonight the story of
generations of people who felt the lash
of bondage the shame of servitude the
sting of segregation but who kept on
striving and hoping and doing what
needed to be done so that’s a day I wake
up every morning in a house that was
built by slaves
and and I watch my daughter’s too
beautiful intelligent black young women
playing with their dogs on the White
House lawn
envy and because of Hillary Clinton my
daughters and all our sons and daughters
now take for granted that a woman can be
President of the United States
so look
so don’t let anyone ever tell you that
this country isn’t great that somehow we
need to make it bring it again because
this right now
is the greatest country on Earth
and as my my daughter’s prepare to set
out into the world
I want a leader who is worthy of that
truth a leader who is worthy of my
girl’s promise and all our kids promise
a leader who will be guided everyday by
the love and hope and impossibly big
dreams that we all have for our children
so in this election we cannot sit back
and hope that everything works out for
the best we cannot afford to be tired or
frustrated or cynical now hear me
between now and November we need to do
what we did eight years ago and four
years ago
we need to knock on every door we need
to get out every vote we need to pour
every last ounce of our passion and our
strength and our love for this country
into a lefting Hillary Clinton as
president of the United States of
America so let’s get to work thank you
all we got