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Michelle Obama book earns spotlight
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“Go, Tell Michelle” by Barbara Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram is attracting attention from all over the world.
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As America prepares to inaugurate its first African American president, a project spearheaded by two UB staff members designed to offer his wife advice and support is garnering national attention.
“Go, Tell Michelle: African American Women’s Letters to the New First Lady,” a book edited by Barbara Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram, compiles letters written to Michelle Obama by ordinary women from across the country and the world offering messages of hope and advice for the new First Lady.
The project has been enormously successful, with hundreds of letters pouring in—many more that could possibly be published in a single book.
Moreover, the book, which is being released today by SUNY Press/Excelsior Editions, has attracted the interest of the local and national press. As of UB Reporter press time, Nevergold and Brooks-Bertram, both senior educational specialists and co-founders of the Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women at UB, have been interviewed by reporters from numerous news outlets, among them the Associated Press, the Philadelphia Daily News/Inquirer, the Chicago Tribune and the Albany Times-Union, and are set to appear tomorrow on the CNN program “American Morning” and on Time Warner’s “All That Matters” on Wednesday.
Other interviews are being set up with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, News Talk Radio in Ireland and The Buffalo News.
The book even has its own page on Facebook.
Reader interest in the book also appears to be strong, according to SUNY Press representatives, who noted that 50 orders for the book were received overnight after a story was broadcast on Jan. 7 on the National Public Radio program “All Things Considered.”
The book had an initial printing of 2,000 copies; most SUNY Press academic books have a first run of 300 to 500 copies. SUNY Press representatives hope the book will go into multiple printings.
Nevergold and Brooks-Bertram say they are thrilled with the attention the book is receiving, both from the media and those who wrote letters.
“We thought that once women knew that it [the project] was actually going to be in print that they would be thrilled,” says Brooks-Bertram. “What is most fascinating, however, is the fact that so many people from different parts of the country and from the African continent and the Caribbean also responded. We always believed that this effort would resonate well and that women would respond, but at this point, it [the enthusiasm] is hard to contain.”
The project had its genesis, Nevergold explains, during the presidential campaign as she watched President-elect Barack Obama’s journey to the White House gather momentum and his wife, Michelle, come into her own as a presidential candidate’s wife.
“Throughout the election, it became apparent that African Americans were becoming emotionally invested,” she says. “I felt such a sisterhood with Michelle Obama and a kinship.
“At the end of the election, I started to think, how can we as African-American women share with her our feelings about the new role she’s going to take?”
A week after the election, Nevergold and Brooks-Bertram used the Internet—specifically the Uncrowned Queens listserv they maintain—to send out a call for people to express their hopes and advice for Michelle Obama through letters, poetry and recipes. Their request spread across the country and around the world. Hundreds of letters poured in—from professors and poets, playwrights and religious leaders, musicians, retirees and ordinary women.
While the messages were as diverse as the senders, the sentiments overwhelmingly were of love and the desire to let Michelle Obama know she is not alone in her trip to the White House.
“There were so many messages that said ‘we never thought we’d live to see the day that a black man was elected president,’” recalls Nevergold. “Many letters said their ancestors were smiling down on this event.”
While only 100 letters are being published as part of “Go, Tell Michelle,” Nevergold says all the letters received will be included in an online digital repository available soon at the Uncrowned Queens Web site.
“Go, Tell Michelle” is available through SUNY Press.
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