On October 7, the New York Times ran an article about First Lady Michelle Obama’s ancestry. Her great-great-great grandmother was a slave girl, who had been separated from her family when she was willed away as property. Her great-great-great grandfather, a white man. “In the annals of American slavery, this painful story would be utterly unremarkable, save for one reason,” said the news writer. That union started a family line that would eventually lead to the White House. “The newly discovered story of Mrs. Obama’s maternal ancestors. . . for the first time fully connects the first African-American first lady to the history of slavery, tracing their five-generation journey from bondage to a front-row seat to the presidency?
I read this article on my birthday, October 11. As people often do on birthdays, I was contemplating the accomplishments of my life and their value in the grand scheme of things. This story reminded me that unremarkable lives can ultimately have some remarkable effects. The stories of the way we live now can provide powerful lessons for the future if only we value them properly and take the time to tell them.
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