When it was announced earlier this month that President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama would be keynote speakers at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, many anticipated that FLOTUS would talk about her "Let Girls Learn" initiative, considering it was on the program schedule.
However, what many didn't expect was a musical performance from the First Lady herself — a line from a Boyz II Men song.
Earlier today on March 16, Obama sat alongside fellow panelists — actress Sophia Bush, musicians Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah and songwriter Diane Warren — as a part of the SXSW Music Keynote Conversation to discuss the initiative, which promotes access to education for girls worldwide. During the panel, Obama was asked by a member of the audience on how she felt about her upcoming departure from the White House in 2017, after her husband will step down as POTUS next January.
While relaying the question on behalf of the SXSW attendee to Obama, Queen Latifah shared a one-liner about her own visit there.
"We have a related audience question for Mrs. Obama about her time in the White House," said Latifah, with "I've had a good time in your house."
Instead of a routine answer, the First Lady decided to get a little creative (and a little musical) by singing a line from the Boyz II Men 1991 hit "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday."
A video posted by Matthias Kolb (@matikolb) on Mar 16, 2016 at 10:04am PDT
While the song got a favorable response from the audience and the panelists, it wasn't just all fun and games. She also shared that her work, like with Let Girls Learn, wasn't going to stop after her stay in the White House was up. She also let the audience know that she had no plans to make a go at her husband's job as leader of the United States.
"I'm going to continue to work with our young people all over the world," said Obama. "Not as president. I will not run for president."
"There are so many ways to impact the world," she further explained. "You don't have to be president of the United States to do marvelous, wonderful things. I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Photo: Gage Skidmore | Flickr
