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Michelle Obama has encouraged us to make use of our voices to effect change, give back, and follow our passions.
In honor of her recent book, “The Light We Carry”– a follow-up to her best-selling memoir, “Becoming”– we reflect on a few of our ceaselessly First Lady’s most inspiring quotes and moments.
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![15 Ways Michelle Obama Has Inspired Us](https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-159855669.jpg?width=400)
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“When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is …” she began off.“After they go low, we go high,” she continued, a slogan that will turn out to be the rallying cry for Democrats within the election.
![15 Ways Michelle Obama Has Inspired Us](https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-580959710.jpg?width=400)
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She’ll dance with a turnip, Big Bird, or Jimmy Fallon to get us all moving. We like to see it!
![15 Ways Michelle Obama Has Inspired Us](https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-97459420.jpg?width=400)
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“I can’t stop eager about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted,” Obama said.
“This is just not something that we will ignore,” she urged. “It’s not something we will just sweep under the rug as just one other disturbing footnote in a tragic election season, because this was not only a lewd conversation.”
![15 Ways Michelle Obama Has Inspired Us](https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1244786169.jpg?width=400)
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![15 Ways Michelle Obama Has Inspired Us](https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Michelle-Obama-and-Parker-Curry-.png?width=400)
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