September 20, 2012
At 12:36 p.m., the NCCU jazz band began a rendition of Stevie
Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” reminiscent of the 2008 campaign. And on
cue the crowd, slowly filing into the gym, began to sing along. What followed
was a medley of Motown classics making the continuous wait disappear.
An hour later, chants of “four more years” filled the gym,
which by then was packed to capacity; a crowd wave began. “This is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Nezjma Smith said. “To hear the first lady of
the United States is history.”
When Miss NCCU 2012-13 Harmony Cross took the stage nearly 30
minutes later, the crowd was still excited. “Your vote is important this
election,” Cross said. “It takes one person to make a difference.” Cross was
followed by Lt. Col. George Stephen (Steve) Wilson, who led the Pledge of
Allegiance and NCCU junior Victoria Jones, who performed the national anthem.
Then followed brief remarks by Dominique James, campus organizer with
Organizing for America; U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat whose district
includes Durham and NCCU; and Durham Mayor Bill Bell. Each encouraged people to
register to vote.
NCCU senior Korey Mercer had the honor of introducing the
first lady. Mercer is a first-generation college student attending NCCU thanks
to financial aid. Majoring in political science, Mercer said he was pretty
speechless after meeting the first lady. “When she walked on the stage and
hugged me, I didn’t want to let her go.”
Entering to a standing ovation that lasted for several
minutes, Mrs. Obama took the stage, telling the 3,100 gathered in the gym that
she was still “feeling pretty fired up and ready to go.”
In remarks that have often been repeated since the Democratic
Convention in Charlotte, the first lady recounted her story and President
Obama’s. “This is an easy job talking about my husband,” she said. “He is
handsome, charming and smart, but what made me fall in love with him was his
character. I loved that he was committed to serving others and devoted to the
women in his life.”
“In his life story, I saw so much of my own story,” she said.
She described that story as one filled with pride and hope. To thunderous
applause, she cited the values that she said make President Obama different.
“He believes that how hard you work matters more than how much you make, and
that no one gets where they are on their own. A community lifts us all, from
the teachers to the janitors.”
Flashing back to 2008, the first lady reminded the audience
of the challenges the country faced when President Obama took office — losing
800,000 jobs per month and a financial industry in free fall. “Instead of
pointing fingers and placing blame, Barack got to work,” she said. “Today we
have seen 30 straight months of job growth, and 4.6 million new jobs.”
The first lady laid out seven accomplishments of the Obama
presidency:
·
Millions of job created
·
Healthcare reform
·
Ending the war in Iraq
·
Improving access to college
·
Increasing veterans’ benefits
·
Work permits to undocumented young immigrants
·
Repealing “Don’t ask, don’t tell”
North Carolina is considered a toss-up state and one in which
both President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have made campaign
appearances, as have their running mates. In 2008, President Obama won North
Carolina by just 14,000 votes, the equivalent of five votes per precinct.
Concluding her remarks, Mrs. Obama told the crowd, once again
on their feet, “Elections are always about hope; don’t let anyone tell you
different.”
Toneka Oliver, a registered nurse at the Durham
VA Medical Center and NCCU alumna, is also optimistic about the country’s
future. ‘We can’t turn around now,” she said. “We have to make our voice heard
and vote.”
