Source: Forbes
“There are prison-like elements, but it’s a really nice prison. You can’t complain,” joked  Michelle Obama when describing aspects of her experience as First Lady earlier this week during a visit to Tanzania. Obama joined forces with former first lady Laura Bush for a two-day Summit dedicated to advancing women’s economic empowerment across Africa, yet her off-the-cuff “prison” remark has since dominated the news cycle. While the comment may have distracted from the greater mission of the gathering, the media attention just further underscores the unique power platform of a First Lady — and the very premise behind which these two unlikely collaborators came together.

Rather than bringing together policy-makers, elected officials, or even Barack Obama and George W. Bush, the gathering convened the wives of Africa’s most prominent political leaders to address the most critical issues facing African women today. Hosted by the George W. Bush Foundation, the “African First Ladies Summit” worked to promote the role First Ladies can play as architects of change given the power of their voices and their high-profile platforms that extend far beyond traditional borders of continent and country.

Such a gathering could easily fall subject to stereotypes, that is, while George and Barack were off engaging in policy work, the ladies were convening around a “softer” agenda – one that, at first glance, did not appear to have the gravitas of the more important work of their husbands.  But nothing could be farther from the truth.  As both Laura Bush and Michelle Obama have demonstrated, First Ladies wield enormous influence, albeit in far less conventional ways than holding an elected or appointed position. “Lady Bird Johnson realized that she had a podium because her husband was president. And she chose to use it,” said Laura Bush encouraging those attending to do the same.

Here are some of the highlights from the conversation between Bush and Obama as to how they navigated and embraced the transition to the most powerful platform in the world, the advantages of being First Lady versus Commander-in-Chief, and how the wives of African leaders can come together as “advocates” and “agents of change.”

Nothing Prepares You For The Job

“Nothing prepares you. Nothing prepares you for this role,” said Obama who admitted that “definitely elements that are confining” exist in her position.

“What I didn’t really understand,” recalled Bush, “was how people would listen to the First Lady.”   To be sure, there are steep learning curves for any incoming First Lady, but they even existed for Laura Bush who had the unique advantage of watching her father-in-law hold the highest office in the land. She recalled a seminal moment while shopping with her daughter when a cosmetics clerk thanked her for her radio address talking about the women of Afghanistan. “It was the first time it really occurred to me that people did hear me,” recalled Bush, “And that I really did have that podium that Lady Bird Johnson knew about.”

Getting Past the Bangs

Both women agreed that seemingly trivial issues can overshadow the larger and more meaningful conversations that need to be had, but advised the other First Ladies that these can’t derail them from their larger mission. “Who would of thought? I didn’t call that,” mused Obama on the attention her blunt-cut bangs received in the press. “While people are sorting through our shoes and our hair, whether we cut it or not….We take our bangs and we stand in front of important things that the world needs to see,” described the First Lady. “And, eventually, people stop looking at the bangs and they start looking at what we’re standing in front of.”

“In the United States, it has a lot to do with the way you look,” added Bush.  “That’s a problem everywhere in the United States — for girls as well. They should be worried about what they’re doing and how they’re being educated instead of whether they look pretty or they look sexy.”

On The Power Of the Platform

“I always joke,” said Obama, “that we [First Ladies] have probably the best jobs in the world because, unlike our husbands who have to react and respond to crisis on a minute-by-minute basis — they come into office with a wonderful, profound agenda, and then they’re faced with the reality.  On the other hand, we get to work on what we’re passionate about. And I think that that’s something that I would encourage all first ladies to never lose sight of. You have an opportunity to speak to your passions and to really design and be very strategic about the issues you care most about.”

Speak Out and Speak Up: The World Will Be Better Off When Women’s Voices Are At The Table

“I want to encourage every first lady to speak out and speak up and let people know because people are watching and they are listening,” emphasized Bush. “And you can be so constructive for your country if you speak up about issues that you think are important.”

“It’s important for us to make sure that more women use their voices and their power,” Obama advised. “Because we know, as women, that we’re not that complicated, but we are complex. We are deep, diverse, enlightened people in the universe. And the world will be better off when our voices are at the table.”

The power of Africa’s First Ladies is undeniable and we should be optimistic that their influence will be cultivated to change the future for millions of women in their respective nations, across the continent and around the globe. And let’s also hope that in the future, any such gatherings will need to be rebranded from “First Lady” to “First Spouse.”