During her special appearance at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin Texas, United States first lady Michelle Obama made it clear that she will not run for president. Instead, she used the music forum to promote "Let Girls Learn," a US government campaign which aims to persuade leaders across the globe to take action to the millions of girls who are being denied access to education.
USA Today reported that Obama told a crowd in a ballroom at the Austin Convention Center that 62 million girls around the world are not given opportunities to go to school due to lack of access and cultural factors. With this, she said that there is a need to exert new educational efforts to give these girls a chance to acquire quality education.
Obama explained that providing better educational opportunities for girls would help them personally and to their communities as well. She cited that educated women are more capable of bringing up healthier children.
As part of the Let Girls Learn initiative, Obama launched during the event the all-female anthem "This Is for My Girls," featuring Kelly Clarkson, Missy Elliott, Kelly Rowland and more. The track, which was put together by Obama, can be downloaded on iTunes and is intended to raise funds for the Let Girls Learn campaign.
When asked by Queen Latifah, who was one of the event's panelists, if she would eventually run for president, Obama drew a round of disappointed sighs when she reiterated that she has no presidential aspirations of her own. Although she admitted that she will miss interacting with people as first lady, she emphasized that she will not run for the position.
"No, no. Not going to do it," Obama told audience, as reported by NBC News. She cited her teenage daughters, Malia and Sasha, as two of the main reasons.
Despite having no presidential aspirations, Obama said that she will not be slowing down once she leaves the White House next year. She added that there is much more that she could do outside the White House "without the constraints, the lights and the cameras, and the partisanship."
"There's a potential that my voice can be heard by people who can't hear me now because I'm Michelle Obama, the first lady," she explained. "I want to be able to impact as many people as possible in an unbiased way to try to keep reaching people."
