BOOKS
Women nationwide tell Michelle
By Emmalie Vance

Go, Tell Michelle authors Barbara A. Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram.
Go, Tell Michelle cover art and authors Barbara A. Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram; courtesy of State University of New York Press.
It started with a brief e-mail from two visionary women from Buffalo after the election of Barack Obama, and reached all the way to the continent of Africa. It was a call for African-American women to address the first-ever African-American first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and the response was overwhelming. Answers came quickly from scores of women between the ages of twenty-five and eighty. So many, in fact, that the results have been published in a new book, Go, Tell Michelle: African American Women Write to the New First Lady, compiled and edited by Barbara A. Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram.

Bertram and Nevergold hoped for letters of encouragement, love, and support addressed to Michelle Obama—perhaps even enough to be published by SUNY Press in a book that the women were putting together. But they never thought the response would be so quick, so heartfelt, and so vast. Letters came in mostly through e-mail, but some were hand-written, and they came in from the Americas, the Caribbean, and even Africa. “We were terribly excited by the response,” says Bertram, a co-founder of the University of Buffalo’s Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women, “and the letters are still coming in.”

Part of what amazed the two women was the trust that those who were writing the letters put in them with handling their often extremely emotional letters. “We were gratified, because we felt that for women to share such personal stories of their family history, and their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the Obamas was really amazing. They trusted that they were dealing with an organization that would treat the information with responsibility and the integrity it deserves,” says Nevergold. “They trusted us, and they didn’t even know us,” adds Bertram. Emotions ran high as the women read through each and every one of the letters that came flooding into their office, and both say tears were common. “We would find ourselves weeping because they were so compelling, and were written with such passion,” says Nevergold. Those kinds of letters were exactly what they had expected, and it became very hard to narrow their favorites down to only 100 to include in their book. Included among these letters, poems, songs, and recipes are letters from Nevergold and Bertram, too. “We both talk about our own anecdotes that we wanted to share with Michelle Obama—how our families and our elders would have been so excited to see this historic event happen. And we share with her the connection that we have historically as African American women,” says Nevergold.

Before the publisher allowed the book to go to print, there was just one other issue that had to be solved: the title. For weeks, the duo had been working under the title Dear Michelle: Messages of Encouragement, Love, and Support to the New First Lady, but the publisher had something else in mind. He suggested Go Tell Michelle, and the women loved it. They later agreed that perfection would depend on the addition of one little comma, making the title Go, Tell Michelle. “The title now indicated that readers were given a message to ‘go,’ and take a certain action,” Bertram says. The comma also signified the same grammatical notation as the old song Go, Tell it on the Mountain. Bertram says that the book’s title now rang much more true to the history of Africans in this country.

“There is no other book like this in the world,” says Bertram, and it’s evident how proud its authors are. Interestingly, some of the writers from Africa address Michelle Obama as “Your Majesty” and “Your Excellency,” and there are even a few teachers in the U.S. who have agreed to buy copies of the book to use in their classes. “The book itself is a popular culture text, but really, it’s not a cute little book,” says Nevergold. “It’s a profound statement of the ways in which African-American women have thought about the effect that the First Lady will have on our nation.”

The authors have received word from their publisher that the book is selling well. An accompanying audio book was also published in May with a brand-new introduction and eight more letters (read by both Nevergold and Bertram). This is the first time that SUNY Press has ever released an audio book. “We are happy we’re here at UB,” says Bertram. “We’re indebted to SUNY Press for recognizing this is a book we could do, and for believing in us. From the moment we signed on, they never gave up.” Says Bertram of the whole process, “I have never had an experience like this in my life, and I doubt if it can ever be repeated.”

Emmalie Vance is a senior at SUNY Plattsburgh, and a recent editorial intern at Buffalo Spree.


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