Michelle Obama took President Obama out of Washington, DC, the reading tour stopped – and ESSENCE was here!

ESSENCE magazine was in the building for Washington, DC, stage of the iconic book tour.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama has attracted thousands of fans while pursuing her national book tour in ten cities across the country in Washington DC on Saturday night with frank conversation, music, video clips and even a surprise guest: former President Barack Obama.

The crowd inside the Capital One Arena – many of them are black women – is unleashed at the 44th.^th The Commander-in-Chief arrived on the scene with a bouquet of flowers for his wife, who travels the country to support his new memoir, "Becoming."

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Published Tuesday, officials of Crown Publishing (owned by Penguin Random House) said the memoir had already been sold to nearly 800,000 copies.

"Do you know when Jay-Z is at the rendezvous at a concert in Beyonce?" Joked the former president as the audience laughed. "" Crazy in Love "- it's the same thing," he joked.

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Barack Obama then lavishly congratulated his wife, noting that he knew she was "one of a kind" when they first met at a Chicago law firm several decades ago. He was a Harvard law student and summer associate, and Michelle Robinson, then a Harvard law graduate, was his mentor.

"She is really tall. And most were legs, "he says with a mischievous tone.

He asked her to go out several times, both of them recalled, but she felt that it was inappropriate to go out with a colleague. Barack said that he thought, "Well, I'm going to leave work – we can go out, [it] will not be a conflict of interest. "

Eventually, she gave in and the rest, as they say, belongs to the story – both for them and for America.

When Barack Obama was elected the country's first black president in 2008, the couple and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, became the first African-American family in the White House.

Jokes about love and marriage were one of the many revelations of a wide-ranging career debate in the spotlight of the public and a painful miscarriage that she suffered before eventually conceiving an in-depth fertilization. in vitro of their two daughters.

Saturday 's conversation was moderated by Valerie Jarrett – the oldest senior advisor to President Obama, and the couple' s long – time friend – who had initially met Michelle Robinson during a job interview. Jarrett then met her husband and remembers thinking, "He's amazing. … One day, he could be Mayor of Chicago.

The women smiled at each other, seeming to marvel at the incredible journey that took place.

Participants heard Ms. Obama's honest reflections on the experiences and events, public and private, that shaped her. His mother, Marian Robinson, his older brother Craig and his two daughters all appeared in video interviews to talk about his strengths.

Obama, 54, spoke of her loving childhood in a modest community in South Chicago, but she felt uncertain about being able to join Princeton and then Harvard. She talked about balancing the demands of motherhood and work, where she felt disconnected from the community in a large law firm before finally moving on to more fulfilling roles. And of course, she recounted her years at the most famous address in the world.

Obama said that she had early learned to be honest, true to herself and not to let others shape her story.

"I learned the power to control my story and my voice," she told the audience.

Along the way, she has established herself as a powerful activist for women and girls in the United States and around the world. She says that sharing the lessons of life and getting people to become the best version of themselves is the reason she wrote the book.

That said, she acknowledged that it has not always been easy to stick to her now famous motto: "When they go low, we go high."

"I mean, there are so many times that I just want – as I know it all – to curse it," she said, applauding warmly.

But her husband has always taken the high road, she said.

"The president is not the president for his own ego. The president is the president of the whole country, "said Obama, who has never mentioned Donald Trump's name. In this book, she makes fun of him for stirring controversy "between two" at the birthplace and the faith of her husband.

The book tour, produced by Live Nation, kicked off this week in Obama's hometown of Chicago, with magnificence Oprah Winfrey moderating the conversation at the United Center. Brooklyn, Detroit, Denver, San Jose and Dallas will be among the other tours of the tour. These dates will be hosted by such personalities as Michele Norris, Sarah Jessica Parker and Reese Witherspoon.

"One of the most remarkable stories I have ever seen is the future of Michelle Obama," said Winfrey in his introduction.

Those who attended the event accepted, taking selfies and buying t-shirts, books and posters. Charmaine Hicks, a resident of Virginia, brought her daughter to the event. "It's an honor to be in the presence of Michelle Obama," she said.

Rachel Oguntola, a graduate student at the American University in Washington, was able to attend because her supervisor provided her ticket. "I'm really excited, Mrs. Obama is so inspiring."

Such inspiration was a goal for the former First Lady when writing the book. In the epilogue, she writes, "I am an ordinary person who has found himself in an extraordinary journey. By sharing my story, I hope to create space for other stories and other voices, to broaden the path to who belongs and why. "