March 6, 2018

Michelle Obama Meets Parker, the Little Girl Who Loved Her Official Portrait

Best dance ever.

Last Thursday, internet hearts collectively melted over a photo of a young girl staring in awe at Michelle Obama’s official portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in D.C.  “All I wanted was just one pic,” Jessica Curry, the mother of 2-year-old Parker, told the Washington Post after the image went viral. “She was just so fixated on the portrait and wouldn’t turn away from it.”

That one photo has now resulted in a meeting with Obama herself, who tweeted the following video of their Tuesday encounter, adorable dance moves and all. 

The lightening-fast sharing of both the photo and Parker’s meeting with the former first lady underscores Obama’s own words during the portrait’s unveiling last month, in which she expressed hope that seeing her portrait would inspire young women everywhere.

“I’m also thinking about all of the young people, particularly girls and girls of color, who, in years ahead, will come to this place and they will look up and they will see an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the wall of this great American institution,” Obama said in February. “I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives because I was one of those girls.”

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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