So you talk about, in
the book, also the night
that gay marriage passed.
And this is a great story.
Yeah.
One of the interesting things--
I bring it up to talk about
just how vastly different
one day could be
in the White House
during our administration.
And the day that Barack
and I went to the funeral
where he famously
sang Amazing Grace.
We were at that funeral,
but we flew back.
In that same day, marriage
equality was passed.
And--
[CROWD CHEERING]
that same day.
And we're in the White House.
And when you're
in the residence,
there's so much
bullet-proof glass
that sometimes you don't
hear what's going on outside.
And we were having dinner.
And we were listen-- we knew
that there was celebration
happening, but we didn't
realize that thousands of people
were gathering in front
of the White House
at that time to celebrate.
And my staff was calling me.
Everybody was celebrating
and people were crying.
And I thought, I
want to be in that.
Also, we had worked to make sure
that the White House was lit up
in the LGBT colors.
So the White House was--
It was so beautiful.
--in whole rainbow.
It was beautiful.
So we had made that plan and
I was sitting and watching it
on TV, and realizing,
I'm living this.
I said, I have to
break out of this.
I want to go outside
and I want to be
a part of that celebration.
So I had the bright
idea, I'm going outside.
OK?
So I tried to find
some partners.
So I went to Barack's office and
I said, we should go outside.
And he was like, babe, I've
got too much stuff to do.
I can't go out.
And he's like, you know
I can't walk outside.
Come on.
Get out of my office.
Yeah.
I go to Sasha.
I said, you want to come outside
with me and see the house?
Its colors?
Let's celebrate.
And she's like, no.
I'm watching [MIMICKING].
I went to Malia's room, and
I said, come on, go with me.
And she says, OK.
I'm down.
So it's me and Malia.
And we're trying to get
out of the White House.
And realize that it's
not that easy to get out
of the White House when you're
in it, but we were determined.
And I said, we are not
listening to anyone.
We are going to walk out
that door, you and me.
So you come out of the residence
and there's an elevator.
And there's usually
an agent right there.
And when you come out, they
whisper our code names,
they're moving.
And I'm like, dang.
They know we're moving.
Let's not take the elevator.
Come on, you and me.
Go down the stairs.
So we rush down the stairs.
And you can see the agent
thinking, why are they running?
And he doesn't quite
know what to do,
so he starts following us.
And I'm like, run
faster, run faster.
And we go down the
steps and we go
to the front door, the
north portico door, which
faces Pennsylvania Avenue.
And I'm just thinking,
I'm going to walk out.
So we go to the door
and the door's locked.
So now there are many
people behind us.
The uniformed
policemen, the usher
who's in charge of
the house, and they
don't know what to do, right?
And they're like, uh, ma'am?
Where are you going?
I said, I'm going out.
We're going out.
We're going outside.
And they're watching
because-- and they're
calling in more people,
she's trying to get out.
She's trying to get out.
And Malia's like--
she's pumped up.
She's like, we're
going to do this, mom.
You get out.
You get out.
But the door is locked.
And then the usher says, ma'am,
um, if you walk out there,
you will be on camera
in front of the nation.
Now I'm in ripped up
shorts and a t-shirt.
No shoes on, no makeup.
And I thought, hmm.
You have a point.
I don't want to be on that
clip looking like this.
But eventually, the happy
news was that we got out.
Malia and I walked outside.
It took 15 minutes
to get outside.
And we stood along with
all the cheering crowd.
Off to the side, mind you,
so no one would see us,
with security surrounding us.
And we tried to have our
tender mother-daughter moment.
But we just took it in.
I held her tight and my feeling
was, we are moving forward.
Change is happening.
That's beautiful.
That's so good.
