Afro puffs in the White House

The year before Barack Obama became president, I was a reporter covering the growing Caribbean-American community in South Florida.

Greg Lewis, one of my esteemed colleagues at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, had just started a blog called “Strictly Old School: Gregory Lewis on black culture and politics.”

Greg, who has since passed, was a walking encyclopedia when it came to black culture. I loved reading his blogs, and working with him on race and demographic projects.

One day, Greg asked me to be a guest writer on his blog, and I posted an entry titled “Afro Puffs in the White House.”

It was my take on what it would mean to have a black family like the Obamas at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

I wrote then that I admired Obama for marrying a beautiful, poised, classy “sistah girl” like Michelle Obama.

For many women of my hue, she represented an Afro-centric aesthetic not always appreciated in America.

That we might soon have a woman who looked like us in the White House was almost unimaginable.

Then, there were the daughters - the two precious little girls, with naturally coily hair, revealing their African heritage.

I referred to a photo where Malia Obama was looking adoringly at her father, dressed in white tights, patent leather shoes and a fuchsia dress coat.

“Her hair is combed in afro puffs,” I wrote. “She reminds me of my two daughters when I doll them up for church.”

And then I asked: “Can you imagine the impact afro puffs in the White House could have on every little black girl in America?”

Well, eight years have passed, and Obama’s presidency will soon be over. Malia and Sasha, like my two daughters, have blossomed into beautiful young ladies. It was amazing to watch them all glammed up at their first state dinner, and I wondered: Where has the time gone?

On Wednesday, I had the privilege of interviewing Barbara Joy “B.J.” Tillman, a 13-year-old girl who was commissioned to paint a picture for First Lady Michelle Obama.

B.J. painted a portrait of the Obama girls and presented it to Mrs. Obama Thursday at the last First Lady’s Luncheon held in her honor in Washington, D.C.

The picture depicts Malia and Sasha looking up with their eyes piercing the canvas. They are toddlers with their hairs combed in - you guessed it - afro puffs.

I asked B.J. why she chose that image, and she said she always liked natural locks and it’s an image she wanted to preserve.

Eight years ago, a black family in the White House was just a dream; and now it’s a reality imprinted not only on history, but also on the hearts and minds of black children the world over.

Afro puffs in the White House? You bet.

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Afro puffs in the White House."