Michelle Obama took to the stage at the Superdome in New Orleans for the 25th annual Essence Festival on Saturday night and made a statement by wearing her natural hair, showing off her beautiful curls.
The former first lady sat down for an interview with journalist Gayle King and looked like a superhero in a belted, sparkly midnight blue jumpsuit. But it was the fact that she was wearing her hair natural that made fellow curly girls in the audience and across the Internet go crazy, happy to see a reflection of themselves in their "queen."
"What a great night here in New Orleans celebrating 25 years of #EssenceFest and #BlackGirlMagic," Obama wrote on Instagram.
This isn't the first time Obama has worn her hair curly — she famously showed off her curls on the cover of Essence magazine for their 2018 December/January issue. The New York Times best-selling author of "Becoming" has been vocal about the public's perceptions of her as "a strong black woman" and on Saturday, she spoke about how during the 2008 campaign trail, that was used against her by people on both sides of the aisle.
In the Essence Festival interview, Obama addressed life after leaving the White House and personal topics including her relationship with husband former President Barack Obama, saying they went through counseling at one point.
“There are a lot of young couples that look up to me and Barack," Obama said. "We’re hashtag relationship goals. And young couples think, all they see of us are the fist bumps and love (…) Marriage is work, marriage is hard."
Many fans noted that since she's left the White House, Obama has relaxed the sleeker, straight-haired image she was known for and brought out a more down-to-earth side of herself in the public eye. For women, especially black women, who may have felt that their curly hair was something they needed to fix, seeing Obama go natural sends the message that it's amazing to be who you are, inside and out.