Written By February/March 2012 : Page 6

Written by Michelle Obama POV Hope at Work C The first lady wants your stories to aid American military families. ongratulations to all the 2012 Writers Guild Award nominees. Because of your good work, 2011 was another year of stellar writing in the entertainment industry. 2011 was also a year in which I was able to join many of you at the Guild’s theater for a discussion on involving Hollywood in the “Joining Forces” initiative. It was a powerful reminder of how important the stories you tell are in helping Americans understand the sacrifices of these families. Bobby Jarman and his wife wanted to retire together. After his 22-year Army career ended, however, his wife was re-deployed to Iraq. And Bobby became a full-time dad for his four daughters. Arnita Brigham Moore can relate. When her husband joined the Ma-rines, she soon realized that she would be asked to serve our country as well. Deployments meant Arnita had to play the role of mother and father for their four children, serving as counselor, dis-ciplinarian, and everything else. But neither Arnita nor Bobby ever complained. They kept moving forward, doing what they needed to do for their family and for our country. And every single day, veterans and military families all across America demonstrate that same commitment, honor, and resilience. One of my greatest blessings as First Lady has been hearing so many of these inspiring stories. I’ve heard from mili-tary spouses who balance work, family, and school all while dealing with the emotions of a deployment. I’ve spent time with military children who bounce from school to school while stepping up around the house when Dad or Mom is overseas. And I’ve been inspired by veterans who keep serving their country long after they’ve taken off a military uniform, survivors of our fallen who stand tall as pillars of their communities, and wounded warriors who don’t let anything get in the way of their dreams. But as much as these stories are a part of my life now, they weren’t always on my radar. For many years, even though I fol-lowed the news of the day and kept up on most issues, I simply didn’t know much about the experiences of military families. That’s probably the case for most Ameri-cans. But as I’ve learned more and more about the unique strength and courage of our military families, I’ve become driven to do whatever I can to make sure that these stories are heard. That’s why I launched the Joining Forces initiative with Dr. Jill Biden earlier this year to honor, appreciate, and support our nation’s veterans and military families. We’re asking all Americans— businesses, nonprofits, government, and citizens of all kinds—to keep doing what they do best and direct some of their ef-forts toward military families. That’s why I’m writing to you to-day—because all of you are our story-tellers. You capture our imaginations. You open our eyes. You touch our hearts. And you help us understand who we are as individuals—and as Americans. So I’m asking you to make these brave, strong military families a part of what you do every day. You might build an episode around a military family’s ex-perience. You might add a character that is going through a deployment or ex-plore the challenges veterans face when they return home. You don’t have to cre-ate a full-length screenplay or pitch the networks on a brand-new series. Simply work it in to what you’re already doing. Be creative. Be compelling. Be funny. 6 • WG AW Written B y FEBRU AR Y/MARCH 20 12 We’ve already seen how your indus-try can make an impact, and I’m thank-ful for all those who have led the way. Your guilds organized a symposium on military families and produced a pow-erful series of public service announce-ments seen by millions throughout the country. And I even ended up dancing on the set of iCarly after they built an episode around the emotions military children feel while a parent is deployed. I’ll bet if you asked any of the writers, actors, directors, or producers involved with these projects, they’d say they got as much out of the experience as any of the families they were hoping to highlight. That’s been my experience every step of the way. Every time I’ve spoken with a family member or worked on a project with them, I’ve come away refreshed, inspired, and ready to do more. I think you’ll have the same feeling too. So I hope you’ll take advantage of the opportunities you have to make a difference for our nation’s veterans and military families. Share their stories. Help America feel their emotions and understand their challenges. If we can do this, we’ll help unleash even more of the compassion and good-will that exists throughout America for these families. We’ll see even more cre-ative, meaningful ways that Americans are showing their support. We’ll see more people getting involved. And when we all do that—when we all join forces—we can be sure that we’re serving them as well as they’ve served us.

POV

Michelle Obama

Hope at Work The first lady wants your stories to aid American military families. Congratulations to all the 2012 Writers Guild Award nominees.Because of your good work, 2011 was another year of stellar writing in the entertainment industry. 2011 was also a year in which I was able to join many of you at the Guild’s theater for a discussion on involving Hollywood in the “Joining Forces” initiative. It was a powerful reminder of how important the stories you tell are in helping Americans understand the sacrifices of these families. Bobby Jarman and his wife wanted to retire together. After his 22-year Army career ended, however, his wife was redeployed to Iraq. And Bobby became a full-time dad for his four daughters. Arnita Brigham Moore can relate.When her husband joined the Marines, she soon realized that she would be asked to serve our country as well.Deployments meant Arnita had to play the role of mother and father for their four children, serving as counselor, disciplinarian, and everything else. But neither Arnita nor Bobby ever complained. They kept moving forward, doing what they needed to do for their family and for our country. And every single day, veterans and military families all across America demonstrate that same commitment, honor, and resilience. One of my greatest blessings as First Lady has been hearing so many of these inspiring stories. I’ve heard from military spouses who balance work, family, and school all while dealing with the emotions of a deployment. I’ve spent time with military children who bounce from school to school while stepping up around the house when Dad or Mom is overseas. And I’ve been inspired by veterans who keep serving their country long after they’ve taken off a military uniform, survivors of our fallen who stand tall as pillars of their communities, and wounded warriors who don’t let anything get in the way of their dreams. But as much as these stories are a part of my life now, they weren’t always on my radar. For many years, even though I followed the news of the day and kept up on most issues, I simply didn’t know much about the experiences of military families.That’s probably the case for most Americans.But as I’ve learned more and more about the unique strength and courage of our military families, I’ve become driven to do whatever I can to make sure that these stories are heard. That’s why I launched the Joining Forces initiative with Dr. Jill Biden earlier this year to honor, appreciate, and support our nation’s veterans and military families. We’re asking all Americans— businesses, nonprofits, government, and citizens of all kinds—to keep doing what they do best and direct some of their efforts toward military families. That’s why I’m writing to you today— because all of you are our storytellers. You capture our imaginations.You open our eyes. You touch our hearts.And you help us understand who we are as individuals—and as Americans. So I’m asking you to make these brave, strong military families a part of what you do every day. You might build an episode around a military family’s experience.You might add a character that is going through a deployment or explore the challenges veterans face when they return home. You don’t have to create a full-length screenplay or pitch the networks on a brand-new series. Simply work it in to what you’re already doing.Be creative. Be compelling. Be funny. We’ve already seen how your industry can make an impact, and I’m thankful for all those who have led the way.Your guilds organized a symposium on military families and produced a powerful series of public service announcements seen by millions throughout the country. And I even ended up dancing on the set of iCarly after they built an episode around the emotions military children feel while a parent is deployed. I’ll bet if you asked any of the writers, actors, directors, or producers involved with these projects, they’d say they got as much out of the experience as any of the families they were hoping to highlight.That’s been my experience every step of the way. Every time I’ve spoken with a family member or worked on a project with them, I’ve come away refreshed, inspired, and ready to do more. I think you’ll have the same feeling too. So I hope you’ll take advantage of the opportunities you have to make a difference for our nation’s veterans and military families. Share their stories.Help America feel their emotions and understand their challenges. If we can do this, we’ll help unleash even more of the compassion and goodwill that exists throughout America for these families. We’ll see even more creative, meaningful ways that Americans are showing their support. We’ll see more people getting involved. And when we all do that—when we all join forces—we can be sure that we’re serving them as well as they’ve served us.

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