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It’s Black History Month and, over the next few weeks, Michelle Obama is sharing stories of individuals who are making a difference in communities across the country. She shared a black and white photo by Chicago based photographer Antonio Dickey and wrote, “This is a month of celebration—a time to not only reflect on the heroes in our history books, but to honor the Black people who are quietly working every day to improve and enrich our communities right here and now.” “Today, I’m starting with Antonio Dickey,” she continued.
The photo Michelle shared was taken by Dickey when she spoke with students at a school resource event in 1991. “Back then, I was just Michelle Robinson, an assistant to Mayor Daley at City Hall,” she wrote. In an interview with Obama, Dickey reflected on the photograph, “She was answering questions from students, just helping them out. They were enthralled by her because of her enthusiasm. They didn’t know she was going to be the First Lady of the United States. They were happy to hear what she had to say, and that’s what people still feel,” he said.
Dickey has worked for over 44 years as a photojournalist in Chicago. He told Obama, “I just want to show what life was like in Chicago. I want to make sure moments aren’t lost. If there are no photos, then no one’s going to know what these moments looked like. I took all these photos of politicians and famous people, but also high school events, grade school dancers, and just people on the street.”
Some of the powerful people Dickey has photographed are Coretta Scott King, Nelson Mandela, Stevie Wonder, and Muhammad Ali. He has documented significant political moments like the election of Harold Washington as Chicago’s first Black mayor, and even the early careers of Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson.
The former FLOTUS explained that Dickey started taking photos at his local high school and moved his way up to become Mayor Harlod Washingtons‘ official photographer. Dickey told Obama when Washington announced he was running for office he sent him a telegram, “It was before AOL, which was just a funny Internet thing going on at the time,” he said. “I sent the campaign a telegraph saying, ‘I’d like to help volunteer as a photographer,’” and after photographing a few events he was selected as the campaign photographer. “I don’t think people thought an African American could win back in ’82. I wasn’t so sure that he could win, but I at least wanted to do my best to help his campaign,” he explained.