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"Michelle Obama has proven time and time again that she\u2019s the coolest first lady to ever grace the White House. Today, she appeared at South By Southwest (SXSW) on a keynote panel with Missy Elliott, songwriter Diane Warren, Sophia Bush, and Queen Latifah to talk about girls\u2019 education, female empowerment, and the small changes we can all make to affect our world on a global scale. Her keynote comes just days after President Obama opened the festival with a speech on &amp;quot;the role technology plays in civil engagement.&amp;quot; Though SXSW has been around since 1987, this is the first time a sitting president or a first lady has made an appearance. However, Michelle&amp;#39;s talk was not simply to make an appearance. She used the stage to promote her Let Girls Learn initiative, which was bolstered this morning by the release of This is For My Girls an AOL Makers-produced song performed by artists such as Zendaya, Lea Michelle, Missy Elliott, and Kelly Clarkson. \n\nhttps://twitter.com/billboard/status/710216614210355201?lang=en\n\nDuring the discussion, moderator Queen Latifah asked how each of the panelists got involved with their causes; if there was a pivotal moment that inspired each of them. \n\n&amp;quot;For me when I was younger, it was always the doubters,\u201D the first lady said. \u201CThere were always people around telling me what I could and couldn\u2019t do. My reaction to that at the time was to prove the doubters wrong. But not every young person reacts that way, and there are many young people whose dreams get snuffed out with that kind of energy.\u201D Queen Latifah talked about the insurgence of crack cocaine and AIDS in her neighborhood growing up, Missy described watching her mother leave behind an abusive relationship, and Diane said that \u201Cmusic saved [her] life.\u201D In each of their adolescences, these strong role models experienced discouragement, and expressed how important it was to defy it. \n\nThe first lady still sees the effects of people doubting the potential of young girls, both here in the United States and abroad. \u201CI\u2019ve heard some horrifying stories of young women being pushed down because they\u2019re trying to get an education,\u201D she says. Those stories include the 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the terrorist organization Boko Haram, and Malala Yousafzai, the 18-year-old Nobel laureate who was attacked and shot on her way to school in Pakistan. There are \u201Cgrown men trying to snuff out the aspirations of young girls,\u201D Michelle [said](http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/16/11244962/michelle-obama-sxsw-2016-keynote-let-girls-learn0, explaining that cultural norms in some parts of the world prevent girls from attending school. &amp;quot;All of these stories generate the anger and the sense of unfairness that makes you want to move ... I&amp;#39;m trying to carry that spirit over to these 62 million girls.&amp;quot;\n\nThe real message of the panel, though, was the importance of young people taking action, regardless of how small that action may be. \u201CThe change that happens, happens on the ground. It happens because in particular young people find their power and their voice and they use it every day,\u201D Michelle said. One example of such change is Sophia Bush\u2019s Pencils of Promise project to build a school in Guatemala. The entire project cost $30,000, but she asked her followers on social media to donate $30 each. In order to involve young people, she asked kids to raise the $30 themselves, from their parents. Based on the idea that parents spend an average of five dollars per day on coffee, Sophia asked kids to wake up early, make coffee for their parents before work, and charge them five dollars for it. After six days, each child would have raised the $30 contribution for the school. \n\nHowever, it\u2019s even easier for young people to get involved with Let Girls Learn. By downloading the tune This Is for My Girls, young people are donating to the Let Girls Learn Peace Corps Fund, which works to keep the #62MillionGirls in school. Diane, who wrote the song, said, \u201CI wanted to write the best female empowerment song I could write... If you look at the lyrics of the song, it encompasses what we\u2019re talking about here.\u201D\n\nRelated:  Why Michelle Obama Is the Coolest First Lady Ever\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/michelle-obama-sxsw-let-girls-learn>