© 2026 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.

Being Black At Sidwell Friends School

Michelle Obama, (red coat), walks with her youngest daughter, Sasha, as a full security detail provides a protective escort into Sidwell Friends School on January 5, 2009.
Paul J. Richards
/
AFP/Getty Images
Michelle Obama, (red coat), walks with her youngest daughter, Sasha, as a full security detail provides a protective escort into Sidwell Friends School on January 5, 2009.

The Obama girls have enrolled in one of Washington D.C.'s most exclusive private schools — Sidwell Friends School.

What tips would they find helpful for navigating such a fraught social world? Farai Chideya talks with Sidwell alumna Damali Ayo about her experiences as a black student at the Quaker school.

Ayo started the Facebook group, "Sasha and Malia, We got Your Back! Black Alumns of Sidwell Friends School."

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
Thanks to you, WUSF is here — delivering fact-based news and stories that reflect our community.⁠ Your support powers everything we do.