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Obama made the remarks at the South by Southwest music
festival in Austin, Texas, where she released a single, along
with singers Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae and former "Glee"
star Lea Michele, in support of her worldwide girls' education
initiative.
"There are so many ways to impact the world. You don’t have to
be president of the United States to do wonderful, marvelous
things," Obama said at a panel discussion on empowering women at
the festival, known as SXSW.
"I will not run for president," Obama, 52, said when asked about
her post-White House plans.
Obama, who launched the Let Girls Learn initiative in March
2015, noted at the panel discussion that there are 62 million
girls worldwide of school age who are not in school, many of
whom are being denied an education and have seen their
aspirations snuffed out by grown men.
"For me, 62 million girls not getting an education, that is
personal," she said.
The new single, "This is for My Girls," was performed live at
SXSW, a festival of music, film and tech in the Texas capital.
Proceeds from the single, which also involves singer Kelly
Rowland, rapper Missy Elliott and Disney Channel star Zendaya,
will go toward the Let Girls Learn initiative.
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Obama also had a brief musical interlude at the session,
singing a line from the Motown song "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye
to Yesterday."
Obama said the platform of first lady was so vast and powerful
that she wanted to make sure she did not waste it. Once she
leaves the White House, the first lady, who is a lawyer, said
she will work in an unbiased way and work to keep reaching
people.
"There is so much that I can do outside of the White House and
sometimes there is much more that you can do outside of the
White House without the constraints," she said.
(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant in New York; Editing by
Bill Rigby Editing by Leslie Adler)
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