Michelle Obama

Born Michelle Robinson to a loving family on Chicago’s South Side, the future First Lady grew up in a stable home, unlike her husband. Her mother, Marian, was a stay-at-home mom. Her father, Fraser, worked at the municipal water department and was a precinct captain. Michelle succeeded in school skipping the second grade, but she never performed as well as her brother Craig. He headed off to Princeton, and college counselors discouraged her from even applying. Her persistence brought her an acceptance letter (3).

At Princeton, Michelle pursued a Sociology major and an African American Studies minor. The racial divide on campus inspired her senior thesis paper on “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community”. She went on to receive her Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School (3).

She began working at Sidley & Austin, a corporate-law firm in Chicago. In 1989, she was assigned to mentor a summer associate, Barack Obama. After originally refusing the confident mentee’s advances, Michelle and Barack had their first date at one of Barack’s community-organizing sessions in a church basement. The two married in 1992 (3).

Obama switched from corporate law to working in the public sector. In 1996, Obama served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago where she developed the University's Community Service Center. Six years later, Michelle began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals (3).

With a resume unlike any other first lady’s, Michelle Obama will redefine the role of First Lady. From the beginning of the campaign, Michelle proved she wouldn’t be the traditional first lady with her edgy humor and confident demeanor. At a speech in Wisconsin, “the excited young woman introducing Michelle flubbed her line, saying she was ‘honored to introduce the next president!’ Michelle strode to the podium with a big smile. ‘I like that promotion that I got,’ she told the crowd. ‘I don't know if Barack knows yet. We can announce it on the news tonight. He's going to be the First Lady (3).’”

Beyond redefining the role of the first lady, Mrs. Obama redefines the role of the black woman. Traditionally, black women are discouraged from staying at home to raise their children. African American women hold a long history of being pulled away from the home. During times of slavery, African women either worked the fields or cared for the children of the plantation owner. Little changed after slavery ended. Black women left their children at home to work in the homes of wealthy white families. Today, the African American community views a stay-at-home mom with a college degree as a waste of education (1). Princeton and Harvard Educated Obama left her six-figure salary at the University of Chicago to aid her husband’s campaign. She plans to dedicate her time in Washington to being Mom-in-Chief to the youngest residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since Amy Carter. By example, Michelle Obama may bring black women back home.

Cherie Blair, wife of Tony Blair, publicly advised Michelle “to learn to like the back seat” (5). With a history of changing her world by taking matters into her own hands, I hope Mrs. Obama drives her own car.





(1) http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/24/ivey.first.lady/index.html

(2) http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/24/roesgen.michelle.obama.first.lady.cnn

(3) http://www.newsweek.com/id/112849/page/1

(4) http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/24/roesgen.michelle.obama.first.lady.cnn

(5) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/cherie_blair/article5149542.ece