Research Paper: Michelle Obama 

Being a successful woman of color is not an easy feat, especially in today’s society. Most don’t want to see them progress and become something greater than the box they have been put into by past and current culture. In order to get the basic respect that is deserved, they have to work 10x harder than their male counterparts have to. This is why when there is a woman who worked so hard in order to get to the place where she is now, and kept going even through those struggles and trials, she needs to be recognized, which is why my research paper is on the former first lady of the United States, Michelle Robinson Obama. She is a Lawyer by trade, University Administrator, activist and philanthropist, as well as being a working mother and wife.

Michelle Lavaughn Robinson, was born and raised in South Side Chicago, Illinois. She grew up on Euclid Avenue with her parents and older brother, Craig(who is 21 months older than her). They shared a room for quite a few years during their childhood, since they lived in a one-bedroom apartment, which was given to them by relatives. They lived above her great aunt Robbie and uncle Terry. Michelle recalls her great aunt as a no-nonsense woman who taught her how to play the piano, and never stood for mediocrity.

Whilst growing up, her parents always expected the best from her and Craig, and they stood by the fact that education was one of the most important things to have, since no one in Michelles’ family was yet to attend or graduate from college. When she was young, the neighborhood was quite diverse, having caucasian and people of color in her classes. In second grade, her mother, Marian noticed Michelle wasn’t coming home with little to no work, and not as excited for school. Marian went to the school and found that her daughter’s teacher didn’t take her job seriously, and saw it more as babysitting then actually teaching the kids and helping them learn new things. So Michelle's mom had her take her an exam to test her out of second grade and did exceedingly well and moved on to third grade.

As Michelle got older, she began to advance more and started seeing the world as a mature young adult. She made new friends from different wealth divides;one of her close friends was Activist and Politician,Jesse Jackson's daughter, Santita. In the 1980’s,South Side began to see the “white flight”, where the neighborhoods become predominantly black, because of the poverty and drug and gun violence. The government also stopped a lot of its funding the schools, which meant they didn't care about the education of the children within South Side. Both Michelle and Craig went to Private High Schools in the city, with Craig going to a boys’ catholic school on a basketball scholarship, and eventually getting a Basketball scholarship to Princeton, while Michelle was accepted into a STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) School, for advanced students.

One day when Michelle was in class, her teacher announced a trip to Paris. Because she didn't want her parents to worry about the money, she never told them. A few weeks later, her mom approved her, asking why she didn't mention the trip to her. Michelle responded saying that she didn't want to bother her parents about it. Marian scolded her,saying it wasn’t her job to make that decision for herself. A few months later, she ended up going on the trip with her peers. It was first time out of the country, and unbeknownst to her, certainly not her last. During Michelle’s senior year, she was looking for schools to apply to; she wanted to follow in her brother's footsteps and go to Princeton as well. When a counselor from the school came to talk to students from her school, they told her that she wasn’t “Princeton Material”, they were looking for. She got in with scholarships.

As she was preparing to leave home for the first time, she got a little nervous, not being with her parents anymore, and being multiple states away. Her father and boyfriend at the time escorted her to school, saying their final goodbyes as Michelle would break up with him before they traveled back to Chicago. Feeling new freedom, Michelle made multitudes of new friends, including Jamaican Suzanne Alele, who was a free spirit with a zest for life, as well as finding internships in the African American chapter of the school, since it was a small population. She met one of her closest mentors, Czerny Brasuell, interning for her as an assistant for her at the TWC Center in Princeton, eventually becoming a babysitter for Czenry’s son, Jonathon.

As she went through college, eventually graduating from Harvard Law school and worked to accomplish a well paid job at a well-known law firm in Chicago, Sidley and Austin. This is where she met someone who would alter the course of her life forever, Barack Hussein Obama. During the summer of 1989, Barack was an intern while on break from Harvard Law School. Michelle was assigned to be his superior and show him around if he needs any assistance, At first, she wasn’t attracted to him, but noticed his suave and charm. At the time, he was a chain smoker, and that was something Michelle was not too fond of. During this time, Fraser, Michelle’s dad, was beginning to get sick and struggling to walk and do basic tasks.

The days passed more and more, and Michelle and Barack would spend almost everyday together, going to Museums, company functions and other events, while she showed him the parts of Chicago that made it home to her. Barack also shared how he grew up, too. Born by a Kenyan father and white American mother in Hawaii; his father left soon after finishing graduate school, divorcing his mother in the process. His mother remarried a few years later to a Fillipino man,relocating as well, and having a daughter, Baracks half sister, Maya. Ann, Barack’s mother, left her new husband, after he became very abusive. She took both kids back to Hawaii, where Barack was raised and graduated high school. He attended Occidental College in California, then moving to the East Coast for Law School.

At times, Barack would occasionally mention that him and Michelle should date, bringing up the pros and cons to it, with Michelle jokingly shrugging off the proposition, saying it would be inappropriate, with her being his superior. One day, they got tickets from the firm to attend a play in the city one night. While they were there, Barack said with quick confidence, and assurance, that he would like to take Michelle on a date. As Michelle began to object again, he stopped her, saying that they worked very well together and that he wouldn't be interning here forever. She tried to bring up another obstacle but he stopped her and told her to think about it. With Michelle eventually caving in and saying yes. On their first date, Barack took Michelle to a black community rally that he helped organize; they talked about the problems that plagued people of color in the area. Michelle watched him in awe as he spoke with the people and actually gave his time to listen to the concerns of the community on his own time. Afterwards, they walked through the city and ended up at an ice cream parlor, where they shared their first kiss. The bench outside of the shop has been marked as a national landmark. That date started the love story they’d tell for decades to come.

Eventually, summer ended and Barack was back to school, coming to visit Michelle everytime she could. Her father began to get very sick, not able to do basic daily tasks anymore. Marian, Michelle’s mother, was worried about him, and wanted to take him to a doctor, but he refused, saying he was fine. One day, when he was walking to his car on the way to work, Michelle waited by the window to see him drive off. After a few minutes, she became worried when his car never left the garage. She went to see where he was, and saw him sitting on the stairs in the hallway, because he couldn't walk anymore. He finally agreed to see a doctor, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He never let that get in the way of his daily life, working until his last breath. Around the same time, she was dealing with the passing of her close friend Suzanne Alele. She was diagnosed with a terminal cancer, and died within a few months. Suzanne was in her mid-twenties. Michelle remembered Suzanne as a free spirit who lived her life to the absolute fullest that she could. Michelle began to wonder if what she’s doing is what she wants to do for the rest of her life and if she’s impacting anyone in anyway.

As a few months went by, Fraser Robinson passed away from his sickness in 1991. It devastated the whole family and Michelle promised she’s make her father proud. In 1992, Michelle and Barack were married, and Craig walked her down the aisle. After her father’s death, Michelle felt like her life wasn’t as fulfilled as she would’ve wanted it to be; so she quit her job and joined a non-profit organization in the Chicago office, Public Allies. She watched her husband run for Senate in Illinois in 1996 and win the race, while dealing with the death of Barack’s mother, Ann. As their marriage went on, Michelle had trouble conceiving, suffering a miscarriage, and they decided to go the IVF(In vitro fertilisation) route, giving birth to their first daughter, Malia Ann, in 1998. Their second daughter was born the same way, in 2001, named Natasha, or Sasha.

In the years to come, Barack kept working on becoming a Politician, while they stayed living in South Side, to keep their daughters at home, and to confuse them with moving. In 2004, he ran for the US Senate and won the race. Michelle recalled how much their life changed once Barack decided to run. Their life was never the same after that decision. She became worried about their daughter’s once their father was constantly in the public eye. At first, Michelle was extremely hesitant about him running, just because she enjoyed having her own privacy. Once they were on the campaign, Michelle was going to rallies, giving speeches and interviews, but making it home in time for dinner. She was adamant for things to not change too much in their daily lifestyle.

In 2007, Barack decided to run for president, with Michelle campaigning at her side. She became very prominent in the press, because of her presence on the campaign trails. During the campaign, she spoke about being a person of color, as well as a working mother a framework for the topic of speeches and interviews. She stuck with her rule of not being on the campaign trail for more than two days to keep the normalcy for their daughters. Because she was so busy with work and campaigning and school, she had trouble preparing meals for the girls, so she enlisted a professional chef to teach her how to prepare healthy, fresh but delicious meals for her family to accommodate their hectic schedules. Sam Kass became the Obama’s personal chef, as well as a personal advisor for the Let’s Move campaign during the Obama Administration.

Throughout the whole campaign, the press looked closely at the Obama family, put a telescope on everything they’d do. When Michelle would give speeches or interviews, the newscaster and journalists, would criticize every tedious thing she would say or do. It wasn’t something Michelle’s team would take too seriously, until a columnist by the name of Cal Thomas from FoxNews, a broadcasting channel known for their Republican and biased views, called her an “Angry Black Woman”. Michelle spoke about the comments made about her, saying that being more in the public eye has helped her and Barack develop more of a thicker skin to comments of that caliber. She has been called more than that,with people going as far as to compare her to the likes of monkey’s, and gorilla’s. Michelle has stated that having to go high when others go low, as her motto during her incumbency in the white house.

The day before the election night, November 3, 2008, Barack’s, grandmother, affectionately known as Toot, passed away from an ongoing battle with cancer. The next day, filled with uncertainty and nervousness across the county, watched as the first person of color was elected to the office of Presidency in the United States, along with his family being the first family of color to occupy the White House. It was one of the most monumental moments in history.

It is known while their husband is in office, the first lady takes up an organization that she supports or puts time into. Michelle is very passionate about healthy eating, and staying active. She began the Let’s Move initiative, to help move Americans out of having unhealthy habits and passing it onto other generations. She signed on major companies and brands to support the campaign. Michelle got major fast food restaurants to stop serving super size meals, and to have grilled and fresh produce options. It as very beneficial to the purpose it has been trying to serve, with thousands of public schools around the United States to create healthier options for breakfast and lunches. Michelle had a garden planted at the White House so her own family and other guests who visited could eat fresh produce.

Throughout her husbands’ two terms, Michelle Obama has left an everlasting mark on everyone she met, and she tried to make an impact in every way she could. She traveled to many third world countries, visited many broken towns, and many military families. Michelle made sure to give everyone she met the love and gratitude she received on a daily basis. That doesn’t go with mentioning all the critiques and judgement she got from strangers and even other politicians, saying many horrific remarks that had to do about physical features, but never about her inner character. Throughout the eight years of her families service, she never puts herself above others and helped as much as she could, because that’s who she was.

Citations:

1. Obama, M. (2018). Becoming. New York: Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group.
2. Winsor, M. (2019, February 18). Woman who called Michelle Obama an 'ape in heels' pleads guilty to FEMA fraud. Retrieved from https://abcnews. go. com/US/woman-called-michelle-obama-ape-heels-pleads-guilty/story?id=61142401
3. Harris, E. (2011, May 25). Cal Thomas's Scary Angry Black Michelle. Retrieved from https://www. huffpost. com/entry/cal-thomass-scary-angry-b_b_110588
4. Belluz, J. (2016). How Michelle Obama quietly changed what Americans eat. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www. vox. com/2016/10/3/12866484/michelle-obama-childhood-obesity-lets-move
5. Starts at 60. (2018). Michelle Obama recalls father’s painful battle with multiple sclerosis. [online] Available at:
6. https://startsat60. com/health/michelle-obama-father-fraser-painful-multiple-sclerosis-video
7. Miller, J. (2016). What Barack and Michelle Obama Think About Southside with You, the Sundance Homage to Their Love Story. [online] Vanity Fair. Available at: https://www. vanityfair. com/hollywood/2016/01/barack-michelle-obama-southside-with-you-sundance [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].
8. Obama, B. (1995). Dreams from my father. 1st ed. Chicago, Illinois: Times Books,