Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama was born on January 17, 1964. Brought up in Chicago, Illinois, she comes from a multiracial family. She started her school life in Chicago, more specifically in Whitney Young High School and was on the honor roll for four years as well as serving as treasurer for the school societies.

Inspired by her brother Craig, she wanted to attend Princeton University. She was a sociology major and minored in African American studies and graduated with outstanding results as a Bachelor of Arts in 1985.  At Princeton, she was also part of the Third World Center which was a group that supported minority students and conducted activities that included tutoring. This is not where Michelle Obama stopped. Her incessant need for knowledge grew as she earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in the next three years. She not only worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau to help in housing cases but was also an active participant and a solid advocate of hiring professors from minorities.

Michelle Obama met her husband, Barrack Obama at her firm. She was supposed to be a mentor to him. But this relationship turned into something more and they eventual married in 1992. She is now the first African-American to become the First Lady of the United States. Michelle Obama has two daughters Malia Ann Obama, born in 1998 and Natasha Obama, born in 2001 and both girls now go to Sidwell Friends School situated in Washington. After Obama became President, she became part of his campaign and spoke at the Democratic National Convention (2008).  In the same year, she signed up to become a member for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She also spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Michelle Obama is also amongst the three First Ladies to have a postgraduate degree.

In terms of her career, she reduced her professional life as much as eighty percent because she wanted to support her husband’s candidacy. She was often seen at events promoting her husband’s campaign such as the Oprah Winfrey Show. She also gave astounding speeches most of which she did extempore or without her notes. Even though she faced a huge amount of criticism, especially via the internet for example, people called her names such as “angry black woman” she remained steadfast in her approach and did not waver saying she had grown a thick skin to such critique.

As First Lady, Michelle Obama has launched initiatives for advocating on behalf of the families of the soldiers at war as well as national service along with arts and arts education. She has also been one of the few people to talk about obesity via promotion of the public health crises. She is a strong advocate of healthy eating and one of the few people to spread awareness of nutrition. She also supports protection of LGBT people and is very proud of the amendment in the Illinois Human Rights Act regarding the subject. She has also supported diverse issues; the Illinois Gender Violence Act, repealing of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and new efforts to fight HIV and Aids are amongst them. Michelle Obama is the perfect epitome of someone who is renowned for her own identity i.e. Michelle Obama rather than being known as “the President’s wife”.


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