The first woman that I would like to highlight on my journey of “Becoming” is Michelle Obama. Many know her as the First Lady of the United States beside her husband Barack Obama but through watching documentaries surrounding her life and reading her best selling book “Becoming” I learn that she is so much more than that. With being the wife of such a powerful and influential figure it is so easy to get caught in the highlight of his life that who you are as a person is a reflection of who he is however, through her book, and documentary “Becoming” Mrs.Obama wanted it to be known that she was so much more than that. She is a woman, a daughter, a sister, a lawyer, someone who has a passion for speaking and inspiring young people, she is HER and this is Herstory.
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama also known as Michelle Obama is an attorney, author, and also known to everyone as the First Lady of the United States under her husband Barack Obama. She was raised on the South Side of Chicago her, and her brother Craig who is older than her. She was a very family oriented girl who was very close to her mother, and father. So, close to her father that his death while she was young really struck her. She went to church as a young girl and was taught the piano by her Aunt. Someone who was really an inspiration to her was her Brother Craig. He really set the bar high for many of the inspirations that she had. He was one of the reasons that she attended the prestigious Princeton University. She entered in 1981 where she majored in Sociology and minored in African American studies. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985. It was in the years of preparing to attend Princeton and actually attending the school that Michelle became more of what it was like to be black. Her counselor at one time tried to discourage her from attending Princeton through saying, “She was setting her sights too high”. However, that did not stop her. She applied and got accepted. Whilebeing there she faced another incident of racism where her white roommate mother wanted to get her daughter reassigned to another room due to Michelle’s race. Race was not only a problem but socioeconomic status also played a role in Michelle being at Princeton as well. She highlights that she was attending a school where many of the students drove BMW’s and with neither of her parents attending college you can only imagine those issues that 1st and 2nd generation college students go through. However, that did not stop Michelle from going after her goals. She joined many different organizations through her time at Princeton such as Third World Center that sought to help minority students and ran a daycare center. Upon graduation she was also still very active with many non-profits such as working as the associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago as well as the vice president for Community and External Affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center. She also worked at Sidley Austin law firm where she met her now husband which was actually her intern at the time Barack Obama. At first opposed dating him, because they were the only two black people at the firm at the time and knew that that’s what her partners were waiting on. As she says, “the only two black people to click and be a couple”. After that the rest was herstory. She served as First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017. During her time as First Lady her focus was around being a role model for women, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. However, after leaving the white house Mrs.Obama explained in her documentary and book “Becoming” she did not want her being FLOTUS to be the highlight of her life so much that it overshadowed who she was.
Her interest in writing “Becoming” and doing a documentary was to explain that she’s human just like everyone else and much of who she was had become what Obama was due to him being the president so, she had to find herself all over again. At one point she highlights thatshe knew it was time to find herself all over again was when after Obama’s presidency when she was home at their house, and she had to fix her own cheese sandwich. There were no world renowned gourmet chefs to cook for her or take the plate down for her. In her documentary she talks about wanting to take the mask off from talking a certain way, walking a certain way, and just be herself. This was the first time the world would ever get this version of Michelle real, raw, and uncut.
As I was watching Michelle Obama documentary “Becoming” and just getting started on reading her book I was immediately inspired. We see her as the First Lady of the United States but watching her show you see her as a whole different person. Still poised and polished but funny, relatable, inspiring, and laid back. The biggest thing I can say is relatable. You may see her in being the FLOTUS but when you allow her to talk about her life such as where she grew up, being a 2nd generation college student, having aspirations to be a lawyer, being FLOTUS and sitting U.S. congressmen question whether she’s a man or not or even make comments about her but you say wow even as a prestigious black woman she is still not exempt from what black women in this country is subjected too. Her vulnerability in talking about what many thought about her just drew me in even more. That is one of the reasons I chose to highlight her in my “Becoming” series, because we see so many black women who inspire us, because they’re doing what we want to do but it goes beyond them just being black. When you here there story that draws you in even more. The overall courage it took to confront and talk about the different things people thought of her that was so negative was very courageous to me. Michelle Obama encourages me to define myself, be okay with not always being a certain way all the time, allow yourself just be, and know that you belong to be at the top. She said in her documentary that shehas been around many presidents, prime ministers, kings, and queens and many of them are not that smart, so don’t doubt where you believe you belong.
Michelle Obama is definitely a woman that is inspiring me on my own journey of becoming. In other words, I am also an aspiring lawyer, and want to be involved in politics. Through watching her documentary I was inspired to not let the world define me as a black woman but define who I am, my dreams, my goals, and what I want for myself. The world is constantly going to try to define black women, and I will be so many different things if I listen to them, but I hold the power to know that I am not invisible. I also loved her courageousness, how authentic she was in talking about the different things she faced through being FLOTUS, she’s funny, and most of all stylish. I also loved how authentic she was during her documentary. She truly met every person right where they were at. She inspired me to write my own “Becoming” and continue to dig deeper in who I am, and who I want to be. Thank you Michelle for being a black woman who is helping me in my own “Becoming”.