Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is a well celebrated woman, who was known to be the former first lady of the United States from 2009 till 2017, she is also known to be an attorney and author

Michelle Obama who is now 60 years old was born on January 17, 1964. She is happily married to the former President of the United States, Barack  Obama, who had his childhood days on the South Side of Chicago. He is an alumni of the college at Princeton and law school at Harvard.

In the beginning of her professional career, she worked at Sidley Austin, where she

Michelle and Barack reported met at Sidley Austin, where she used to work, afterwards, she worked for nonprofits and as the deputy dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago as well as the vice president for Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Michelle got married to Barack in 1992, and they have two children together.

In 2007 and 2008, Obama supported her husband’s campaign for the presidency. During the Democratic National Convention in 2008, she delivered the keynote address. She has delivered successful presentations at the conventions in 2012, 2016, and 2020. During her time as first lady, Obama served as an inspiration for women and advocated for awareness of poverty, education, nutrition, exercise, and healthy eating. She was celebrated for her impeccable style and supported American artisans. Obama was the first African-American woman to serve as first lady.

Obama’s influence remains strong even after her husband’s presidency ended. In 2020, she was voted the most admired woman in America by Gallup for the third straight year.

Educational Journey

Fraser Robinson III is the wonderful parent of Michelle Obama, The individual was employed at the city water plant and served as a Democratic ward captain, while Marian Shields Robinson was employed as a secretary at Spiegel’s catalog store and was born on July 30, 1937. Michelle’s mother dedicated herself to caring for the family until Michelle started high school.

Pre-Civil War, African Americans in the American South were the ancestors of the Robinson and Shields families.Her father’s heritage connects her to the Gullah people of South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Jim Robinson, her great-great-grandfather on her father’s side, entered the world as a slave on Friendfield Plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1850.[9]Following the conflict, he gained his freedom at the age of 15. There are still some relatives of Obama’s father residing in the Georgetown area. Her grandfather Fraser Robinson Jr. constructed his own home in South Carolina. Following his retirement, he and his wife LaVaughn (formerly Johnson) relocated from Chicago back to the Lowcountry.

Melvinia Dosey Shields’ great-great-great-grandmother was born into slavery in South Carolina and later sold to Henry Walls Shields, who owned a 200-acre farm near Atlanta in Clayton County, Georgia. Adolphus T. Shields, the eldest son of Melvinia, was a mixed-race individual born circa 1860. In 2012, researchers concluded that his father was likely 20-year-old Charles Marion Shields, the son of Melvinia’s master, based on DNA and other data. Perhaps they remained together due to her having two additional mixed-race children and residing close to Shields after gaining her freedom. She adopted his last name, but eventually decided to change it.

Melvinia kept quiet about Dolphus’s father, as usual, and didn’t discuss it with her family.Following the Civil War, Dolphus Shields and his wife Alice relocated to Birmingham, Alabama. Michelle Robinson’s great-great-grandparents were the ones, as her grandparents had relocated to Chicago. In the 20th century, additional generations of their family relocated to Cleveland, Ohio.

Robinson’s grandparents had relatives from more than one race. This demonstrates the complexity of U.S. history. According to members of her extended family, discussions about slavery were not common during their upbringing. Her ancestors of Irish, English, and Native American descent have a rich history. Rabbi Capers Funnye, born in Georgetown, South Carolina, remains connected to her extended family. Funnye is approximately 12 years Michelle’s senior. He is the son of her grandpa Robinson’s sister and her husband. Funnye converted to Judaism after completing his college education. This individual is your first cousin once removed from your father.

Robinson’s family leased the second floor of 7436 South Euclid Avenue in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood from her great-aunt, who resided on the first floor. This is where Robinson spent his early years. She was raised in a household that she considers typical, with her mother staying at home, her father going to work, and the family having dinner together at the table. Her elementary school was located nearby. Her family enjoyed playing games like Monopoly and reading, frequently gathering with relatives from both sides of the family. She acquired piano skills from her great-aunt, who was a piano teacher. The Robinsons attended services at the South Shore United Methodist Church, conveniently located nearby. While on vacation, they preferred to stay in a modest house in White Cloud, Michigan. She and her older brother Craig skipped the second grade.

Her father’s multiple sclerosis had a significant impact on her. She was committed to avoiding trouble and excelling in her studies after that. Michelle enrolled in a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School, later renamed Bouchet Academy, during her sixth-grade year.Attending Whitney Young High School made her part of a pioneering institution in Chicago. She found herself in the same class as Santita Jackson, the daughter of Jesse Jackson. The Robinsons spent three hours traveling from their home on the South Side to the school on the Near West Side. Michelle recalled feeling apprehensive about how others perceived her, yet she chose to overlook negative comments and instead used them as motivation. She discussed the differential treatment she received as a child due to her gender. For instance, individuals frequently sought out her older sibling’s opinion rather than hers. She excelled academically for four years, maintaining a spot on the honor roll, taking AP classes, being a member of the National Honor Society, and serving as the student council manager. She graduated as the class valedictorian in 1981.

Professional Journey

Robinson was inspired to attend Princeton University after her brother did. In 1981, she did. Her focus was on sociology with a minor in African-American studies. In 1985, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree by completing a 99-page final thesis titled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community” with guidance from Walter Wallace.

Robinson recalls how some of her high school teachers attempted to discourage her from applying and advised her not to aim too high. She believed that her brother’s academic background, including teaching at Oregon State University and Brown University, might have influenced her admission, but she was determined to demonstrate her own abilities. Her initial year was challenging as her parents did not attend college, and she had never experienced a college campus before.

Rumors suggest that the mother of a white roommate attempted to have her daughter relocated due to Michelle’s race. According to Robinson, her awareness of her race grew during her time at Princeton. Despite efforts from her friends and teachers to connect with her, she expressed feeling like an outsider on campus. Issues concerning social status were also present. “I was really surprised by college students driving BMWs,” she exclaimed. I’ve never known anyone whose parents owned BMWs.

Robinson became a member of the Third World Center, now known as the Carl A. Fields Center. The Third World Center was an academic and cultural organization that provided support to students from underrepresented backgrounds. She managed their daycare center, providing additional support for older children after school. She was dissatisfied with the way French was being taught, feeling it should have a more relaxed approach. As part of her graduate requirements, she had to write a sociology thesis titled Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community. She conducted research for her thesis by distributing a survey to African-American graduates. She inquired about their feelings regarding their racial identity before attending Princeton, during their time there, and after graduation. She distributed the survey to 400 alumni, but fewer than 90 of them completed it. Her study did not confirm her expectation that the black alumni who attended an elite university would continue to engage with the African-American community despite the privileges they had gained.

Robinson pursued a career in law and earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard Law School in 1988.Bond, the biographer, noted that when she applied to Harvard Law, she was much more confident: “This time, she had no doubts about deserving her spot.” Charles Ogletree served as her faculty mentor at Harvard Law. According to him, once she arrived at Harvard Law, she had resolved the internal conflict she had been grappling with at Princeton. She had made the choice to embrace being “both brilliant and black.”

Robinson participated in demonstrations at Harvard to demonstrate solidarity with the recruitment of educators from underrepresented communities.During her time at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, she assisted low-income renters with their housing issues. She is the third first lady to hold a college degree, following in the footsteps of Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. She mentioned that her education had provided her with more opportunities than she had anticipated.