michelle obama essay

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Who is Michelle Obama?

What were michelle obama’s jobs.

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Michelle Obama

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Michelle Obama was first lady  (2009–17) as the wife of  Barack Obama , 44th president of the  United States . She was the first  African American  first lady, and she focused on supporting military families and ending childhood  obesity . To promote healthy eating, she planted a vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. 

Where was Michelle Obama educated?

Michelle Obama studied sociology and African American studies (B.A., 1985) at  Princeton University in New Jersey before attending  Harvard Law School  (J.D., 1988). 

Michelle Obama worked as a junior associate at a private law firm, where she specialized in  intellectual property law . She had several positions in Chicago city government in the 1990s, and, from 1996 until she became first lady , Obama worked as an associate dean and in several executive roles at the University of Chicago .

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Michelle Obama (born January 17, 1964, Chicago , Illinois , U.S.) is an American first lady (2009–17), the wife of Barack Obama , 44th president of the United States . She was the first African American first lady.

Michelle Robinson, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side, was the daughter of Marian, a homemaker, and Frasier Robinson, a worker in the city’s water-purification plant. She studied sociology and African American studies at Princeton University (B.A., 1985) in New Jersey before attending Harvard Law School (J.D., 1988). Returning to Chicago, she took a job as a junior associate at Sidley & Austin (now Sidley Austin LLP), where she specialized in intellectual property law . In 1989, while at the firm, she met Barack Obama, who had been hired as a summer associate. Seeking a more public-service-oriented career path, in 1991 she became an assistant to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley . The following year she and Barack, then a community organizer, were married. From 1992 to 1993 Michelle was the assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, and in 1993 she founded the Chicago branch of Public Allies, a leadership-training program for young adults; she served as the branch’s executive director until 1996.

Barack was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, and that year Michelle became the associate dean of student services at the University of Chicago , where she helped organize the school’s community outreach programs. In 2002 she became the executive director of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago. Two years later Barack was elected to the U.S. Senate and came to national prominence with a speech he gave on the final night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention . In 2005 she became vice president of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center.

When her husband announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination , Michelle took a prominent role in his campaign. She took leave from her position at the University of Chicago to devote herself more fully to campaigning while still maintaining time to care for her and Barack’s two young daughters. An adept speaker, she stumped extensively for her husband during the long Democratic primary race, and in June 2008 Barack became the party’s presumptive nominee. Michelle’s openness on the campaign trail and in interviews—she often humanized her husband by discussing his faults and implored observers not to “deify him”—endeared her to many. However, critics of her husband’s campaign took issue with some of her comments—such as when she remarked, while campaigning in Wisconsin in February 2008, that “for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.” Michelle later clarified her statement—saying that she meant to say that she was proud that Americans were eagerly engaging in the political process during the 2008 election—and she continued to have an active role in her husband’s campaign. Indeed, campaign aides referred to her as “the closer,” for her persuasiveness on the stump among uncommitted voters who attended rallies. On November 4, 2008, Barack was elected 44th president of the United States, defeating Arizona Sen. John McCain ; he took office on January 20, 2009, and was reelected in 2012.

As first lady, Michelle was involved in various causes, notably supporting military families and ending childhood obesity . In an effort to promote healthy eating, she planted a vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House in 2009. She related her experiences with the project in the book American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America (2012). In addition to her work on such issues, Michelle also garnered attention for her fashion sense.

During the 2016 presidential race , Michelle supported the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton , and her speech during the party’s national convention drew widespread praise; noting the coarse tenor of the race, Michelle stated that “when they go low, we go high.” Clinton ultimately lost to Republican Donald Trump , who had repeatedly and falsely suggested that Barack was not a U.S.-born citizen.

After her husband’s term ended in 2017, Michelle kept a relatively low public profile. However, in 2018 she released the autobiography Becoming , which garnered much attention and became one of the top-selling memoirs in the history of publishing . Although the book largely avoided politics, her criticism of Trump, whom she claimed endangered her family with his role in the “ birther ” conspiracy , drew particular interest. A tour for the book was the basis of the documentary Becoming (2020), which aired on Netflix ; Michelle and Barack had signed a production deal with the media-streaming company in 2018. In 2020 she also hosted The Michelle Obama Podcast , which was available on Spotify, an Internet music-streaming service. Two years later Michelle published The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times , in which she offered insights into handling difficult times, using her own personal experiences as examples.

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Michelle Obama

When Michelle Obama became First Lady of the United States in 2009, she had traveled a long way from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Still she pledged to remain grounded and focused on her children and their well-being. She also expressed interest in focusing attention on women's efforts to balance work and family. First Lady Obama commented that "My first priority will always be to make sure that our girls are healthy and grounded. Then I want to help other families get the support they need, not just to survive, but to thrive."

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, to Marian and Fraser Robinson in the South Side of Chicago where she and her older brother Craig grew up in a one-bedroom apartment. Craig and Michelle shared a "bedroom," which was the living room split down the center. The family was a close-knit one that stressed the importance of honesty, hard work, and education. Fraser worked as a city pump operator as well as a Democratic precinct captain. Although he suffered from multiple sclerosis, he rarely missed a day of work and taught Michelle and Craig to value achievement as a result of hard work. Marian was a stay-at-home mother until Michelle went to high school to maintain a steady household which included teaching both children to read by the age of four.

Michelle excelled in school, skipping second grade and entering a gifted program in sixth grade. She moved on to Chicago's first magnet school for gifted children called the Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, graduating as salutatorian in 1981. Although originally discouraged from applying, she then followed Craig to Princeton University. There she focused her studies on Sociology and African American Studies and graduated cum laude in 1985. Michelle faced further discouragement when she applied to Harvard Law School, but once again she excelled in her studies and graduated in 1988.

After graduating from Harvard, Michelle returned to Chicago and joined the law firm Sidley and Austin. While working there in the summer of 1989, she was assigned to be the adviser to Barack Obama, a new summer intern. Originally Michelle said no when Barack asked her on a date, but finally she gave in; he proposed two years later. They were married on October 3, 1992, and had two daughters, Malia (1998) and Natasha, known as Sasha (2001).

In 1992, shortly after her father's death, Michelle decided that corporate law was not her ideal lifelong occupation. She decided to move into public service, and she started as an assistant to Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley. She then became the assistant commissioner of planning and development for the city of Chicago. In 1993, Michelle began working as the executive director for the non-profit, Public Allies. This AmeriCorps program, initiated during the administration of President Bill Clinton, helped young adults develop the skills and training needed for careers in public service. Michelle joined the University of Chicago in 1996 as the associate dean of student services where she developed the school's first community service program. She became the executive director of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals in 2002. Her role as executive director ended in 2005 when she became vice president of community relations and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

When Barack Obama announced his decision to run for president in 2007, Michelle decided to cut back her work hours to balance her husband's campaign with their family life. Although she campaigned for her husband, traveling across the country giving speeches to thousands of Americans, she limited her time away from home to two days a week. Her mother helped with childcare while the Obamas were campaigning. Once Barack Obama won the election, the family began to prepare for the move to the White House. Both the Obamas talked about the trade-offs of being in the public eye while still trying to maintain some privacy. They emphasized the need to keep life consistent and steady for their daughters. Malia and Sasha attend Sidwell Friends School, a private Quaker day school. When Obama took office, Sasha was a second-grader at the school's Bethesda, Maryland, elementary school campus, and Malia was a fifth-grader at its middle school campus in Washington, DC. Michelle's mother moved to the White House with the Obamas to help ease the transition.

As First Lady, Michelle Obama was the subject of much focus and speculation. The Obamas received more than the usual amount of attention because of being the first African American family to live in the White House. The press covered the choice of a family dog, and contests were held to choose the First Lady's Inaugural gown. As the Obama family settled into their new life in Washington, DC, the Obamas protected the privacy of their daughters, the first young children to live in the White House since President John Kennedy and his family in the early 1960s. As First Lady, Michelle focused on childhood nutrition, exercise (Let's Move campaign), military families, and LGBT rights. She was a popular First Lady who was also influential as a partner to President Obama. 

Michelle Obama’s Accomplishments: a Legacy of Advocacy and Leadership

How it works

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Education Advocacy
• 3 Health and Nutrition
• 4 Military Families and Veterans
• 5 Women and Girls Empowerment
• 6 Conclusion

Introduction

Michelle Obama, y’know, the former First Lady of the United States? She’s pretty influential, and not just ’cause she was in the White House. She’s done a lot in public service, education, and health stuff. So, let’s dive into what Michelle Obama has achieved, touching on her projects, policy work, and lasting impact.

Education Advocacy

One big thing Michelle Obama has done is push for better education. Remember the “Reach Higher” thing she started in 2014? The idea was to get every student in America to go beyond high school, whether that means trade school, community college, or a four-year university.

She tackled the hurdles to higher education and tried to give students the tools and motivation they needed. With a focus on making college affordable and easy to understand, she’s really made a difference for a lot of young folks.

Health and Nutrition

Michelle’s also super into public health. In 2010, she kicked off the “Let’s Move!” campaign to fight childhood obesity. She wanted kids to eat better and get more exercise. By pushing for healthier school lunches, more fruits and veggies, and more active play, “Let’s Move!” has helped a lot of kids. She worked with groups, chefs, and teachers to spread the word, showing she likes to team up to solve problems.

Military Families and Veterans

Michelle knows military families and veterans have it tough. So, in 2011, she teamed up with Dr. Jill Biden to start “Joining Forces.” This program aimed to help service members, veterans, and their families with jobs, education, and wellness stuff. Thanks to her efforts, businesses promised to hire veterans and military spouses, mental health services got better, and military kids had more educational opportunities. She’s shown how important it is to support those who serve and their families.

Women and Girls Empowerment

Michelle’s always been about empowering women and girls. In 2015, she launched “Let Girls Learn” to help girls around the world get an education. By working with organizations and governments, this initiative tried to break down the barriers keeping girls out of school. Michelle’s speeches, books, and public talks often focus on education, confidence, and leadership for women and girls. She’s inspired a global push for gender equality and empowered future leaders.

Michelle Obama’s work as an advocate, leader, and role model has made a huge impact. Her efforts in education, health, military family support, and women’s empowerment show her dedication to public service and making a difference. She’s inspired millions and left a legacy that keeps on uplifting communities everywhere. Looking back at what she’s done, it’s clear Michelle Obama’s influence goes way beyond her time as First Lady, making her a key figure in today’s world.

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Michelle Obama

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 4, 2021 | Original: November 6, 2009

Michelle Obama (1964-), the wife of 44th U.S. president Barack Obama, served as first lady from 2009-2017. An Ivy League graduate, she built a successful career, first as a lawyer, and then in the private sector, which she maintained throughout her husband’s early political career. Concerned about the effect the campaign would have on their young daughters, Michelle was initially reluctant to support the idea of her husband’s run for the presidency. Despite her initial misgivings, she proved to be an effective surrogate for him on the campaign trail. After her husband’s election, she chose a number of causes to support; advocating for support for military families and encouraging healthy eating to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity. As a young mother, a fashion icon and the first African American first lady, Michelle Obama became a role model to many Americans.

WATCH: Michelle Obama

Michelle obama's childhood.

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago , Illinois , to parents Marian and Fraser Robinson. Although Fraser’s modest pay as a city-pump operator led to cramped living in their South Shore bungalow, the Robinsons were a close-knit family, with Michelle and older brother Craig pushed to excel in school. Both children skipped the second grade, and Michelle was later chosen for a gifted-student program that enabled her to take French and advanced biology courses.

Making the lengthy daily trip to attend Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Michelle became student council treasurer and a member of the National Honor Society before graduating as class salutatorian in 1981. She then followed her brother to Princeton University, where she created a reading program for the children of the school’s manual laborers. A sociology major with a minor in African-American studies, she explored the connections between the school’s black alumni and their communities in her senior thesis, graduating cum laude in 1985.

Career and Life Before Becoming First Lady 

After earning her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988, Michelle joined the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin as a junior associate specializing in marketing and intellectual property. Assigned to mentor a summer intern named Barack Obama , she deflected his initial romantic advancements before they began dating. They were engaged within two years, and married at the Trinity United Church of Christ on October 3, 1992.

Michelle left corporate law in 1991 to pursue a career in public service, enabling her to fulfill a personal passion and create networking opportunities that would benefit her husband’s future political career. Initially an assistant to Chicago mayor Richard Daley , she soon became the city’s assistant commissioner of planning and development. In 1993, she was named executive director for the Chicago branch of Public Allies, a leadership-training program for young adults. Moving on to the University of Chicago as associate dean of student services, she developed the school’s first community-service program.

When Obama decided to run for Illinois state senator in 1996, Michelle proved a disciplined campaign aide by canvassing for signatures and throwing fundraising parties. However, their victory presented the family with new challenges; following the births of daughters Malia (1998) and Sasha (2001), Michelle often had to juggle the demands of work and child-rearing alone with her husband tending to business in the state capital of Springfield.

Successful despite the difficulties, Michelle was named executive director of community relations and external affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals in 2002. She was promoted to vice president after three years, and served on the boards of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, but eventually scaled back her work hours and commitments to support Obama’s entry into the U.S. presidential race.

Tenure as First Lady 

Initially criticized for her candor, Michelle soon proved an asset on the campaign trail with her knack for delivering relatable stories about her family. In addition to becoming the first African American first lady upon Obama’s Election Day victory in 2008, she became the third with a post-graduate degree.

Michelle sought to tie her own agendas to her husband’s larger legislative goals, notably targeting the epidemic of childhood obesity while the Affordable Care Act was being created. In 2009, she worked with local elementary school students to plant a 1,100-square-foot vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House . The following year she launched the Let’s Move! initiative to promote healthy eating and physical activity.

In 2011, Michelle co-founded the Joining Forces program to expand educational and employment options for veterans and to raise awareness about the difficulties plaguing military families. After helping Obama win a second term in office, she formed the Reach Higher initiative to inspire young people to explore higher education and career-development opportunities.

Continuing the family theme of her campaign speeches, the first lady stressed the importance of remaining a diligent parent and brought her mother to live with her in the White House. She was also recognized for an ability to connect to younger generations by remaining attuned to popular culture. Embracing the use of social media, she encouraged fans to follow her progress on her Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, and proved willing to bring her messages to audiences by appearing in humorous sketches online and on television.

WATCH: The Best Photos of Obama's Presidency

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To the First Lady, With Love

Four thank-you notes to Michelle Obama, who has spent the past eight years quietly and confidently changing the course of American history.

. Credit... Collier Schorr

Supported by

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Gloria Steinem Jon Meacham and Rashida Jones

• Oct. 17, 2016

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:

She had rhythm, a flow and swerve, hands slicing air, body weight moving from foot to foot, a beautiful rhythm. In anything else but a black American body, it would have been contrived. The three-quarter sleeves of her teal dress announced its appropriateness, as did her matching brooch. But the cut of the dress scorned any “future first lady” stuffiness; it hung easy on her, as effortless as her animation. And a brooch, Old World style accessory, yes, but hers was big and ebulliently shaped and perched center on her chest. Michelle Obama was speaking. It was the 2008 Democratic National Convention. My anxiety rose and swirled, watching and willing her to be as close to perfection as possible, not for me, because I was already a believer, but for the swaths of America that would rather she stumbled.

She first appeared in the public consciousness, all common sense and mordant humor, at ease in her skin. She had the air of a woman who could balance a checkbook, and who knew a good deal when she saw it, and who would tell off whomever needed telling off. She was tall and sure and stylish. She was reluctant to be first lady, and did not hide her reluctance beneath platitudes. She seemed not so much unique as true. She sharpened her husband’s then-hazy form, made him solid, more than just a dream.

But she had to flatten herself to better fit the mold of first lady. At the law firm where they met before love felled them, she had been her husband’s mentor; they seemed to be truly friends, partners, equals in a modern marriage in a new American century. Yet voters and observers, wide strips of America, wanted her to conform and defer, to cleanse her tongue of wit and barb. When she spoke of his bad morning-breath, a quirky and humanizing detail, she was accused of emasculating him.

Because she said what she thought, and because she smiled only when she felt like smiling, and not constantly and vacuously, America’s cheapest caricature was cast on her: the Angry Black Woman. Women, in general, are not permitted anger — but from black American women, there is an added expectation of interminable gratitude, the closer to groveling the better, as though their citizenship is a phenomenon that they cannot take for granted.

“I love this country,” she said to applause. She needed to say it — her salve to the hostility of people who claimed she was unpatriotic because she had dared to suggest that, as an adult, she had not always been proud of her country.

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Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is a lawyer, writer, and the wife of former U.S. President Barack Obama. Prior to her role as first lady, she was a lawyer, Chicago city administrator, and community outreach worker.

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1964-present

Latest News: Michelle Obama Wins Second Grammy Award

Talk about a talented former first family!

Michelle Obama won her second Grammy Award on Sunday—equaling her husband and former President Barack Obama —in the Best Audiobook, Narration, and Storytelling Recording category for The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times . Other nominees included actors Meryl Streep and William Shatner , Senator Bernie Sanders , and record executive Rick Rubin.

Michelle Obama, 60, was not in attendance in Los Angeles, where the award was announced during the Grammys pre-show on Sunday afternoon. She previously won in the same category for the audio version of her 2018 memoir Becoming .

Barack previously received two Grammys for Best Spoken Word Album for Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream .

Who Is Michelle Obama?

Quick facts, career in law and public service, marriage to barack obama and daughters, campaigning for her husband, causes and accomplishments as first lady, notable speeches, obama foundation, books and podcasts, partnership with netflix.

Michelle Obama is a lawyer, writer, and philanthropist who was the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first Black woman to hold this position. Michelle is the wife of America’s 44 th president, Barack Obama . As first lady, Obama focused her attention on social issues such as poverty, healthy living, and education. She won a Grammy Award for her 2018 memoir, Becoming , which discusses the experiences that shaped her, from her childhood in Chicago to her years living in the White House.

FULL NAME: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama BORN: January 17, 1964 BIRTHPLACE: Chicago, Illinois SPOUSE: Barack Obama (1992-present) CHILDREN: Malia and Sasha ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago. Her father, Fraser Robinson, was a city-pump operator and a Democratic precinct captain. Her mother, Marian, was a secretary at Spiegel’s catalog store but later stayed home to raise Michelle and her older brother, Craig. At 21 months apart in age, Craig and Michelle were often mistaken for twins .

The Robinson family lived in a small bungalow on Chicago’s South Side. Michelle and Craig shared quarters, sleeping in the living room with a sheet serving as a makeshift room divider. They were a close-knit family, typically sharing meals, reading, and playing games together. She later said of her childhood: “I had a very stable, conventional upbringing, and that felt very safe to me.”

Raised with an emphasis on education, both Michelle and her brother learned to read at home by age 4. Both skipped the second grade. By the sixth grade, Michelle was taking classes in her school’s gifted program, where she learned French and completed accelerated courses in biology. Michelle went on to attend Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, the city’s first magnet high school for gifted children, where, among other activities, she served as the student government treasurer. She graduated in 1981 as class salutatorian.

Following in her older brother’s footsteps, Michelle applied for Princeton University. Some teachers tried to dissuade her from applying, telling her she would never get accepted: “Some of my teachers straight up told me that I was setting my sights too high.” Nevertheless, she was accepted, and ultimately graduated cum laude in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Michelle went on to study law at Harvard Law School, where she took part in demonstrations calling for the enrollment and hiring of more minority students and professors. She was awarded her juris doctor in 1988.

After graduating law school in 1988, Michelle worked as an associate in the Chicago branch of the firm Sidley Austin. Her focus was marketing and intellectual property. In 1991, she left corporate law to pursue a career in public service, working as an assistant to Mayor Richard Daley and then as the assistant commissioner of planning and development for the City of Chicago. In 1993, Michelle became executive director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a nonprofit leadership-training program that helps young adults develop skills for future careers in the public sector.

In 1996, Michelle joined the University of Chicago as associate dean of student services, developing the school’s first community-service program. Beginning in 2002, she worked for the University of Chicago Hospitals as executive director of community relations and external affairs. In May 2005, Michelle was appointed vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she continued to work part-time until shortly before her husband’s inauguration as president. She also served as a board member for the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Michelle met Barack Obama in 1989 at the Chicago firm Sidley Austin. He was a summer intern, and Michelle was assigned to him as an adviser. They were among the few Black people working at the firm at the time. Initially, Michelle refused to date Barack, believing that their work relationship would make the romance improper. She eventually relented, however, and the couple soon fell in love.

Barack described their early relationship as an “opposites attract” situation because he had a different background and a more adventurous personality than Michelle. After two years of dating, Barack proposed, and the two married on October 3, 1992.

The couple has two daughters: Malia , born in 1998, and Sasha , born in 2001. Both Michelle and Barack have stated that their personal priority is their children. The Obamas tried to make their daughters’ world as “normal” as possible while living in the White House, with set times for studying, going to bed and getting up. “My first priority will always be to make sure that our girls are healthy and grounded,” Michelle has said . “Then I want to help other families get the support they need, not just to survive, but to thrive.”

Obama had long known her husband might pursue a political career and said in as early as 1996: “I’m very wary of politics. I think he’s too much of a good guy for the kind of brutality, the skepticism.” She opposed Barack’s decision to run for the U.S. House of Representatives but nevertheless campaigned for him during his unsuccessful primary campaign in 2000. She first caught the eye of a national audience while at her husband’s side when he delivered a high-profile speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Barack was elected as U.S. Senator from Illinois that November.

As her husband’s political role pushed the family into the spotlight, Michelle was publicly recognized for her no-nonsense campaign style as well as her sense of fashion. In May 2006, she was featured in Essence magazine as one of “25 of the World’s Most Inspiring Women.” In September 2007, Michelle was included in 02138 magazine as number 58 in “The Harvard 100,” a yearly list of the school’s most influential alumni. She also twice appeared on the cover of Vogue and made the Vanity Fair best-dressed list two years in a row as well as People magazine’s 2008 best-dressed list.

Michelle had reservations about Barack’s decision to run for president, too; she worried about how it would affect their daughters. Those concerns proved unfounded, as Michelle said they “could care less” about the campaign. In 2007, Michelle scaled back her own professional work to attend to family and campaign obligations during Barack’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination. When they were out on the trail, they would leave their daughters with Michelle’s mother, Marian. Barack won the nomination and later defeated Republican challenger John McCain in the general election to become the 44 th president of the United States . He was inaugurated on January 20, 2009.

When her husband sought reelection in 2012, facing a challenging race against Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney , Michelle diligently campaigned on his behalf. By this time, she had a more established public image and was widely popular. Politico described her as “the most popular member of the Obama administration” and an invaluable asset when it comes to raising money and delivering speeches. She traveled the country, giving talks and making public appearances. On November 6, 2012, Barack was re-elected for a second term.

As first lady of the United States, Michelle focused her attention on issues such as the support of military families, helping working women balance career and family, and encouraging national service. During the first year of the Obama presidency, Michelle and Barack volunteered at homeless shelters and soup kitchens in the Washington, D.C. area. Michelle also made appearances at public schools, stressing the importance of education and volunteer work.

Ever conscious of her family’s diet and health, Michelle supported the organic-food movement, instructing the White House kitchens to prepare organic food for guests and her family. In March 2009, Michelle worked with 23 fifth graders from a Washington, D.C. school to plant an 1,100-square-foot vegetable garden and install beehives on the South Lawn of the White House. The garden expanded its footprint throughout the Obama administration, and Michelle continued to host events with schoolchildren there. She also put reducing childhood obesity near the top of her agenda.

Michelle remained committed to health and wellness causes throughout her time as first lady. In 2012, she announced a new fitness program for kids as part of her Let’s Move initiative. Along with the U.S. Olympic team and other sports organizations, she worked to get young people to try out a new sport or activity. She also released a book as part of her mission to promote healthy eating called American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America (2012), which included her own experience creating a vegetable garden as well as the work of community gardens elsewhere.

Throughout her career, Obama has given a number of powerful speeches. In September 2012, she delivered a noteworthy speech at the Democratic National Convention. “Every day, the people I meet inspire me, every day they make me proud, every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth,” she said. “Serving as your first lady is an honor and a privilege.” Obama won both public and critical praise for her narrative, called a “shining moment” by The Washington Post .

In July 2016, Michelle campaigned in support of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. When Clinton was named the Democratic presidential nominee, she became the first woman in the country’s history to win a major political party’s presidential nomination. On the first night of the convention, Michelle spoke in support of Clinton, who had previously run against Barack during the 2008 primaries, and Clinton’s vision of a progressive America.

“I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, Black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn,” she said. “And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.” During the same speech, Michelle alluded to the behavior of Clinton’s Republican challenger Donald Trump , saying her party would not stoop to his level, with the famous phrase : “Our motto is, when they go low, we go high.”

On January 13, 2017, Michelle made her final speech as first lady at the White House, saying “being your first lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and I hope I’ve made you proud.” In an emotional moment, she addressed young Americans:

“I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong. So don’t be afraid. You hear me, young people? Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourself with a good education. Then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope; never fear.”

In 2014, Barack and Michelle established the Obama Foundation that is overseeing the creation of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s South Side. The nonprofit also runs numerous programs aligned with its mission “to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world.” Michelle is particularly involved with the foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, which supports education for girls around the world.

On November 13, 2018, Michelle published her critically acclaimed memoir, Becoming . Describing the “deeply personal experience” of writing the book, she tweeted : “I talk about my roots and how a girl from the South Side found her voice. I hope my journey inspires readers to find the courage to become whoever they aspire to be.” In just 15 days, it became the best-selling book in the United States for the year 2018 and also became a bestseller in several other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa. In 2020, Michelle won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for the audiobook version of Becoming .

Michelle published a second book in 2022 called The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times . In it, Michelle shared the contents of what she described as her “personal toolbox,” including attitudes, habits, and practices used to overcome feelings of fear, helplessness, and uncertainty. In particular, it addressed the “low-grade form” of depression that gripped the nation during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michelle premiered a podcast in 2020 called The Michelle Obama Podcast . Podcast critic Nicholas Quah of Vulture said it explored similar themes as the former first lady’s memoir Becoming , calling it entertaining and writing that he was “deeply moved and taken by its comforts, so parched am I for any modicum of moral leadership in the public sphere.” In March 2023, Michelle launched Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast , to accompany her book The Light We Carry .

In February 2024, the audiobook version of The Light We Carry earned Obama her second Grammy Award .

In May 2018, Michelle and Barack announced that they signed a multi-year deal to produce TV series and films for Netflix through their company, Higher Ground Productions. “Barack and I have always believed in the power of storytelling to inspire us, to make us think differently about the world around us,” the former First Lady said in a statement .

Their first joint effort resulted in Netflix’s release of American Factory (2019), a documentary about the 2015 launch of a Chinese-owned automotive glass factory in Dayton, Ohio, and the clash of differing cultures and business interests. A hit with critics, American Factory earned an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in February 2020. Michelle was an executive producer and presenter on the Netflix children’s cooking series Waffles + Mochi . Additionally , Netflix and Higher Ground Productions partnered on the documentary Becoming (2020), based upon Michelle’s memoir of the same name.

• Every day, the people I meet inspire me. Every day, they make me proud. Every day, they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on Earth. Serving as your first lady is an honor and a privilege.
• When I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.
• Our motto is, when they go low, we go high.
• One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.
• I have the privilege of working on the issues that I choose and the issues that I feel most passionate about.
• These are the moments that define us—not the day you get the promotion, not the day you win teacher of the year, but the times that force you to claw and scratch and fight just to get through the day; the moments when you get knocked down and you’re wondering whether it’s even worth it to get back up. Those are the times when you’ve got to ask yourself, “Who am I going to be?”
• That’s what’s always made this country great—embracing the diversity of experience and opinion that surrounds us everywhere we go.
• The only difference between me and every other woman that I know is that my challenges are publicized, and I’m doing this juggling in front of cameras.
• We should always have three friends in our lives: one who walks ahead who we look up to and we follow; one who walks beside us, who is with us every step of our journeys; and then, one who we reach back for and we bring along after we’ve cleared the way.
• People told me, ‘You can do it all. Just stay the course, get your education, and you can raise a child, stay thin, be in shape, love your man, look good, and raise healthy children.’ That was a lie.
• Exercise is really important to me—it’s therapeutic. So if I’m ever feeling tense or stressed or like I’m about to have a meltdown, I’ll put on my iPod and head to the gym or out on a bike ride along Lake Michigan with the girls.
• It would be hard for me to edit myself and still be me.
• We learned about dignity and decency—that how hard you work matters more than how much you make... that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.
• As women, we must stand up for ourselves. As women, we must stand up for each other. As women, we must stand up for justice for all.

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'Meaning of Michelle' Essays Celebrate First Lady's Realness

Tanya Ballard Brown

First lady Michelle Obama welcomes community leaders from across the country to celebrate the successes and share best practices to continue the work of the Mayor's Challenge to End Veterans' Homelessness in the East Room of the White House complex in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption

First lady Michelle Obama welcomes community leaders from across the country to celebrate the successes and share best practices to continue the work of the Mayor's Challenge to End Veterans' Homelessness in the East Room of the White House complex in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14.

Over the past eight years, Michelle Obama — a former attorney with degrees from Princeton and Harvard universities — has dealt with a lot of cheap (and often mean) shots lobbed in her direction . But while she has her detractors, this first black first lady is widely admired — and not just for her famously defined arms (they even have their own Tumblr ).

So it's not surprising that, in these last days of disco for the Obama administration, a few fans of the first lady would share their love for her in the just-released book, The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own, a collection of essays edited by author Veronica Chambers.

These writers aren't academically dissecting Obama in her role as first lady. No, these are FANS, so much so that some don't need to call her by her last name. It's just Michelle. Among them is a Top Chef , a jazzy jazz musician , and an original member of the Hamilton cast. Many of the essayists felt a connection, an intimacy with the first lady that Obama helped foster not just by being one of the people, but by reminding black Americans, as Chambers writes, that "blackness is not burdensome, and we ... have joy as a birthright."

The Meaning of Michelle

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In the book's preface, film director Ava DuVernay declares, outright, that Michelle Obama's mere presence in the White House was like taking a broom and sweeping out the dirt of past administrations.

In one visit, Michelle supplanted the cartoons of Monica, Katrina and their representative presidencies, ripe with mishandled trust and low morals. In that one photo op, Michelle infused the image of the first lady with pride, panache and polish. Many of us saw a woman to be admired. A woman to be trusted. Scratch that. Many of us saw a Black woman to be admired. A Black woman to be trusted. There it is.

For many black women, writer Benilde Little sums up that feeling of pride meshed with admiration when she explains why she burst into tears upon seeing a post-2008 inauguration photo of the first lady in The New York Times:

"I'm just so happy," Little writes. "She's just like me."

Little describes how Obama's working class-to-Ivy league background helped provide a more fully fleshed out portrayal of black women, something beyond the "perfect pitch, high bourg or stone ghettoians." While the first lady isn't a product of the Jack and Jill set, we know her origin isn't one of black pathology, either.

Nope, her story is the norm for many black Americans: two hard-working parents who pushed and encouraged her to aim high and do well, which she did. Then she got married and had some kids.

Feminist Brittney Cooper put it real plainly in her essay:

As mom-in-chief, Michelle could correct decades-long stereotypes of black women as neglectful parents and money-grubbing welfare queens.

She is, as blogger Damon Young writes in his essay, "a regular black chick." (He means that in a good way, trust me).

While black Americans collectively saw her and saw our sisters and cousins and aunts and moms, we (black men) saw her and saw our classmates and our neighbors; our coworkers and our colleagues. We saw the woman we wanted to approach, to court, to date, to commit to, to marry, and to start a family and grow old with, even if we didn't actually realize we wanted to do any of those things before we saw her.

In fact, Michelle's regular-ness and sista girl realness comes up a lot, as writer after writer describes how she made the White House — and her husband — seem more relatable.

Not all of the essays are perfect, but I don't think readers will come away from this collection disappointed. They are reflections on a woman who feels like a good girlfriend to a large portion of the American public, though they only know her from afar. And the wistfulness in them brings to mind an oldie but goodie from Boyz II Men:

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Michelle Obama: Yes, We Still Need to ‘Go High’ When Everything Is Terrible

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O f all the questions I get asked, there’s one that comes up more often and more predictably than any other. Nearly every time I talk to an interviewer or sit down with a new group of people, I can basically count on someone raising it, while others lean in to listen.

What does it really mean to go high ?

It seems possible that I might spend years answering this question. So let me try here.

I first publicly uttered the words “When they go low, we go high” while speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Hillary Clinton was running for president, as was Donald Trump . My job was to rally Democratic voters , reminding everyone to stay involved and do the work it would take to get their candidate elected, including voting on Election Day. As I often do, I talked about how the issues of the day mattered to me as a parent to my two daughters , how the choices Barack and I made were always guided by the principles we wanted our kids to recognize as valuable.

Truthfully, I had no idea that the phrase “we go high” would attach itself to me for years to come, becoming almost synonymous with my name. All I was doing, really, was sharing a convenient bit of shorthand Barack and I used to remind ourselves to hang on to our integrity when we saw others losing theirs. It was a simplification of our ideals: Tell the truth, do your best by others, keep perspective, stay tough.

Read More: Michelle Obama and Amanda Gorman Discuss Art, Identity, and Optimism

Privately, Barack and I have committed and recommitted to the idea of going high many times, especially as we have gone through hard-hitting campaigns and political battles, trying to navigate life in the public eye. We invoke it any time we feel like we are being tested, as a reminder to steady ourselves when confronted by a moral challenge. Going high is like drawing a line in the sand, a boundary we can make visible and then consider. Which side of this do I want to be on? It’s a reminder to pause and be thoughtful.

And yet the problem with any simple motto, I suppose, is that it can be easier to remember and repeat than to put into active daily practice.

These days, when people ask me to explain what it means to go high, I sometimes sense a slightly less polite question riding on its back side, tinged by a natural skepticism, a feeling brewed by weariness and arriving when our efforts seem fruitless and our tests don’t end: But wait, have you seen the world lately? How much worse can things get? Where is the energy to fight?

After George Floyd died with a police officer’s knee on his neck on a Minneapolis street corner in May 2020, people wrote me, asking whether going high was really the correct response. After the Capitol building was marauded, after Republican officials continued to support false and undermining claims about our elections, they wondered something similar. The provocations are endless. We’ve seen more than a million Americans die in a pandemic that highlights every disparity in our culture. We’ve seen Russian troops slaughtering civilians in Ukraine . The Taliban has banned girls going to school in Afghanistan . In the United States, our own leaders have moved to criminalize abortion while communities are routinely devastated by gun violence and hate crimes. Trans rights, gay rights, voting rights, women’s rights—all remain under attack. Any time there’s another injustice, another round of brutality, another incident of failed leadership, corruption, or violation of rights, I get letters and emails that pose some form of this same question.

Are we still supposed to be going high ?

My answer is yes. We need to keep trying to go high. Operating with integrity matters. It will matter forever. It is a tool.

Read More: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s TIME100 Tribute to Michelle Obama

At the same time, though, I want to be clear: Going high is something you do rather than merely feel. It’s not some call to be complacent and wait around for change, or to sit on the sidelines as others struggle. It is not about accepting the conditions of oppression or letting cruelty and power go unchallenged. The notion of going high shouldn’t raise any questions about whether we are obligated to fight for more fairness, decency, and justice in this world; rather, it’s about how we fight, how we go about trying to solve the problems we encounter, and how we sustain ourselves long enough to be effective rather than burn out. There are some who see this as an unfair and ineffective compromise, an extension of respectability politics, in which we conform to rather than challenge the rules in order to get by. Why, people rightly wonder, do we need to try to be so reasonable all the time?

I can see how some think that reason leaves no room for rage . I understand the perception that going high means that you somehow remove yourself and remain unbothered by all that might otherwise gall and provoke you.

But it’s not that at all.

When I first said those words on the convention stage in Philadelphia in 2016 , I was neither removed nor unbothered. In fact, I was pretty agitated. At that point, I had been thoroughly provoked by the bile coming out of the mouths of Republican officials on a regular basis. I was tired after nearly eight years of seeing my husband’s work undermined and his character denigrated, including through bigoted attempts to call his citizenship into question . And I was angry that the chief instigator of that bigotry was now out campaigning to be president.

But where was my actual power? I knew it didn’t reside in my hurt and rage, at least as they existed in raw forms. My power lay in whatever I could manage to do with that hurt and rage, where I could take it. It hinged on whether or not I could elevate those feelings into something that would become harder for others to write off, which was a clear message, a call to action, and a result I was willing to work for.

Read More: What Michelle Obama Said in Her Final Remarks as First Lady

That’s what going high is for me. It’s about taking an abstract and usually upsetting feeling and working to convert it into some sort of actionable plan, to move through the raw stuff and in the direction of a larger solution.

I want to be clear that this is a process, and not always a quick one. It can take time and patience. It’s okay to sit and stew for a while, to live inside the agitation caused by injustice or fear or grief , or to express your pain. It’s okay to grant yourself the space you need to recover or heal. For me, going high usually involves taking a pause before I react. It is a form of self-control, a line laid between our best and worst impulses. Going high is about resisting the temptation to participate in shallow fury and corrosive contempt and instead figuring out how to respond with a clear voice to whatever is shallow and corrosive around you. It’s what happens when you take a reaction and mature it into a response.

Because here’s the thing: Emotions are not plans. They don’t solve problems or right any wrongs. You can feel them—you will feel them, inevitably—but be careful about letting them guide you. Rage can be a dirty windshield. Hurt is like a broken steering wheel. Disappointment will only ride, sulking and unhelpful, in the back seat. If you don’t do something constructive with them, they’ll take you straight into a ditch.

My power has always hinged on my ability to keep myself out of the ditch.

Adapted from the book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama. Copyright © 2022 by Michelle Obama. Published by Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

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Let Girls Learn

Addressing the global crisis in girls’ education requires not just investment, but challenging cultural beliefs and practices.

Right now, 62 million girls worldwide are not in school. They’re receiving no formal education at all—no reading, no writing, no math—none of the basic skills they need to provide for themselves and their families, and contribute fully to their countries.

Often, understandably, this issue is framed as a matter of resources—a failure to invest enough money in educating girls. We can solve this problem, the argument goes, if we provide more scholarships for girls so they can afford school fees, uniforms, and supplies; and if we provide safe transportation so their parents don’t have to worry that they’ll be sexually assaulted on their way to or from school; and if we build adequate school bathrooms for girls so they don’t have to stay home when they have their periods, and then fall behind and wind up dropping out.

And it’s true that investments like these are critical for addressing our global girls’ education crisis. That’s why, last spring, the president and I launched Let Girls Learn , a new initiative to fund community girls’ education projects like girls’ leadership camps and school bathrooms; educate girls in conflict zones; and address poverty, HIV, and other issues that keep girls out of school.

But while these investments are absolutely necessary to solve our girls’ education problem, they are simply not sufficient. Scholarships, bathrooms, and safe transportation will only go so far if societies still view menstruation as shameful and shun menstruating girls. Or if they fail to punish rapists and reject survivors of rape as “damaged goods.” Or if they provide few opportunities for women to join the workforce and support their families, so that it’s simply not financially viable for parents struggling with poverty to send their daughters to school.

In other words, we cannot address our girls’ education crisis until we address the broader cultural beliefs and practices that can help cause and perpetuate this crisis. And that is precisely the message I intend to deliver this week when I travel to the Middle East . I’ll be visiting girls at a school in Jordan—one of many schools in that country educating both Jordanian children and children whose families have fled the conflict in Syria—to highlight the power of investments in girls’ education. But I’ll also be speaking at a global education conference in Qatar where I’ll be urging countries around the world to both make new investments in girls’ education and challenge laws and practices that silence, demean, and brutalize women—from female genital mutilation and cutting, to forced child marriage, to laws that allow marital rape and disadvantage women in the workplace.

We know that legal and cultural change is possible because we’ve seen it in countries around the world, including our own. A century ago, women in America couldn’t even vote. Decades ago, it was perfectly legal for employers to refuse to hire women, and domestic violence was seen not as a crime, but as a private family matter. But in each generation, brave people—both men and women—stood up to change these practices. They did it through individual acts like taking their bosses to court, fighting to prosecute their rapists, and leaving their abusive husbands—and through national movements and legislation that brought changes like the 19th Amendment, Title IX, and the Violence Against Women Act.

Cultural shifts like these can spur countries to make greater investments in girls’ education. And when they do, that can cause a powerful ripple effect that can lead to even greater cultural and political progress on behalf of women. Girls who are educated marry later, have lower rates of infant and maternal mortality, and are more likely to immunize their children and less likely to contract HIV. Educated girls also earn higher salaries—15 to 25 percent more for each additional year of secondary school—and studies have shown that sending more girls to school can boost an entire country’s GDP.

And when educated girls become healthy, financially secure, empowered women, they’re far better equipped to advocate for their needs and aspirations, and challenge unjust laws and harmful practices and beliefs. So really, this can be a virtuous cycle.

But ultimately, for me, this issue isn’t just about politics or economics—for me, this is a moral issue. As I’ve traveled the world, I have met so many of these girls. I’ve seen firsthand that every single one of them has the spark of something extraordinary inside of them, and they are so hungry to realize their promise. They walk for hours each day to school, learning at rickety desks in bare concrete classrooms. They study for hours each night, holding tight to their hopes for the future, even in the face of heartbreaking odds.

These girls are no different from my daughters or any of our daughters. And we should never have to accept our girls having their bodies mutilated or being married off to grown men as teenagers, confined to lives of dependence and abuse. We should never have to raise them in societies that silence their voices and snuff out their dreams. None of us here in the U.S. would accept this for our own daughters and granddaughters, so why would we accept it for any girl on our planet?

As a first lady, a mother, and a human being, I cannot walk away from these girls, and I plan to keep raising my voice on their behalf for the rest of my life. I plan to keep urging world leaders to invest in their potential and create societies that truly value them as human beings. I plan to keep reaching out to local leaders, families, and girls themselves to raise awareness about the power of sending girls to school. And I plan to keep talking about this issue here at home, because I believe that all of us—men and women, in every country on this planet—have a moral obligation to give all of these girls a future worthy of their promise and their dreams.

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Michelle Obama

Introduction.

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago , Illinois . Her father, Fraser, worked in Chicago’s water-purification plant. Her mother, Marian, was a homemaker. Michelle and her older brother, Craig, grew up on Chicago’s South Side. Michelle learned to read by age 4. She attended public schools, where she earned good grades and was a student leader.

Both Craig and Michelle were accepted to Princeton University. Michelle graduated in 1985 with a degree in sociology and African American studies. She then went to Harvard Law School, where she earned a law degree in 1988.

Back in Chicago, Michelle worked as an attorney in a law firm. In 1989 she met Barack Obama, who was working at the same firm. They were married in 1992.

Michelle left the law firm in 1991 to work for the mayor of Chicago. She worked for the city of Chicago until 1993, when she founded a leadership program for young adults. In 1996 she took a job at the University of Chicago. Not long afterward, the Obamas had two daughters: Malia, born in 1998, and Natasha (Sasha), born in 2001.

Michelle became a vice president at the University of Chicago Medical Center in 2005. When her husband ran for president in 2008, Michelle left her job to help with the campaign.

Michelle quickly became a popular, stylish first lady. She gave speeches in support of military families and other causes. To promote healthy eating, she planted a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. In 2010 she launched the “Let’s Move!” campaign. Its goal was to end obesity in children.

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Michelle Obama Shares Her Lessons on Motherhood in a Moving Personal Essay

Former first lady Michelle Obama has always had sage advice to share in speeches; in her best-selling book, Becoming ; and now in a new personal essay in People . In honor of Mother's Day, Obama penned a deeply personal essay in which she describes the important lessons her own mother, Marian Robinson, passed onto her.

"My mother is a woman who chooses her words carefully. She’ll sometimes speak in clipped sentences, her wisdom packed into short bursts and punctuated with an infectious smile or a wry laugh. It’s a style that makes her a favorite of everyone she meets—a sweet, witty companion who doesn’t need the limelight," Obama wrote.

Obama added that as she grew older, she realized just how important that manner of conversation really was and how it truly reflected her mother's parenting style. "Because when it came to raising her kids, my mom knew that her voice was less important than allowing me to use my own," she wrote.

According to Obama, that meant her mother "listened a lot more than she lectured" when answering all the questions a younger Michelle threw her way.

"Why did we have to eat eggs for breakfast? Why do people need jobs? Why are the houses bigger in other neighborhoods? She didn’t chide me if I scrapped with some of the neighbor kids or challenged my ornery grandfather when I thought he was being a little too ornery," Obama wrote. "She listened intently to the lunchtime conversations I had with my schoolmates over bologna sandwiches and nodded patiently along to tales of my contentious piano lessons with my great aunt Robbie."

Obama continued that in today’s world, it may be easy to see her mother's actions as "negligent" because she allowed her children to "rule the roost." But, she noted, the reality was far from that.

"She and my father, Fraser, were wholly invested in their children, pouring a deep and durable foundation of goodness and honesty, of right and wrong, into my brother and me. After that, they simply let us be ourselves," she wrote.

Obama added that now, as a mother of two nearly grown women, she sees just how important that freedom is.

"I see now how important that kind of freedom is for all children, particularly for girls with flames of their own—flames the world might try to dim," she wrote. "It’s up to us, as mothers and mother figures, to give the girls in our lives the kind of support that keeps their flame lit and lifts up their voices—not necessarily with our own words, but by letting them find the words themselves."

‘Do something': Read and watch Michelle Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention

The former first lady made a personal and passionate speech to the dnc in chicago., published august 20, 2024 • updated on august 21, 2024 at 11:08 am.

Editor's note: The text of the speech below is as prepared. Her actual delivery may have varied.

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Hello Chicago! 

Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? 

Not just here in this arena… but spreading all across this country we love… a familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long. 

You know what I’m talking about? 

It’s the contagious power of hope! 

Decision 2024

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The anticipation… the energy… the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. 

The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division, and hate that have consumed us… and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation—the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for. 

America, hope is making a comeback!

To be honest, I’m realizing that until recently, I have mourned  the dimming of that hope. 

Maybe you’ve experienced the same feelings… a deep pit in my stomach… a palpable sense of dread about the future. 

And for me, that mourning has been mixed with my own personal grief. 

The last time I was in Chicago was to memorialize my mother—the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work, humility, and decency… who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my voice. 

I still feel her loss so profoundly… I wasn’t even sure I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight. 

But my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty I feel to honor her memory… and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future. 

You see, my mom, in her steady, quiet way, lived out that striving sense of hope every day of her life. 

She believed that all children — all people — have value… that anyone can succeed if given the opportunity. 

She and my father didn’t aspire to be wealthy… in fact, they were suspicious of those who took more than they needed. 

They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning. 

So my mother volunteered at the local school… she always looked out for the other kids on our block. 

She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations, has strengthened the fabric of this nation. 

The belief that if you do unto others… if you love thy neighbor… if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off—if not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren… those values have been passed on through family farms and factory towns… through tree-lined suburbs and crowded tenements… through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms. 

Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath. 

Kamala Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values. 

Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country. 

That’s why her mother moved here from India at 19. 

It’s why she taught Kamala about justice… about our obligation to lift others up… about our responsibility to give more than we take. 

She’d often tell her daughter, “Don’t sit around and complain about things—do something!”

So with that voice in her head, Kamala went out and worked hard in school, graduating from an HBCU… earning her law degree at a state school… and then she went on to work for the people. 

Fighting to hold lawbreakers accountable and strengthen the rule of law… fighting to get folks better wages… cheaper prescription drugs… a good education… decent health care, childcare, and elder care. 

From a middle-class household, she worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America. 

Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment. 

She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency… and she is one of the most dignified—a tribute to her mother, to my mother, and probably to your mother too… the embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country. 

Her story is your story… it’s my story… it’s the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life. 

Kamala knows, like we do, that regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love, how you worship, or what’s in your bank account… we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life… all of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued. 

Because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American… no one!

Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation, not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open for others. 

She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward… we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. 

If we bankrupt a business… or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance. 

If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead… we don’t get to change the rules so we always win. 

If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top. 

No, we put our heads down. We get to work. In America, we do something. 

And throughout her entire life, that’s exactly what we’ve seen from Kamala Harris: the steel of her spine… the steadiness of her upbringing… the honesty of her example… and yes, the joy of her laughter and her light. 

It couldn’t be more obvious… of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great.

Unfortunately, we know what comes next… we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth. 

My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. 

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. 

His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black. 

Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?  

It’s his same old con: doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better. 

You see, gutting our health care… taking away our freedom to control our bodies… the freedom to become a mother through IVF, like I did—those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers, and daughters. 

Shutting down the Department of Education… banning our books—none of that will prepare our kids for the future. 

Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love—that doesn’t make anybody’s life better. 

Instead, it only makes us small. 

And let me tell you… going small is never the answer. 

Going small is the opposite of what we teach our children. 

Going small is petty… it’s unhealthy… and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential. 

Why would we accept this from anyone seeking our highest office? 

Why would we normalize this type of backward leadership? 

Doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics… it only serves to further discourage good, big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all. 

America, our parents taught us better than that… and we deserve so much better than that. 

That’s why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good, big-hearted people… there is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!

But as we embrace this renewed sense of hope, let us not forget the despair we have felt…let us not forget what we are up against.

Yes, Kamala and Tim are doing great right now… they’re packing arenas across the country… folks are energized… we’re feeling good. 

But there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome… who are ready to question and criticize every move Kamala makes… who are eager to spread those lies… who don’t want to vote for a woman… who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over ensuring everyone has enough.

No matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is still going to be an uphill battle… so we cannot be our own worst enemies. 

No, the minute something goes wrong… the minute a lie takes hold, we cannot start wringing our hands. 

We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right. 

We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected.

Kamala and Tim have lived amazing lives… I am confident they will lead with compassion, inclusion, and grace. 

But they are still only human. They are not perfect. And like all of us, they will make mistakes. 

But luckily, this is not just on them. 

No, this is up to us—all of us—to be the solution we seek… it is up to all of us to be the antidote to all the darkness and division. 

I don’t care how you identify politically… whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, independent, or none of the above… this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right. 

To stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and humanity… for basic respect, dignity, and empathy… for the values at the very foundation of this democracy. 

It’s up to us to remember what Kamala’s mother told her: Don’t just sit around and complain — do something! 

So if they lie about her, and they will, we’ve got to do something! 

If we see a bad poll, and we will, we’ve got to put down that phone and do something! 

If we start feeling tired… if we start feeling that dread creeping back in… we’ve got to pick ourselves up, throw water on our faces, and do something!  

We have only two and a half months to get this done… only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan. 

So we cannot afford for anyone to sit on their hands and wait to be called upon… don’t complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to ask for your support… there is simply no time for that kind of foolishness.

You know what we need to do.

So consider this to be your official ask: Michelle Obama is asking you to do something!

Because this is going to be close. 

In some states, just a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner. 

So we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt… we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us. 

Our fate is in our hands. 

In 77 days, we have the power to turn our country away from the fear, division, and smallness of the past. 

We have the power to marry our hope with our action. 

We have the power to pay forward the love, sweat, and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us. 

We did it before and we sure can do it again. 

Let us work like our lives depend on it… 

Let us keep moving our country forward and go higher — yes, higher — than we’ve ever gone before… 

As we elect the next President and Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!

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The Impact of Michelle Obama's Speech

• Categories: Gender Equality Racial Discrimination Women's Rights

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Words: 623 |

Published: Mar 16, 2024

Words: 623 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

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Personal connection and empathy, powerful rhetoric, addressing concerns and inspiring hope, impact and legacy.

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Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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The study of what rhetorical tools public personalities use in their speech can be a beneficial aspect to study. With its help, people can get an understanding of how, when, and where people can use rhetorical components. This work aims to study Michelle Obama’s opening remarks at the White House Convention on Food Marketing to Children. The main message of the First Lady was to draw attention to the suppression of the advertising of unhealthy food to minors. In addition, the main appeals that Obama uses are logic and emotional.

The first aspect of rhetoric used in this speech is logic. It implies the justification and reasons for a particular action or event. Michele Obama stated that “between 2008 and 2011, obesity rates among low-income preschoolers dropped in 19 states and territories across the country” (Read Michelle Obama’s Speech on Food Marketing para. 10). Therefore, Obama provides a justification of how important it is for television changes to encourage a proper lifestyle among the younger generation.

The next valuable component of rhetoric in the studied speech of the first lady is the emotional aspect. Thus, Obama emphasizes that “while we have made important progress, when one in three kids is still on track to develop diabetes, and when the diet has now surpassed smoking” (Read Michelle Obama’s Speech on Food Marketing para. 11). In this case, Michele Obama points to the positive results already achieved while also highlighting that children are still at risk.

In conclusion, this work was engaged in analyzing Michelle Obama’s speech on the topic of the harm of the media for introducing the younger generation to healthy habits. To better convey the main idea, the first lady used such components of rhetoric as logic and emotion. They helped to better form and give important information, gave the speech solidity, and improved the audience’s ability to persuade.

Works Cited

“Read Michelle Obama’s Speech on Food Marketing.” Grub Streets , 2013, Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, January 10). Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/michele-obamas-speech-a-rhetorical-analysis/

"Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis." IvyPanda , 10 Jan. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/michele-obamas-speech-a-rhetorical-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis'. 10 January.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis." January 10, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/michele-obamas-speech-a-rhetorical-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis." January 10, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/michele-obamas-speech-a-rhetorical-analysis/.

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IvyPanda . "Michele Obama’s Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis." January 10, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/michele-obamas-speech-a-rhetorical-analysis/.

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