Manny King John
There’s more than what meets the eye to Michelle Obama. She’s more than just a woman with a perfect head of hair and impeccable style. She’s certainly more than a pretty face on the arm of the President of the United States. From the time she took her first step, Michelle has been the leader of a world all her own.
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois in 1964. A&E’s Bio.com notes that Michelle grew up sleeping in the family’s living room and attending public school. Although bunking up with siblings and heading to public schools was probably normal for all the kids in the neighborhood, Michelle was different.
By the age of 4, Michelle had learned to read. She continued to show off over the years — flexing her academic muscles, and graduating from Chicago’s first magnet high school, Princeton University, and Harvard Law School in 1988.
In 1989, Michelle met the man, that her White House biography says, “would be the love of her life,” at the Chicago law firm, Sidley & Austin. While she’s now Mrs. Barak Obama, at that time Michelle Robinson was just discovering herself. While working at Sidley & Austin, she had a change of heart, and decided that she wanted to work with people.
Michelle began working with Mayor Richard Daley, where she began making political connections that would later serve her and her husband well. In a 2008 TIME article, Jay Newton-Small wrote, “Michelle’s job gave her husband entrée into the best political machine in Illinois, augmenting her ties to [Jesse] Jackson’s powerful civil rights group, Rainbow Push.”
She went on to work in Chicago’s City Hall, the AmeriCorps program, and the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago, Michelle is credited with developing the first community service program and heading several volunteer initiatives. Michelle’s passion for public service and young people followed her to the White House. Her Let’s Move initiative is a nationwide program designed to promote healthy eating and physical activity, particularly among America’s youth. Just this week, Michelle waged war on advertisements that promote unhealthy eating.
The First Lady hasn’t been so much of a part of pop culture since Jackie Onassis Kennedy filled the role. Not only has she enlisted several celebrities for her new campaign, she’s not afraid to have a good time. Forbes suggests that she’s the most popular of the Obama couple because of fun appearances, like dancing on the Jimmy Fallon Show.
On top of her list of many achievements, she’s the mother of two beautiful daughters and just so happens to be the First Lady of The United State of America. Whether it’s her dedicated service work, the support of her husband, or the way she rocks out a J. Crew dress, there’s no doubt that Michelle Obama is something special.
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