Becoming
- Becoming me
- Becoming us
- Becoming more
Becoming Me
Michelle Obama was raised on the south side of Chicago. In this section of the book, she shared what she learned about living in a family that was not affluent. She also talked about the challenges of how the neighborhood changed over time. Most importantly, she shared the values that she learned while living on the south side during this period of time.
Although she was not affluent, her parents provided her and her brother with important educational opportunities. Michelle Obama talked about these opportunities. She also discussed moments when she interfaced with individuals who had come from more affluent settings. This went she discovered there were different classes of people.
Each chapter in each section focused on a specific time period in her life. In each of these chapters, Obama talked about how she developed a different part of her personality or acquired a new skill that would help her in the future. She also discussed how her neighborhood changed. There was a migration of whites out of the neighborhood and the neighborhood became poorer and more black. These changes helped shape what she believed in and the struggles that she would pursue later in life. One of the things that came out of this time period is that she wanted to make a difference but didn’t necessarily know how.
As far as education goes, she was quite driven. She ended up going to Princeton and later became a lawyer. But she found out that she really didn’t want to be a lawyer.
Becoming Us
While she was a lawyer in Chicago, she was responsible for mentoring an up-and-coming hotshot lawyer. His name was Barack Obama. After some time, they became an item. They supported each other but at one point, Barack Obama became deeply involved in politics and brought Michelle reluctantly with him.
She was a staunch supporter of Barack as a man and a force of good. Her support was reflected on the campaign trail. It was interesting to get a behind the scenes view of the campaign trail.
Becoming More
As history has shown, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. Through Michelle Obama’s eyes, we get to see what life was like living in the White House under Secret Service protection. During this time, Michelle still wanted to make a difference and she discussed her efforts in helping veterans and their families as well as her efforts to improve nutrition across the nation. I have to commend Michelle for her efforts and I personally remember the mean-spirited attacks she had to endure.
One topic that really fascinated me was the amount of reading that President Obama did. Michelle talked about this throughout the book.
Michelle also discussed the transition to the White House as well as the transition from the White House. As she noted, there is a very small group of people who truly understand what that means.
Becoming
Additional Reading
- #ATD2018: Keynote: President Barack Obama
- Books Review: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Photo Details: First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the launch of the mental health initiative Campaign to Change Direction at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2015. The first lady, who co-founded the Joining Forces military community mental health program, spoke about the campaign’s importance for the military community. The campaign is led by Give an Hour, which has a network of 7,000 mental health professionals who provide pro bono services to veterans. DoD photo by EJ Hersom
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