“Becoming” by Michelle Obama
Paris (France, Europe)
04/16/2019
I was always fascinated by Obama's presidency. Someone who tried his best to unite a divided country. Most European citizens forget that the United States has 50 states and approximately 328 million residents. With an area of 350.000 km² (135,135 mi²), my home country Germany would fit 27 times into the United States of America. As a consequence, the USA has many different cultures, geographical areas, various industries and behaviors. When I read the blurb from Michelle Obama's book "Becoming" I never wanted to stop reading it.
„Together, in our cramped apartment on the South Side of Chicago, they helped me see the value in our story, in my story, in the larger story of our country. Even when it’s not pretty or perfect. Even when it’s more real than you want it to be. Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.“
On my way from Germany to Paris with a Citroën, I crossed some borders, and it was an enjoyable journey. It was also a very sad day for France and Paris because the famous Notre-Dame church caught fire during construction a few days before my arrival and was badly destroyed. Before the lecture, I had the opportunity to meet former First Lady of the United States of America Michelle Obama and we took some photos. She is such a wonderful woman, incredible, polite and heart-warming. This moment passed quickly because of my happiness and excitement at the same time. But she calmed me down very quickly when I came to her and she immediately hugged me. I recommend reading her book about her private life, success and life inside of the White house. It is nice to learn that one of the most influential families have the same problems that ordinary citizens have. In her book, she wrote a lot about her childhood memories, her hard way to get to an ivy league university, the relationship with Barack and the struggle to grow up in Chicago as a black woman. In the lecture, she told us many exciting things and insights into her life with the family, including both daughters, one husband and two dogs. To get a sneak-peek into the life of one of the most important families in the world is an incredible opportunity. It was such a privilege to attend her lecture in Paris! Anyway, she does not want to run for the presidency, but I hope to see a woman in the Oval office soon as a role model for many young people. A president that works towards equality and someone who notices that education is the best tool to create a better world and knows the importance of listening and uniting a big, diverse country— just someone who tries to spread love and not hate, just like the Obama family.
Get a better impression about her book with this text from the book jacket:
“An ultimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States
When she was a little girl, Michelle Robinson’s world was the South Side of Chicago, where he and her brother, Craig, shared a bedroom in their familiy’s upstairs apartment and played catch in the park, and where her parents, Fraser and Marian Robinson, raised her to be outspoken and unafraid. But life soon took her much further afield, from the halls of Princeton. where she learned for the first time what it felt like to be the only black woman in a room, to the glassy office tower where she worked as a high-powered corporate lawyer—and where, one summer morning, a law student named Barack Obama appeared in her office and upended all her carefully made plans.
Here, for the first time, Michelle Obama describes the early years of her marriage as she struggles to balance her work and family with her husband’s fast-moving political career. She takes us inside their private debate over whether he should make a run for the presidency and her subsequent role as a popular but oft-criticized figure during his campaign. Narrating with grace, good humor, and uncommon candor, she provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of her family’s history-making launch into the global limelight as well as their life inside the White House over eight momentous years—as she comes to know her country and her country comes to know her.
Becoming takes us through modest Iowa kitchens and ballromms at Buckingham Palace, through moments of heart-stopping grief and profound resilience, bringing us deep into the soul of a sigular, groundbreaking figure in history as she strives to live authentically, marshaling her personal strenghts and voice in service of a set of higher ideals. In telling her story with honesty and boldness, she issues a challenge to the rest of us: Who are we and who do we want to become?”
“Michelle Robinson Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs. Obama started her career as an attorney at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama. She later worked in the Chicago mayor’s office, at the University of Chicago, and also founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organization that prepares young people for careers in public service. The Obamas currently live in Washington, D.C., and have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.”
When you do not want to read her book because you do not like books. Here is the visual representation of her book “Becoming” on Netflix:
