I love Michelle Obama. I loved her on the campaign trail, debunking the mystique of Knight Barack with her real wife tales of stinky socks and smelly cigarettes. I loved her when she equalised and patted the Queen’s back, deferent but not tied to centuries of outdated hierarchical protocol. I love the fact that she graced the covers of Vogue with a pull-power to rival Angelina Jolie, and yet still looked so relaxed and comfortable in her J Crew slacks, working in her kitchen garden. I love the fact that she looks mummy-easy as well as boardroom ready, all in one go. I love the bob. And the sleeveless dresses. I like the fact that she didn’t appear as a soft toy on the campaign trail- she was a strong, proud woman and if they wanted to cast her in the role of angry black woman, so be it. She remains an astereotypical first lady- one who lives outside of the box. And you how I feel about living in the box. To hell with the box!
However, as much as I like Mrs O, I like Michelle Lavaughn Robinson even more. See, Michelle Robinson grew up on the South Side of Chicago- not one of the best neighbourhoods in the United States. She attended Princeton, then Harvard Law School and then worked at a corporate law firm where she was one of only two black lawyers. I find her views in her undergraduate thesis particularly poignant and telling:
“Earlier in my college career, there was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the Black Community I was somehow obligated to this community and would utilise all my present and future resources to benefit this community first and foremost. My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my “Blackness” more than ever before.”
She then states after discussing her experiences at Princeton:
“These experiences have made it apparent to me that the path I have chosen to follow by attending Princeton will likely lead to my further integration and/or assimilation into a White cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society...at the same time, however, it is possible that my four years of exposure to a predominantly White, Ivy-League university has instilled in me, certain conservative values. I find myself striving for the same goals as many of my White classmates- acceptance to a prestigious graduate or professional school or a high paying position in a successful corporation. My goals after Princeton are not as clear as before”
The Michelle who writes this is astute yet sensitive, and bold enough to engage in a cultural debate. She acknowledges that she is complicit in the uneasiness of assimilation. I find Michelle O lacking this particular quality. I do not wish to add to the ridiculous debate of whether the First Family are black enough. I am just intrigued as to whether she still feels that pull that she felt at Princeton to issues affecting the black community? Does Mrs O (and Mr O) feel that there are particular issues with which she feels a certain affinity? For instance, gun crime, violence in public schools, affordable housing –issues that affect black families more disproportionately?
I have a feeling that Michelle Robinson would have rocked up to the White House in an afro and that on inauguration day she would have worn Deola Sagoe or Patricia Mills and she would have insisted that Mr O wore some Ozwald Boateng. She would have been rocking some banging kente. Mrs O just seems much more conservative than I expected her to be and seems to be quite accepting in certain ways of her climate in her uber-sleek bob that blows Condi Rice's out of the stratosphere. Where is that fire? Where is that oomph? That muchiness that challenge the uncomfortable topics?
Or maybe I am just equating her to that little girl who grew up in a small town, who placed her international economic development dreams on hold after she went to a Russell Group University and ended up fulfilling the one of two prophecy in a corporate law firm. Don’t get me wrong, she just might end up mentoring an intern who would become the next UK Prime Minister.
