Becoming by Michelle Obama
This very strange and in many ways historical year of hardship; 2020; when the world is experiencing the pandemic of a century with millions of sick and dead, that has thrown the world into an unparallelled economic depression and America is led by a destructove, racist and misgynic mad man, reading Michelle Obama's autobiography is like standing in a fresh breeze by the ocean.
It is well written and as a working mom I resonate with her testimony of how hard it is to make it all work, how hard you have to work to create a good life for your children and also be true to oneself in motherhood and marriage.
Michelle Obama tells of her upbringing on the south side of Chicago, where neighborhoods quickly changed from a multiracial working class neighborhood, to a black ghetto-like neighborhood as families fled to find better schools, safer places to live.
The pride of her grandparents and the hard work of her disabled dad and mom who never doted on her and her brother, but always made them feel nurtured, safe and backed up to be their very best.
How she was the great great granddaughter of a slave and how her life somehow ended her up going to an Ivy League law school, high paying jobs and eventually in the White House with the love of her life and their two daughters as they were still very young and just entering school age.
It is well written and as a working mom I resonate with her testimony of how hard it is to make it all work, how hard you have to work to create a good life for your children and also be true to oneself in motherhood and marriage.
Michelle Obama tells of her upbringing on the south side of Chicago, where neighborhoods quickly changed from a multiracial working class neighborhood, to a black ghetto-like neighborhood as families fled to find better schools, safer places to live.
The pride of her grandparents and the hard work of her disabled dad and mom who never doted on her and her brother, but always made them feel nurtured, safe and backed up to be their very best.
How she was the great great granddaughter of a slave and how her life somehow ended her up going to an Ivy League law school, high paying jobs and eventually in the White House with the love of her life and their two daughters as they were still very young and just entering school age.
She tells of her dislike of politics and how she sometimes waivered in her support for her husband's political ambitions, but always came back as they talked it through and realized the good he could do. The good they could do. Always trying to lend their voices to the people who normally weren't heard by power. Creating support systems for young women, growing a garden and changing the dietary conditions for generations of kids in America to combat childhood obesity.
She tells of the challenges of a job that doesn't even really exist, but is more sccrutinized than most other in the world, the reality of bringing up two daghters with secret service agents always tracing them and always having a threat to their lives.
It is a story of hope, of the good you can do, the first black president of the Untied States and how that affects his wife and their children. The team work, the fun and the challenges, and also the humour and very human nature of the Obama nature, just damn good people.
The Obama's embodies the American dream.
There are so many good quotes, but here is one that comes at the end of the book, when they know they are to hand over the power of the country to the antithesis of all they have worked for, a man who gets off on hatred and who mocks disabled people, who brags about "grabbing women by their pussy", and who lost the polular vote by 3 million votes and still won the office thanks to the electoral college.
She tells of the challenges of a job that doesn't even really exist, but is more sccrutinized than most other in the world, the reality of bringing up two daghters with secret service agents always tracing them and always having a threat to their lives.
It is a story of hope, of the good you can do, the first black president of the Untied States and how that affects his wife and their children. The team work, the fun and the challenges, and also the humour and very human nature of the Obama nature, just damn good people.
The Obama's embodies the American dream.
There are so many good quotes, but here is one that comes at the end of the book, when they know they are to hand over the power of the country to the antithesis of all they have worked for, a man who gets off on hatred and who mocks disabled people, who brags about "grabbing women by their pussy", and who lost the polular vote by 3 million votes and still won the office thanks to the electoral college.
"What I don't allow myself to do, though, is to become cynical.In my most worried moments, I take a breath and remind myself of the dignity and decency I've seen in people throughout my life, the many obstacles tht have already been overcome. I hope other will do the same. WE all play a role in this democracy. We need to remember the power of every vote. I continue, too, to keep myself connected to a force that's larger and more potent than any election, or leader, or news story - and that's optimism. For me this is a form of faith, an antidote to fear."