“When I was a kid, my aspirations were simple. I wanted a dog,” the memoir begins. Interestingly enough, by the time Michelle Obama is old enough to have two daughters of her own, so do they.
Becoming is a memoir by Michelle Robinson Obama, the former First Lady of the United States (often referenced in the book as FLOTUS), published in 2018. She guides us through the music-filled little home she grew up in, to the White House, a place “with more stairs than [one] can count—plus elevators, a bowling alley, and an in-house florist,” and finally, to a peaceful home in which she can live quietly after the eight years in the American spotlight.
Michelle Obama was the youngest in her family, “dictatorial” and “unyielding” with a self-proclaimed “feistiness.” She quickly became aware of the disparities of the world, but for her, it was simply another chance for her to prove wrong those who doubted her. At seventeen years old, when a school college counselor told her she wasn’t “sure [she was] Princeton material,” she refused to accept that judgment and pushed through, ultimately receiving admission to Princeton University, where she’d pursue law for the next few rigorous years.
After many years of relentless study, a law student, charismatic and intelligent, enters her life. “Barack Obama was late on day one,” Michelle Obama informs us, essentially exposing her husband. The two of them are drawn together, one with precise and lawyerly ambitions, the other breezy and confident, yet philosophical. Their marriage takes place in 1992. Fourteen years of hard work and new opportunities later, with two young daughters, her husband is suddenly cast into public attention as a potential president. After an arduous period of campaigning, Barack Obama is elected the president of America.
Then follows eight years of the Obama family’s life, dazzled with the luxuries and pained by the harsh public scrutiny that comes with being the First Family of the United States. Michelle Obama narrates her journey, and from it we can see that through her seemingly bold, fearless actions and speeches all have roots in her perpetual fear inside: am I good enough? She narrates the ruthless shootings that took place within those years, how she witnessed her daughters grow within the fame, how her husband became all the more resilient and hardworking as the United States gazed at him with the suspiciousness caused by the color of his skin. Her process of discerning the fine line between truthfulness and deceit, and learning to not only live with her fame but use it to heighten public attention for the causes she is passionate about, is long and rough, yet ultimately rewarding.
Michelle Obama concludes, “Let’s invite one another in…there’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.” Reminiscing how she felt free and happy, even as the First Lady, getting her hands dirty in the garden accompanied by children, she reminds us to protect the young, potent people and in turn, cherish our own voices. Becoming is a fascinating and empowering read; not simply because it was written by the First Lady, but because it outlines her extraordinary journey in becoming herself, herself who is not defined by that title alone, but instead by her own words that she uses to write this book.
(Published in The Sequitur, October 2019, Westdale Secondary School, Hamilton, ON)
