Prathithi Nellaiappan Week #10: The Power of A First Lady
This February is Black History Month, so I am doing a history project about a famous figure for my US History class and I chose Michelle Obama. When I was younger, I always saw her as a role model because she was on the news advocating for youth health but I never truly understood the full impact of her actions. After researching her for this project, I understood that she is truly a remarkable woman as she used her position in the white house to advocate for issues like health, racial equality, and gender equality.
She started off with a strong background with an education at Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She later joined the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin. Her hard work and passion for justice is a common theme throughout her life.
Later when she became the First Lady, she focused on reducing obesity since over 68% of Americans struggled with weight-related health issues in the 2000s. She started with The Let's Move! Initiative to reduce child obesity and took part in the Partnership for a Healthier America. By 2015, around 16 of the largest food manufacturers decreased 1.5 trillion calories from their products. In addition to this, she was able to improve the food labeling standards and took part in the National School Lunch Program to make healthy school lunches healthy. She also realized that physical activity is a major solution to this problem so she funded the creation of 10,000 tennis courts. She promoted exercise on social media campaigns and channels like “Fitness Friday.”
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| Source: Britannica |
Michelle Obama also was a strong advocate for higher education due to her own background. One of her most famous quotes explains why this initiative means so much to her: “When you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.” In 2014, she made the Reach Higher Initiative to help students plan for their educational careers. The Let Girls Learn program works similarly but targets girls and pushes them to pursue sustainable careers. Similar to her online campaigns that promote exercise, she used social media to reach her desired audience through the #62MillionGirls. She also publicized her campaign in the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park and said that her “mission [is] to make sure that every girl on the planet has the same opportunity that [she] had.” Lastly, she joined a Glamour magazine-sponsored panel discussion and spoke with teenage girls.
Michelle Obama created a significant impact and showed citizens the power of a First Lady, a position that most people dismiss. Overall, her contribution to various initiatives to help the new generation in America set a positive precedent for future First Ladies.
Hi Prathithi! To start, I think Michelle Obama is a great person to write about for your history project; I hope that you will do well on it! Through your blog, I’ve learned so much about Obama and her activism in improving school lunch programs and uplifting young girls. The multiple links that you provide in your blog were great reads and enhanced my understanding of the role of the First Lady. I appreciate how you gave a brief description of Obama’s personal life before she became the First Lady; it explains why she has a “passion for justice” and became involved with multiple programs to “help the new generation” of America. Obama has surely said countless of beautiful quotes, but the ones that you chose are inspiring and relate to the campaigns you describe. Other than learning about Obama, I also got to learn about many different campaigns that were created to help the youth; the “Reach Higher Initiative” was a wonderful program to read about. Michelle Obama is a truly admirable woman that has done so much for our country.
ReplyDeleteHi Prathithi! I appreciate that you are doing a blog on Michelle Obama as I personally find her story to be inspiring. This blog has helped me learn so much about Michelle Obama as before I only knew her as a first lady but through your informative tone, factual statistics, and direct information from websites I was able to derive a more thorough understanding of her views. It is rare to see politicians advocating for health and I find it inspiring that Michelle Obama choice to use her voice to advocate for issues that impact the greater good of the country. I had no idea that she had begun with such a "strong background" in education as she went to two ivy league schools and one for law which is an extremely difficult thing to achieve. The inclusion of the paragraph with statistics on how she was able to help the country is especially informative and I appreciate your inclusion of this as it helps the readers to learn more hardcore facts on Michelle Obama's impacts. While researching into her programs included in your blog I found that Michelle Obama's use of her power is extremely beneficial as she aims to help people in need and push for a better future!
ReplyDeleteHi Prathithi, this was a very cool blog topic to choose. Personally, I have always loved Michelle Obama and I believe she is certainly an inspiration to many! I didn't know about all of her accomplishments that you mentioned, and it was really eye-opening to see how great her impact really was! From the Lets Move! Initiative to The Reach Higher Initiative, it was great learning about how impactful the actions of a first lady can be, and as a nation we should appreciate that more.
ReplyDeletePrathithi, I really like that you chose to write about this topic, as I think that many of the greatest people have unfortunately been historically the most oppressed. Perhaps this reflects more on how our society values status more than qualifications. However, it seems like many of those minorities that get a chance to make a difference end up targeting the biggest problems that plague our society. Take for instance your example of Michelle Obama. Not only did she target one of the biggest epidemics in American history, she also did so while making reforms which would prevent further resurgence of the same issue. I think being able to attempt to make such changes even in the face of adversity (mostly due to race and gender) is quite admirable. The ability to put your foot on the ground and stand for what you believe is the right direction is a trait that I think many people take for granted but is extremely prevalent in groups of people who have historically faced oppression. I think it's these traits about these people that make them so successful when they do get the opportunity to put their thoughts into action. Now of course I'm not trying to make the generalization that all minorities will be good leaders. Just as non-minorities can be amazing leaders, minorities can also be horrible leaders. However, it's the power of their mindset and how they choose to approach these issues that make them effective leaders.
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