Michelle Obama is a living legend.
She is popular across all age groups – a truly global phenomenon. In her stint as the first African-American woman to serve as the first lady of the United States, she worked tirelessly to bring more awareness about issues such as poverty, education, nutrition, exercise and physical activity, and healthy eating.
A Harvard Law School and Princeton University alumni, she went on to author two best-selling books – Becoming( 2018) and The Light We Carry (2022). In this post, we talk about what she has done for women’s empowerment, in particular.
What she has done for women of the world
Here are some of the prominent efforts made by Michelle Obama for women empowerment:
1. Let Girls Learn (2015)
Michelle Obama and President Obama launched this global initiative to help adolescent girls gain access to education worldwide. The program aims to break down barriers like poverty, gender discrimination, and forced marriage that account for the major reasons preventing girls from going to school.
2. Becoming (2018)
In her bestselling memoir Becoming, Michelle Obama shared her journey. She inspired millions of women and girls to embrace their authenticity, be relentless in the pursuit of their dreams, and overcome challenges in the walk of life -“ The only limit to the height of your achievement is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them”, are her inspirational words to all the women wanting to change their lives.
3. Girls Opportunity Alliance (2018)
The Girls Opportunity Alliance is a program under the Obama Foundation. It aims to empower adolescent girls through education by supporting grassroots organizations that help girls reach their full potential. In doing so, they hope to start a chain- reaction of them going further to transform their families, communities, and their countries at large.
4. Let’s Move! (2010)
This program was primarily started to combat childhood obesity within a generation. Elected officials, educators, parents, and faith leaders worked as a team to provide nutritious food in schools, get healthy and affordable food to the underserved sections of society, plant vegetable gardens across America, and make new ways to keep kids more active.
It then fanned out to empower young girls and women by instilling self-confidence, and body positivity and promoting healthy lifestyles. The underlying thought was to give parents and caregivers all the information and tools they needed to make good, informed choices for their families.
5. Reach Higher (2014)
This campaign is designed to inspire students, especially girls from underrepresented backgrounds. They are encouraged to pursue higher education by promoting the importance of college enrollment and career readiness.
6. Global Girls Education Speech (2015)
Michelle Obama’s powerful address to the Global Education First Initiative at the United Nations, where she advocated for the education of girls and women globally, emphasizing education’s pivotal role in breaking cycles of poverty.
7. Work with Planned Parenthood and Women’s Rights Advocacy
Michelle Obama, all through her stint as First Lady, remained very vocal about women’s health rights, reproductive rights, and gender equality, often working with organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
8. Mentorship Programs
Michelle Obama has consistently prioritized mentorship. With her White House initiative, she mentored young women to help them succeed in education, career, and leadership roles. She paired disadvantaged teens from DC with some of the most powerful women in the country. She spoke of the program as “ a secret door” that hadn’t been opened for her, giving all the girls and the women the guidance, and the inspiration they needed to make them better versions of themselves.
9. Advocated mental and physical health
A lot of people looked up to her for how she maintained good physical and mental health, expediting her duties as the First Lady, a wife, a mother, a philanthropist, and a social worker.
10. Lead by example
She showed the world how family is the responsibility of both men and women – how with Obama she shared tasks of her children, showing the world that even the president could make time, and get involved proactively in raising their children.
Recommended read – Michelle Obama’s book
In this space, we’d like to recommend a book by Michelle Obama.
Becoming, published in 2018 is her memoir where she talks about her life, from her childhood in Chicago to her time at the Harvard Law school, her career as a lawyer, and her marriage to Barack Obama.
Michelle shares her triumphs, and disappointments, both public and private, and also, her commitment to improve people’s lives in her country. She speaks of her efforts to safeguard her daughters’ childhoods, giving them an upbringing unaffected by the shine and glare of the media and the world.
The book talks of her efforts to retain her own identity while serving as First Lady.
You can get a copy of the book here.
Conclusion
Michelle Obama always called herself a mother to her two daughters, Fraser and Marian before being called the First Lady.
She came from a humble background having seen her father battle a persistent illness while showing up to work as a pump operator, every single day. Her mother stayed at home to take care of them all.
The family worked hard and saved money to send her to get the education she deserved.
Michelle picked on the important life lessons of sharing love, laughter, visions and ambitions fuelled by the unstinted support of a family early on in her life. Her learnings showed up in how she chose to raise her daughters with her husband, President Barack Obama.
She is a woman who exudes power tempered with equal parts humility, compassion and empathy for all, especially for girls and women across the world. In her words she is, “…an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them..”
This article is an attempt to bring, in brief capsules, stories of more such inspirational women who have spearheaded some incredible initiatives and motions to make the world a better place for all women.
Like she said, “No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, YOU are beautiful”.
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