(LibertySons.org) – When former President Barack Obama won the White House race in 2008, his wife, Michelle Obama, had a request. She asked her mom, Marian Robinson, to leave her life in Chicago and move with them to Washington, DC. Her mother grudgingly agreed and remained there for eight years. Sadly, she has now passed away.
On May 31, Michelle Obama, her brother Craig Robinson, and their respective families issued a joint statement announcing the death of their mom. She passed away at age 86.
Robinson was born in Chicago in 1937 to Rebecca Jumper and Purnell Shields. She grew up on the South Side of the city. When she was younger, she studied to be a teacher but later began working as a secretary. She married Fraser Robinson and went on to have Michelle and Craig.
The Robinsons raised their kids on the South Side in an upstairs apartment in a family member’s home. Despite their humble surroundings, the couple stressed the importance of education to Craig and Michelle. The former first lady spoke about her childhood extensively in her first book, “Becoming.” When her mother realized the school she was attending wasn’t serving Michelle, she advocated for her to go to a magnet school.
Mrs. Robinson’s hard work paid off when both of her children were accepted into Princeton University, an Ivy League school. Craig went on to be a basketball coach and work in finance, and Michelle went to Harvard Law and became a lawyer.
During the 2008 campaign, Robinson helped the Obamas with their children. On election night, a photographer captured her holding her son-in-law’s hand as the results came in, and he learned he’d just won the race. She followed them to the White House and helped raise their two daughters, Sasha and Malia. In “Becoming,” the former first lady talked about the sacrifice her mom made for their family during that time.
After the White House, Mrs. Robinson returned to Chicago and picked up life where she left off. Her family said they now have to figure out “how exactly [they’ll] move on without her.”
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
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