by Peter Slevin
19 “Statistically, Woodlawn had become”: John Hall Fish, Black Power / White Control: The Struggle of the Woodlawn Organization in Chicago (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973), p. 13; and interview with author.
20 going “way out south”: Timuel Black, interview with author.
21 With no children of their own: Robinson, p. 5.
22 “People here are dedicated”: Sel Yackley, “South Shore: Integration Since 1955,” Chicago Tribune, April 9, 1967.
23 Leonard was a commercial artist: “His Designs on Shower Curtains Led to Success,” Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1966.
24 “I had the best childhood ever”: Leonard Jewell, interview with author.
25 One of the very few stay-at-home mothers: Mariana Cook, interview with Barack and Michelle Obama, 1996.
26 “There were good schools”: Ta-Nehisi Coates, “American Girl,” Atlantic, January 2009.
27 “the Shangri-La of upbringings”: Robinson, p. 7.
28 “We are here because the Savings and Loan”: Taylor Branch, At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–68, p. 516.
29 “I still have faith in the future.”: Ibid., pp. 501–509.
30 “I wish I were an Alabama trooper”: Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, “Resisting the Dream,” Chicago Reporter, May 2006.
31 “I have never in my life”: Branch, pp. 509–511; Lowenstein, “Resisting the Dream.”
32 “We should have known better,”: Branch, p. 558.
33 “cracked a beguiling”: Ibid.
34 “We are all, let us face it”: Ibid., p. 523.
35 “Daley had a special weak spot”: Leon Despres, Challenging the Daley Machine: A Chicago Alderman’s Memoir, p. 45.
36 At its height, the Chicago machine: Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor, American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard M. Daley—His Battle for Chicago and the Nation, p. 157.
37 “You couldn’t cut”: Ibid., p. 146.
38 “We gave out jobs”: Flynn McRoberts, “Chicago’s Black Political Movement: What Happened?,” Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1999.
39 “blunted by the taste”: Ibid.
40 “You went along with things”: Mitchell Locin and Joel Kaplan, “ ‘I Never Did Think I Would Ever Be Really Involved in Politics’—Eugene Sawyer,” Chicago Tribune, February 1, 1989.
41 “There are no virgins”: William E. Schmidt, “Chicago Nears Choice for Mayor as Race Issue Flares,” New York Times, February 27, 1989.
42 “the beginning of the good”: Dan Maxime, interview with author.
43 “felt local politics was the most important”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Powell, 2008.
44 “a visiting kind”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Helman, 2008.
45 “If I had to describe”: Craig Robinson, interview with author, 2007.
46 “Everything that I think about”: Kristen Gelineau, “Would-be First Lady Drifts into Rock-Star Territory, Tentatively,” Associated Press, March 30, 2008.
47 “It was almost”: Robinson, p. 12.
48 impossibly contoured blonde Malibu Barbie: Michelle Obama, remarks at a memorial service for Maya Angelou, June 7, 2014.
49 and a black Barbie imitation: Rosalind Rossi, “Obama’s Anchor,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 21, 2007.
50 “I liked everything Barbie”: Michelle Obama, North American Aerospace Defense Command, December 24, 2012.
51 “the standard for perfection”: Michelle Obama, remarks at memorial service for Maya Angelou, June 7, 2014.
52 “taught me how to throw”: Michelle Obama, speech to the International Olympic Committee, Copenhagen, Denmark, October 2, 2009.
53 “kind of a tomboy”: Grace Ybarra, “Michelle Obama Gets Kids Moving,” Sports Illustrated Kids, June 25, 2013.
54 “a gift I shared”: Michelle Obama, speech to International Olympic Committee.
55 The children were limited: Saulny, “Michelle Obama Thrives.”
56 When the weather: Robinson, p. 11.
57 During football season: Ibid., p. 8.
58 Once earned $7 a day: Barack Obama, presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, November 20, 2013.
59 Craig once said: Chicago Tonight, WTTW, April 30, 2010.
60 “and after school”: Michelle Obama, American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, p. 15.
61 “I guess she figured”: Harriette Cole, “From a Mother’s Eyes,” Ebony, September 2008.
62 “Just like Sasha”: Ibid.
63 told a co-worker: Jacquelyn Thomas, interview with author.
64 “Her mom told the teacher”: Saulny, “Michelle Obama Thrives.”
65 emphasized effort and attitude: Elizabeth Brackett, Chicago Tonight, WTTW, October 28, 2004.
66 When they finished: Robinson, p. 70.
67 how much they regretted: Scott Helman, “Holding Down the Obama Family Fort: ‘Grandma’ Makes the Race Possible,” Boston Globe, March 30, 2008.
68 “We told the kids”: Marian Robinson, interview with Helman, 2008.
69 “written from the black perspective”: Robinson, p. 58.
70 “Now, you’ve got to remember”: Craig Robinson, remarks at “Coming Back: Reconnecting Princeton’s Black Alumni,” Princeton University, October 18, 2014. The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966.
71 He dismissed the 1963 March: Kevin Merida, “A Piece of the Dream,” Washington Post, January 16, 2008.
72 “I am not advocating”: Jackie Robinson column, Chicago Defender, March 14, 1964.
73 “Before Malcolm X”: Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Legacy of Malcolm X: Why His Vision Lives On in Barack Obama,” Atlantic, April 2, 2010.
74 “repeated acts of self-creation”: Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, p. 86.
75 “If you think about it”: Remnick, The Bridge, pp. 233–234.
76 Fraser also spent: Robinson, p. 53.
77 “I liked it because”: Robinson, p. 12, and Laura Brown, “Michelle Obama: America’s Got Talent.”
78 “my mother would not”: Ta-Nehisi Coates, “American Girl.”
79 Late on a summer night: “Northwestern Dorms Bar Negro Students,” Chicago Defender, August 14, 1943; “N.U. Keeps Jim Crow in Dorms,” Chicago Defender, September 11, 1943; “Northwestern Sued for $50,00 in Dorm Ban,” Chicago Defender, December 11, 1943.
80 “She was friendly, but”: Betty Reid, interview with author.
81 Michelle said both sides: Rosemary Ellis, “A Conversation with Michelle Obama,” Good Housekeeping, November 2008, www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/celebrity-interviews/michelle-obama-interview.
82 She remembered enduring: Michelle Obama, Google+ Hangout with Kelly Ripa, March 4, 2013.
83 “a basic foundation”: Rosemary Ellis, “A Conversation with Michelle Obama.”
84 “to explore and find”: Robinson, p. 77.
85 “about how Fraser”: Ibid., p. 155.
86 “That love for one another”: Ibid., pp. 6–7.
87 Craig recalled their parents: A Salute, p. 68.
88 “a mother who”: Michelle Obama, “Be Fearless,” in Editors of Essence Magazine, A Salute to Michelle Obama (New York: Essence Communications, 2012), p. 36.
89 She and her brother: Rosalind Rossi, “Obama’s Anchor: As His Career Soars Toward a Presidential Bid, Wife Michelle Keeps His Feet on the Ground,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 21, 2007.
90 “didn’t overdo the praise”: Robinson, p. 70.
91 “But there was a whole lot”: Elizabeth Brackett, Chicago Tonight, WTTW, October 28, 2004.
92 “You follow people”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Powell, 2008.
93 “If it sounds like”: Cole, “From a Mother’s Eyes.”
94 She attended: Michelle Obama, remarks in Topeka, Kan., May 17, 2014.
95 “That’s where we got”: Coates, “American Girl.”
96 “resented it when I couldn’t say”: Ibid.
97 “More
important, even”: Lauren Collins, “The Other Obama: Michelle Obama and the Politics of Candor,” New Yorker, March 10, 2008.
98 “by ear, day by day”: Cole, “From a Mother’s Eyes.”
3 | DESTINY NOT YET WRITTEN
1 “Thus began a conversation”: Craig Robinson, A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago’s Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond, p. 58.
2 If they experienced animosity: Ibid., p. 59.
3 No one can make: Ibid., pp. 58–60.
4 “When you grow up as a black kid”: Craig Robinson, interview with author, 2007.
5 Purnell Shields, Michelle’s maternal: Michelle Obama, remarks to National Council of La Raza, July 23, 2013.
6 “They might not like”: Grace Hale, interview with author.
7 “Very smart, but very quiet”: Ibid.
8 “She had very strong values”: Jacquelyn Thomas, interview with author.
9 If he had been born white: William Finnegan, “The Candidate: How the Son of a Kenyan Economist Became an Illinois Everyman,” New Yorker, May 31, 2004.
10 “a discontent about him”: Shailagh Murray, “A Family Tree Rooted in American Soil,” Washington Post, October 2, 2008.
11 “not always enjoyable”: Robinson, pp. 103, 14–15.
12 “On one visit”: Ibid., pp. 14–15.
13 “His whole demeanor”: Capers Funnye, interview with author.
14 “He was wrestling”: Nomenee Robinson, interview with author.
15 “didn’t exactly spew love”: Andrew Robinson, interview with author.
16 Nomenee went to India: Paul Grimes, “Galbraiths Fete Mrs. Kennedy at Formal Dinner on Her Last Day in India,” New York Times, March 21, 1962.
17 died a prosperous man: Andrew Robinson and Nomenee Robinson, interviews with author.
18 “veil of impossibility”: Michelle Obama, remarks in Orangeburg, S.C., November 20, 2007.
19 “did not let it carry over”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Michael Powell, 2008.
20 “An ice house!”: Sterling Stuckey, interview with author.
21 “Parents were trying”: Rachel Swarns, panel discussion, Northwestern University History Department, October 19, 2012.
22 “We want you to”: Rachel Swarns, American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama, p. 108.
23 “the mothers and the fathers”: Michelle Obama, Whitney Young film screening, White House, August 27, 2013.
24 “We didn’t think of it”: Deval Patrick, A Reason to Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life, p. 22.
25 “From that position”: Ibid., p. 119.
26 “I was surrounded by adults”: Ibid., p. 32.
27 “The true gift”: Deval Patrick, interview with author.
28 “They did not want”: Patrick, p. 17.
29 At that point: Robinson, p. 28.
30 “Lunch on school days”: Finnegan, “The Candidate”; Michelle Obama, American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, p. 13.
31 “If the TV broke”: Lauren Collins, “The Other Obama: Michelle Obama and the Politics of Candor,” New Yorker, March 10, 2008.
32 “Are we rich?”: Robinson, pp. 29–30.
33 He would even make time: Craig Robinson, book-tour discussion, Dominican University, April 27, 2010.
34 “A smart man learns”: Jim Axelrod, “Craig Robinson, First Coach,” CBS, March 1, 2009.
35 “If you disappointed”: Craig Robinson, interview with author.
36 “I never had any”: Craig Robinson, Good Morning America, March 4, 2010.
37 “Unofficial counselor to family”: Robinson, p. 147.
38 “Fraser was the type of person”: Grace Hale, interview with author.
39 He would shave: Robinson, p. 73.
40 “That’s where I went”: Nomenee Robinson, interview with author.
41 “Before he got really sick”: Laura Brown, “Michelle Obama: America’s Got Talent,” Harper’s Bazaar, October 13, 2010.
42 but by 1965: Michelle Obama, speech to Democratic National Convention, August 26, 2008.
43 “I never knew my father”: Michelle Obama, remarks in Grinnell, Iowa, December 31, 2007.
44 He took pride: Rickey Smiley Show, RadioOne, February 7, 2014.
45 “When you have a parent”: Holly Yeager, “The Heart and Mind of Michelle Obama,” O: The Oprah Magazine, November 2007.
46 “Here’s a guy”: Dan Maxime, interview with author.
47 “thought he had the greatest”: Jim Axelrod, “First Coach.”
48 “To have a family”: Craig Robinson, interview with author.
49 A favorite destination: Michelle Obama, American Grown, p. 15.
50 “I was going through my cursing”: Darlene Superville, “First Lady: Not Surprised by Reaction to Oscars,” Associated Press, March 1, 2013.
51 One warm day: Robinson, pp. 60–61.
52 “He said, ‘You guys can’t’ ”: Leonard Jewell, interview with author.
53 As Michelle propelled herself: Robinson, p. 35.
54 “Michelle works harder”: Rebecca Johnson, “The Natural,” Vogue, September 2007.
55 “strong, strong, strong”: Leonard Jewell, interview with author.
56 “We had so much”: Ibid.
57 “really does hate to lose”: Judy Keen, “Candid and Unscripted, Campaigning Her Way,” USA Today, May 11, 2007.
58 “She would practice”: Karen Springen, Chicago, October 2004. Reprinted at www.chicagomag.com as “First Lady in Waiting,” June 22, 2007.
59 To soothe Craig’s nerves: Robinson, p. 84.
60 If the game was close: Ibid., p. 81.
61 running 50 meters in: Results sheets from Illinois Senior Olympics, per staff member Deborah Staley, Springfield, Ill.
62 “If I can’t do it fast”: Yeager, “Heart and Mind.”
63 put in some time: Grace Ybarra, “Michelle Obama Gets Kids Moving,” Sports Illustrated Kids, June 25, 2013.
64 “Tall women can”: Yeager, “Heart and Mind.”
65 “represented those women”: Judith Jamison, Dancing Spirit: An Autobiography, p. 132.
66 “I think to myself”: Peter Bailey, “Young: 4th Black Leader to Die Since 1963,” Jet, April 1, 1971.
67 “drew on his decency”: Michelle Obama, Whitney Young film screening, White House, August 27, 2013.
68 “force you outside”: Ava Greenwell, interview with author.
69 “probably the finest ever”: Chicago Urban League newsletter, May/June 1975.
70 “We are delighted”: Ibid.
71 “in such a way that”: Bernarr E. Dawson, memorandum, Whitney Young High School archive.
72 “Whitney Young was built”: Jeffrey Wilson, interview with author.
73 “It was a grand experiment”: Ibid.
74 “I’m fixin’ to go”: Ibid.
75 Sometimes, to get a seat: Geraldine Brooks, “Michelle Obama and the Roots of Reinvention: How the First Lady Learned to Dream Big,” More, October 2008.
76 plagued by construction defects: Kathy Burns, “South Shore High: Flaws Mar ‘Architect’s Jewel,’ ” Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1969. Bernard Judge, “Witness Tells of Vast Waste at School Site,” Chicago Tribune, March 7, 1970.
77 “the outsider, the racial minority”: Robinson, p. 79.
78 “My sister always talked”: Craig Robinson, speech to the Democratic National Convention, August 26, 2008.
79 “I signed up for every activity”: Michelle Obama, speech to Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School, Nashville, Tenn., May 18, 2013.
80 She earned extra money: Michelle Obama, Corporation for National and Community Service remarks, May 12, 2009, Washington, D.C.
81 “She badgered and badgered”: Yeager, “Heart and Mind.”
82 “She sat on his desk”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Michael Powell, 2008.
83 In addition to her jo
b: Lynn Sweet, “The Obamas and Their Jobs,” Chicago Sun-Times, August 14, 2008.
84 “because that’s who I saw”: Katie Couric, “Michelle Obama: Your First Lady,” Glamour, November 2009.
85 “I’m sure it was psychological”: Richard Wolffe, “Barack’s Rock,” Newsweek, February 25, 2008.
86 “She saw I never studied”: Elizabeth Brackett, Chicago Tonight, WTTW, October 28, 2004.
87 “She’d study late”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Michael Powell, 2008.
88 tasked her with hiring: Aaron Payne papers, University of Illinois–Chicago archives.
89 “They said, ‘Go to Spiegel’ ”: Reuben Crawford, interview with author.
90 Another beneficiary was: Murrell Duster, interview with author.
91 She earned two degrees: Teresa Fambro Hooks, “18th Annual Chicago Film Fest Opening Honors the Primos,” Chicago Defender, August 1, 2012.
92 She was a regular: Grace Hale, interview with author; Murrell Duster, interview with author.
93 a civil rights lawyer: Maureen O’Donnell, “Ida B. Wells’ Grandson Took On Machine,” Chicago Sun-Times, February 17, 2011.
94 “They talked about everything”: Murrell Duster, interview with author.
95 “People reacted as if”: Robinson, p. 95.
96 “It’s like I say”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Scott Helman, 2008.
97 Other colleges: Chicago Tonight, WTTW, April 30, 2010.
98 “It might as well”: Craig Robinson, remarks at “Coming Back: Reconnecting Princeton’s Black Alumni,” Princeton University, October 18, 2014.
99 His father’s offer: Robinson, p. 96.
100 Craig, who later learned: Michelle Obama, speech to Democratic National Convention, September 4, 2012.
101 “It made me mad”: Michelle Obama, speech at Booker T. Washington High School, Atlanta, Ga., September 8, 2014.
102 Michelle applied to Princeton: Theresa Fambro Hooks, “Weeklong Drama Festival at Chicago Ensemble Theater,” Chicago Defender, November 16, 2006.
103 “long, long”: Marian Robinson, unpublished interview with Michael Powell, 2008.
4 | ORANGE AND BLACKNESS
1 “Of 11,602 aspirants”: Alan Sipress, “Class of 1985 Stands as Most Selective Ever,” The Daily Princetonian, June 4, 1981.
2 “not merely as a means”: William Bowen address, September 13, 1981, Princeton archives.