You should probably be seated for this; I’ve started reading Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ because… well, someone left it at the house and I’ve read all the other books I have so… what could I lose? Our country needs more dialogue and listening, even with those we expect we may disagree with.

My takeaway in the first 70 pages is this: Her grandfather was pretty pissed off about life, didn’t get a chance to succeed and had 10 siblings, so was always poor. This makes sense. The number of kids you have massively impacts the focus you can put on them and the opportunities parents can afford them.

Michelle grew up in a “poor neighborhood”, was criticized by her peers that she sounded ‘too white’ because she said “going to” instead of “gonna”; she had only one sibling, took piano, her mother went back to work so they could afford to send her older brother to Catholic school. She worked really hard, was in a gifted program, applied to Princeton and got in. Her parents paid whatever they could to ensure her life would be successful, even at their own expense. She ended up marrying who would become the President and is now estimated to have a net worth of $70 million.

Is America racist? Maybe. But what I read was someone who worked hard and her parents supported her like it was their job… made it.

That’s the America I know. Hard work and sacrifice pays.