Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, dies at 86
Marian Robinson, mother to former US First Lady Michelle Obama, passed away at the age of 86, according to a statement released by her family. She peacefully departed on Friday morning.
During Barack Obama’s presidency from 2009 to 2017, Robinson was a prominent figure at the White House, dedicating much of her time to caring for her granddaughters, Malia and Sasha, the daughters of Michelle and Barack Obama.
Mrs. Obama expressed her profound loss, referring to her mother as her constant support and pillar of strength. Similarly, Mr. Obama emphasized the unparalleled nature of Marian Robinson’s presence in their lives, highlighting her enduring legacy and the profound impact she had on their family.
Marian Robinson’s upbringing in Chicago, where she was one of seven siblings, shaped her into the remarkable individual she became. Her journey included pursuing education to become a teacher and later working as a secretary. Together with her husband, Frasier Robinson, she raised Michelle and their son, Craig, on Chicago’s South Side.
Further details regarding the cause of her passing were not disclosed.
“At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm,” the Obama statement said.
“On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there, holding his hand.”
An image taken on the night in 2008 when her son-in-law made history as the nation’s first African-American president showed Robinson sitting on a sofa with him, watching the results come in.
The statement added that Robinson had agreed to move to the White House after a “healthy nudge” from Barack and Michelle Obama, who, along with their daughters, “needed her”.
She later spoke of how she insisted on doing her laundry there.
In an interview with CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Robinson said she had felt compelled to move to Washington because she felt “like this was going to be a very hard life” for her daughter and son-in-law.
“And I was worried about their safety,” she added. “I was worried about my grandkids. That’s what got me to move to DC.”
The lifelong Chicago resident had never boarded a flight out of the US until she flew aboard Air Force One with the Obamas to France in 2009.
Robinson – whom Mr Obama once called “the least pretentious person” he knew – said that it was a “huge adjustment” to have her needs met by White House staff.
“Rather than hobnobbing with Oscar winners or Nobel laureates, she preferred spending her time upstairs with a TV tray, in the room outside her bedroom with big windows that looked out at the Washington Monument,” the family statement said.
“The only guest she made a point of asking to meet was the Pope,” it added.
Her privacy afforded her a freedom envied by the rest of her family. David Axelrod, a senior Obama advisor, told CNN on Friday “She would often slip out of the White House on her own and visit with friends”.
“She really wasn’t looking for attention,” he added.
On Mother’s Day – just weeks before Robinson’s death – Mrs. Obama announced that an exhibit at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago would be named in her honor.
“In so many ways, she fostered in me a deep sense of confidence in who I was and who I could be, by teaching me to think for myself,” Mrs Obama said in a video announcement.
“I simply wouldn’t be who I am today without my mom.”
