Elle-Lorraine Brown had to choose a role model for her school's Cultural Heroes Day. The 8-year-old's pick was a college-aged version of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
In addition to an exhibit with information about Michelle Obama's (formerly Robinson's) time at Princeton, Ella-Lorraine also dressed in an outfit matching the future best seller and public speaker.
And I'd say she's spot on!
Ella-Lorraine's parents explained:
"She was really in awe of the idea that with hard work you could become anything."
The girl's mother, Karlyn Johnson Brown, is also a Princeton alum. She helped her daughter, who insisted on portraying the former first lady.
Brown said:
"I loved it because by choosing to portray her hero as a college student, the focus was on Michelle's accomplishments as an individual, not just as an attachment."
And people on social media definitely agree!
Brown has done a good job of surrounding her daughter with black role models and excellence. Ella-Lorraine has dressed as other female heroes, like Bessie Coleman, the first black/native woman to get a pilot's license, or Ruby Bridges, who endured threats and insults to desegregate William Frantz Elementary in 1960.
The girl's father spoke to MAKERS, saying:
"Ella-Lorraine has never known a time when Black women weren't publicly honored and 'Black girl magic' wasn't a highly celebrated thing. That's awesome."
This is the positivity we need in this world.
Michelle Obama has been on a tour promoting her book, Becoming. In the book, she describes how she was discouraged about going to Princeton.
She writes about a meeting with a college counselor:
"Because rightly or wrongly, I got stuck on one single sentence the woman uttered. 'I'm not sure,' she said, giving me a perfunctory, patronizing smile, 'that you're Princeton material.'"
Michelle went on to graduate cum laude in 1985 from Princeton, and get a J.D. from Harvard in 1988.
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