Craig Robinson Talks About Sister Michelle Obama

Oregon State University's basketball coach Craig Robinson has a new book: "A Game of Character."

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The Obamas Attend Oregon State Game Video

The Obamas attended the Oregon State-George Washington University basketball game Saturday. Michelle's brother, Craig Robinson, is the Oregon State coach. Oregon beat Washington 64-57.

Michelle Obama and Her Mom in Essence

In their first interview together, First Lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, sit down in the White House to speak exclusively to Essence Editor-in-Chief Angela Burt-Murray about retaining their family values, what it takes to raise good kids, and being role models for the Black community. Read on for excerpts from the interview.

Mrs. Michelle Obama on what being First Lady means to her:
"It's an honor and a privilege when you walk into the White House-at least I automatically felt a level of obligation. This is a big responsibility, a wonderful platform and I just want to make sure I take every advantage to serve as a role model, to provide good messages, to be a supportive mate to the President and to make sure that my girls are solid."

Mrs. Marian Robinson on seeing her daughter step into this historic role:
"Well, to me, it's overwhelming. I never doubted that she could do this. She is doing it with such grace and dignity. So I am just proud. I just hope she does what she wants to do. [Chuckles] Because the things that she wants to do are very important. They mean a lot to her."

Mrs. Michelle Obama on finding balance:
"Unlike most women, I have a lot of resources: I have my mother living with me. The White House has a staff of people who are there to make my life easy. I don't have a full-time job, although I work very hard in the role of First Lady. But I have a lot of resources. So I have been able to achieve the balance because I have the support I need."

Mrs. Robinson on what her late husband, Fraser Robinson III, would say about this moment:
"You would not be able to shut him up! He would not be able to stand this. He would be beaming until you would just want him to stop talking. He bragged about Michelle and her brother, Craig, before they had even done anything. He always encouraged them, and when he talked about Craig and Michelle, you could just see a smile on his face whether it was there or not. He just enjoyed these two people."

Mrs. Obama on her parent's support:
"I always felt that my father and my mother were unconditionally rooting for me. And kids need that. Looking back that played such a huge role in building confidence in me and my brother very early. Whether we succeeded or failed, we had two people who lifted us up and supported us. There was never anything that I could imagine that I would need that they wouldn't bend over backward to make sure that we had. There is just a sense of security that allows you to take risks. People think that it comes from wealth or generations of access and success, but it doesn't. The security of your parents' love really gives you the foundation to think that you can fly. And then you do." Read more here.

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Parenting in the White House

Mercury: In the Obama White House, bedtime is still at 8 p.m. The girls still set their own alarm clocks and get themselves up for school in the morning. They make their own beds and clean their own rooms. And when the much-anticipated pet arrives, they will walk the dog and scoop its poop.
"That was the first thing I said to some of the staff when I did my visit," Michelle Obama said in an interview with ABC News, describing her talks with White House employees. "'Don't make their beds. Make mine. Skip the kids'. They have to learn these things.'"
Even as Barack Obama tackles the recession and Michelle Obama embraces the role of first lady, the Obamas are finding their footing as parents in the White House. They strive, and even struggle at times, to balance the intense public interest in their family with their desire to preserve a sense of normalcy and privacy in the lives of their daughters, according to relatives, friends and television and magazine interviews with the Obamas themselves.
Barack Obama is a modern-day dad who leaves the Oval Office for dinner with his girls, rarely misses a parent-teacher conference or piano recital and prides himself on having read all seven books in the Harry Potter series aloud with Malia.
Michelle Obama juggles play dates and homework with speeches to federal agencies and students. Both are committed to keeping their daughters grounded, their friends and aides say.
"Those are some special girls, and everyone is rooting for them to make it through this intact," Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama's brother, said in an interview.
The president echoed that sentiment. "Right now, they're not self-conscious. You know, they don't have an attitude," Obama said on CBS News. "And I think one of our highest priorities over the next four years is retaining that." Read more

The Obama's After Ball Party Includes Oprah

Inauguration moment
After the balls, the Obamas had a small gathering of mostly Chicagoans that included:
Oprah Winfrey
Valerie Jarrett
David Axelrod
Mayor Daley
Craig Robinson
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)
Rep. Artur Davis (D-Alabama)
Read it here.

Craig Robinson Talks About Obama

Craig Robinson in Wonderment

It must be pretty wild to wake up as the president of the U.S. I guess it feels the same for Obama's relatives.

WaPo: Robinson has spoken only briefly to his sister, Michelle, and President-elect Barack Obama since the historic election on Nov. 4. He hasn't had time to sit down with his wife, Kelly, and reflect. He has barely had any private time at all to process his own emotions. He's a first-year coach of a team that was 0-18 in the Pac-10 last season, and is knee-deep in his own challenge to reverse the culture of losing.

History in the Oval Office? "It's hard to get my arms wrapped around it," he said. "It feels like somebody has told me a joke, and I'm waiting for the punch line."

As Robinson himself put it, he already had vetted Obama as a brother-in-law 17 years ago, sizing him up on the basketball court, in long chats. "Which to me is harder than voting for a guy. I got one sister, and I gave him the seal of approval back when he was just coming out of law school talking about community organizing."

And now his brother-in-law will be running the country? "Forget about the being-related-to-him part. How about growing up as a black man in the United States, having a black president? . . . It's going to start to sink in . . . what that means and how that makes me feel about this country and all the people who went before him," he said. "I don't have any words for you yet because I want to let it marinate and digest a little bit." Read the rest

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The Obamas at the Convention

Michelle Obama Good Morning America

Michelle Obama on Barack's Experience

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part 2 tomorrow

First Lady Michelle Obama
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Michelle Obama's Brother Craig

Profile of craig robinson here.

More about Craig, who is the head men's basketball team at Oregon State University.
Michelle obama on larry king tomorrow
Obama newspaper endorsements
Upcoming primary and caucus schedule Delegate tracker
Everything barack obama