June 6, 2024
Report
Picture Source: Alamy Limited
Marian Robinson, her husband Fraser, and her son Craig protectively hold on to his sister Michelle.
Remembering Marian Lois Shields-Robinson and the impactful events linked to May 31 is a poignant reminder of the interconnectedness of personal and historical milestones in North America. It speaks to the enduring significance of individual lives within the broader context of American historical events and the powerful impact that, like Mrs. Marian Shields-Robinson, have made on the collective memory of Americans near and far.
Non-White Supremist Americans adored and prayed for the Obamas as they stepped into their offices as president and first lady of the United States. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw that Mama Robinson would be there to assist with raising the children for the eight years the Obamas were in office.
Gif Source: Wix Media
Mother Robinson never made a big deal of herself but stayed true to her roots and her Chicago neighbors. Truth be told, her presence in the White House and her date of passing reflects the growth of American history. When speaking of Mother Robinson, it's almost as if it was written for her to be in the place, time, and space where she was born. Mrs. Marian Lois Shields-Robinson was born in Chicago on July 30, 1937, and passed away on May 31, 2024. Some of her family's descendants moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. She attended college for teaching and enjoyed pouring knowledge into her children. In addition to this personal significance, May 31 is also notable for its connection to historical events, such as the
Bombing and massacre of Black Wall Street, which took place from May 31 to June 1, 1921, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
On May 31, 1889, the Johnstown Flood resulted in the loss of 2,200 lives when the South Fork Dam failed, releasing 20 million tons of water into the Pennsylvania town.
Ulysses S. Grant and his troops, consisting of long-term citizens, free and runaway enslaved Africans, plus the Iroquois Alliance, achieved victory over the remaining Confederates in the Battle of Cold Harbor in Mechanicsville, Virginia, on May 31, 1864.
Approximately one year later, Iroquois Seneca tribe member and military secretary General Ely S. Parker, military secretary of the soon-to-be President Ulysses S. Grant, drafted the articles of surrender, which Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee signed at the Appomattox Courthouse in the Seneca village located in Virginia. Parker, a Seneca Tribesman, witnessed and was instrumental in finalizing the end of the American Civil War and the outlawing of chattel slavery throughout North America while also implementing laws against child endangerment.
It was a moment when Parker witnessed what his indigenous ancestors fought and prayed for, much like Mother Robinson saw as she and her family entered and occupied the White House not as an oppressed or stolen from people but as leaders of a nation. Mrs. Robinson, being the direct descendant of African and Cherokee people, surely felt the rippling effect of her and her daughter, grandchildren, and son-in-law's presence as a fulfillment of echoed prayers and wars when walking the halls of a place that had been built, torn down, rebuilt and set a blazed by her people here in America both native and African.
A note in history:
The White House had been plundered or burnt down more than one time. Plus, the first White House was originally located in Philadelphia on Market Street, where the executive mansion that was once restored stands today. During the period between 1776 and 1794. When the second White House was painted a Confederate gray. American history tells the story of the Chickamauga Wars, which resulted from broken treaties, bad behavior of penal colonists, and land encroachment issues that resulted in the burning down of the executive residence. This same White House was burnt down to the ground by free African troops of the British Emancipator, Admiral Sir George Cockburn of the Royal Navy, who was also a journalist as well. The freed African soldiers of the Royal Navy in 1814 were called The Colonial Marines "Red Coats," a vanguard of the British Forces at the Battle of Bladensburg along the Potomac River in 1814. (An offshoot of Monmouth County's Tinton Falls Pine Brook, New Jersey's Titus Cornelius- Colonel Tye Ethiopian Regimen or Brigade ( c. 1753 – 1780.)
Mama Robinson rose to the occasion against the odds to provide steadfast supervision as the guard at the gate to raise and watch over her grandchildren in a White House that had a history of hate towards herself as a Black American and Cherokee lineage, who had a problem with the occupation of penal colonist plus chattel slavery as a whole. Thanks to President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, many Black American Indigenous family members were forced to move from the East Coast, primarily because of their political views.
With such a tumultuous past, one would think Robinson would faint under pressure. But, despite all of the facts from the past, Marian Robinson walked into the White House and said, "Peace be still." She boldly stood in the gap to care for her grandchildren for eight years as her daughter Michelle and son-in-law Barack stepped into providence to do a work that only they could do. Robinson took her job as a mother and grandmother seriously, like a guard faithfully sent to her post. Americans did not witness a face of despair or fear when seeing Mother Robinson. Just a winning smile that let everyone know that she got this. And without her, change would have never happened in America. https://www.amazon.com/Cherokee-Diaspora-Indigenous-Migration-Resettlement/dp/0300169604
She modeled motherhood like a champ, unashamedly raising, nurturing, and speaking life over her two healthy children and husband, who suffered from M.S. She did not leave her post of supervising her children until they were in high school. Because she knew the world was not her children's friend. You can only imagine the ridicule and peer pressure she may have suffered because she didn't forfeit her children's future by following the world's advice. Robinson did not join the crowds of mothers who left their children to raise themselves unsupervised.
Due to systemic racism, many children could have been saved if their mothers' roles as caregivers and nurturers had been supported and respected in America. Instead, economically disadvantaged mothers were pressured to join the workforce, leaving their children vulnerable to negative influences and gang propaganda. To make America money. This contributed to the premature deaths of many promising young Black adults who were the first fruits of the Civil Rights Movement. The cradle-to-prison pipeline and the availability of ingredients for making crack further compounded these challenges. But Crack didn't break Marian Robinson's back.
Gif Source Wix Media
Marian Robinson's trust in God led to the historic moment of witnessing the first Black President of the United States. Because without Michelle, there would be no President Barack Obama. As we mourn the passing of America's first Black First Lady's mother at the age of 86, we have learned from Mrs. Marian Lois Shields-Robinson's life that there's no better person to raise children than a loving, wise mother who sees motherhood as a divine gift. A profound testament for all mothers to draw inspiration from, woven into a powerful tapestry. Whitney Houston was right when she sang, "I believe the children are our future; teach them well and let them lead the way." Definition for well: "in a kindly or friendly manner"
