Special Occasion Speech, Topic Tribute Speech, Focus

¶ … special occasion speech, topic Tribute Speech, focus honor achievements virtues individual. It link past virtues achievements to present times encouraging listeners continue similar struggles embrace values admire. Tribute speech: In honor of Fraser Robinson III, First Lady Michelle Obama's father Attention-getter: The nation has honored the great accomplishments of President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama. But another, often forgotten hero of the First Family is that of Fraser Robinson III, Michelle Obama's late father.

Although Fraser Robinson III never held political office, his actions supporting his family were heroic. Preview: During a time of discrimination, when prejudice against African-Americans was still a common part of everyday American life and culture, Fraser Robinson worked hard to cope with a debilitating illness, multiple sclerosis (MS), and still managed to provide for his family and send his children to Ivy League schools. BODY I. Fraser Robinson overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to support his family. A.

Fraser Robinson was born in 1935 in Chicago, a time when discrimination was still common against African-Americans. 1. The United States Army was still not yet integrated. 2. Jim Crow held sway in many sections of the nation; the city of Chicago was still heavily segregated. B: Yet Robinson managed to find a stable job that would provide benefits for himself and his family. 1. "Fraser was a pump worker for the city of Chicago. He tended the boilers at a water-filtration plant" ("Fraser Robinson," Life in spite of MS, 2008). 2.

Robinson never missed a day of work ("Fraser Robinson," Life in spite of MS, 2008). II. Robinson's accomplishment is especially impressive, given the fact that he had been afflicted with multiple sclerosis (MS) since he was a young man A. Michelle Obama credits her father's dedication inspired her to continue, undaunted, despite the obstacles she faced in her own life. 1. Michelle Obama remembered her father going to work using two canes to walk ("Fraser Robinson," Life in spite of MS, 2008). 2.

According to Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson, despite their father's physical frailty and his illness, Fraser Robinson was "a man that you desperately did not want to disappoint' (Coffey 2008: 2). B: Despite the pain and suffering that he experienced, Fraser Robinson still gave back to his community and family. 1. He was active in local politics: serving as Democratic Precinct Captain for the local chapter of the public worker's union ("Fraser Robinson," Life in spite of MS, 2008). 2.

Michelle Obama remembers that her father was home every night for dinner, to spend time with his children and wife (Kantor 2008:6). III. If it were not for Fraser Robinson, his children could not have enjoyed the success they did later in life. A. A talented high school basketball player, Craig Robinson was offered a partial scholarship to Princeton "that would leave his parents with a bill of $3,500 per year," which might as well have been a million dollars," Craig Robinson later recalled (Coffey 2008: 2). 1.

Craig Robinson was offered a full scholarship from lesser institutions of learning 2. Yet his father insisted he accept the scholarship to Princeton because of the opportunities Princeton offered; Fraser Robinson used credit cards to fund the rest of his son's education. B: This gesture is testimony to the degree to which Robinson believed in the success of his children. 1. Michelle, noting her brother's example, also worked hard and was accepted to Princeton University. 2.

Today, Michelle Obama is the First Lady of the United States, spearheading a public health campaign to combat childhood obesity; Craig Robinson received a master's in finance from the University of Chicago after graduating from Princeton and is currently a basketball coach at Oregon State University.