In Chicago, on 53rd & South Dorchester, just in front of a Subway sandwich franchise, there is a rock. An unordinary rock. It is a simple rock with a metallic plaque installed in it. The place itself is, at first sight, unmemorable. At the most, it is not the first romantic place that would come to mind. But it is a place where President Barack Obama, then a simple Ivy League graduate lawyer Barack Obama, sealed his conquest of his future wife Ivy League graduate lawyer, Michelle Robinson.
On the stone, the inscription on plaque reads an excerpt from Barack Obama's memoir:
"On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin™ Robbins had to offer. Our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her, and it tasted like a chocolate."
The scene that unfolded at the site of the rock is now depicted in the movie "Southside With You", with Michelle Robinson played by Tika Sumpter and Barack Obama, by Parker Sawyers. The movie follows the couple on a date during the Summer of 1989, from an afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago, to that now-famous evening showing of Do the Right Thing, to the kiss outside Baskin-Robbins, after the "finest ice cream".
Perhaps the most revealing moment in the movie comes when Michelle Robinson hints at the political future of Barack Obama. Responding to a regret that Barack Obama's father's life was "incomplete," and that he was inspired into accomplishing something meaningful by entering politics, Michelle Robinson said: "You definitely have a knack for making speeches." Michelle Robinson, pointing to her own life full of personal and family sacrifices, describes how her father, despite suffering from multiple sclerosis, worked every day for the City water department, to put her through to college.
Southside With You is a movie to watch. It was released today August 26, 2016.
