Here are six people or groups of people who paved the way for the Obamas during my lifetime. I’m 29, so this is post-MLK era. This list was also not created to exclude anybody, but instead to celebrate some of my personal choices:

6. Tiger Woods -

One of the first multiracial celebrities who transcended race. He’s the most popular golfer by far despite golf being the most lily-white sport we have.

5. Will Smith -

He’s the first black actor to become Hollywood’s biggest star. The fact that he’s had a record eight $100 box office-grossing movies in a row proves that.

4. Michael Jordan -

As a kid, growing up in Springfield, MO, a Southern MO town, Michael Jordan was the most popular athlete by far. There were more Air Jordans floating around my grade school than Bart Simpson T-Shirts. He achieved mainstream acceptance among whites like no athlete before him.

3. Oprah Winfrey -

Without Oprah Winfrey, I don’t think either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton would have made this far. No question about it in my mind.

2. Jesse Jackson -

What he did in 1988 built the foundation for BHO’s historic campaign. Period.

1. The Huxtables -

After seeing Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha on stage talking to their father over the TV, I couldn’t help think about the Huxtables. If the barrier is broken, and the Obamas move into the White House, Bill Cosby and the rest of the show deserve some credit for putting some cracks in that glass celing. For a lot of white families, the Cosbys proved that a black family could be just as American as the Cleavers or the Seavers. Without Phylicia Rashād’s Clair–who was also a lawyer, and devoted mother and wife on the show–a lot of America would not be open to Michelle (and not all of America is–yet!). I also couldn’t help thinking of little Rudy Huxtable when Sasha blurted out, “hi, daddy!” I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one.

Michelle did her thing on Larry King early this week…

Here is Michelle Obama’s speech from yesterday’s UCLA rally. Parts two and three after the jump…

Today at a star-studded rally for Barack Obama that took place in Los Angeles, one star on that stage outshined all of the others. It wasn’t Ah-nold’s wife Maria Shriver, or her cousin Carroline Kennedy. They were both fantastic, by the way. It wasn’t Oprah Winfrey — who might actually have a future in politics with speeches like the one she made. It wasn’t even the one and only Stevie Wonder.

The star who shined the brightest was Michelle Obama.

Sure, I’m biased. I’ve been bragging about Michelle for months, even years. I’ve long said she has the strength that Democrats often relate to Hillary Clinton, and the grace that Republicans often relate to Nancy Reagan. The fact that I went to see Barack in St. Louis yesterday but am talking about Michelle instead says something. Barack was fantastic, but even I have never heard Michelle like I did today. There’s no doubt about it — she has the potential to be one of our finest First Lady’s. Now others are starting to see that too.

I managed to get my mom to watch the rally on CSPAN today. She’s essentially a lifelong Republican. I’ve been trying to get her to vote against Hillary (she hates her), or even for Obama. She watched the entire thing, and came away amazed. She even went as far as to say that Michelle “could potentially be the greatest First Lady ever.” My mom lived through Barbara, Jackie O, Lady Bird and Nancy, and also knows a considerable deal about other powerhouses such as Eleanor Roosevelt. Yeah, that statement totally blew me away.

If the Clintons are a co-ticket, then so are the Obamas.

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Gotta love the comments made by Michelle Obama today about the Bill and Hill Hill and Bill Show (even I can’t tell which of them is running sometimes). Here’s the scoop (via National Post):

But the war of words between the two leading Democratic presidential candidates exploded Thursday into a full-blown family feud as Obama’s wife, Michelle, accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of waging a “win-at-all-costs” smear campaign against her husband ahead of South Carolina’s presidential primary Saturday.

“We knew getting into this race that Barack would be competing with Senator Clinton and President Clinton at the same time,” Michelle Obama said in a fundraising e-mail to supporters.

“What we didn’t expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we’ve seen recently. We didn’t expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack’s record.”

The broadside from Michelle Obama came as her husband warned African-Americans not to be “hoodwinked” by thousands of anonymous e-mails sent recently to South Carolina voters that allege he is a Muslim who refuses to pledge allegiance to the American flag.

“Don’t let them bamboozle you with these dirty tricks,” the Illinois senator told a mostly black audience of 1,000 people at a campaign rally here. “Don’t let people make you afraid. Don’t let people feed your doubts.”

Bill the Bamboozler and Hillary the Hoodwinker — classic!

You know what, for all this noise about Bill Clinton, what about Michelle Obama? If I have one gripe about the Obama campaign thus far (other than playing safe and going to “four corners” in New Hampshire), it would be that Michelle hasn’t been utilized nearly enough.

This young — she’s only 44 — black woman is a powerhouse. Michelle’s just as eloquent and intelligent as her husband, and with her beauty and height — she’s nearly 6-feet tall — it’s impossible not to listen to her. Once you do, you can see that she speaks directly from the heart. None of this bad cop stuff Slick Willy is pulling. Michelle speaks the truth.

Personally, I think she’s a both a better role model for young women and a better representation of middle-aged women than either the cold and calloused Hillary Clinton or Stepford wife Laura Bush.

This excerpt from Telegraph really shows what she brings to the table:

On her 44th birthday, and less than 48 hours before today’s crucial Nevada caucuses, Mrs Obama spoke passionately about racial slurs against her husband and the symbolism of having a black family in the White House.

In a fiery comparison between his 2004 Senate campaign and this year’s presidential race, she said: “You know what they were saying about him then? They said he was too young. They said he was too inexperienced. They said he should wait his turn.

“They said he couldn’t build a political machine to match the might of a family in Illinois that had been running for years. They said he couldn’t raise the money. They said that he was too black. They said that he wasn’t black enough. Sound familiar?

“They said that his name was too funny. They said there was no way that white folks in downstate Illinois and vote for a man named Barack Obama. They said it because when power is confronted by change, they will say anything.”

Well said, Michelle. Well said. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing quite a bit more of you from this point on.