Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions.

Volunteers may provide community service, however, not everyone who provides community service is seen as a volunteer, because some people who provide community service are not doing it of their own free will; they are compelled to do so by:

their government as a part of citizenship requirements, in lieu of military service;

the courts, in lieu of, or in addition to, other criminal justice sanctions;

their school, to meet the requirements of a class, such as in the case of service learning or to meet the requirements of graduation, or, in the case of parents, required to provide engagement and community, and to help them achieve their educational, developmental and social goals.

Youth service hours and/or projects is often required for advancement, e.g. for a Scout to advance to the next rank or for a high school student to graduate.

Service learning is the deliberate connection of community service to stated learning goals. A common misconception among educators, youth workers, and young people is the notion that service learning can be assigned. Several experts attest to the necessity of engaging youth in deliberating, planning, implementing, and reflecting on their community service, thereby sustaining high-quality service learning. This is intended to make community service an effective learning tool.

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University of Maryland, College Park researches young people and their community service. CIRCLE analyzes trends in community service/volunteering over time and by subgroups, such as sex, race and ethnicity.

Youth Organizations[link]

Youth organizations actively involved in community service include Key Club International, Scouts, Camp Fire USA, 4-H, DeMolay, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Civil Air Patrol, JROTC, Key Club, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, the Air Cadet League of Canada, the Army Cadet League of Canada, the Sea Cadet League of Canada, the Navy League Cadet Corps (Canada), the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, Royal Canadian Navy Cadets, Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, Interact Club, and the California Cadet Corps.

High school graduation and Community Service[link]

Many educational jurisdictions in the United States require students to perform community service hours to graduate from high school. In some high schools in Washington State, for example, students must complete 200 hours of community service to receive a diploma. Some of the Washington school districts, including Seattle Public Schools, differentiate between community service and "service learning," requiring students to demonstrate that their work has contributed to their education. If a student in high school is taking an AVID course, community service is required. The SFUSD (San Francisco Unified School District) made high school students complete 100 hours of community service (25 hours a year) in order to graduate high school.

Conditions of participation[link]

Contribution of service is a condition of enrollment in some programs. Most commonly, parents may be required to serve for their child to be enrolled in a school or sports team.

Colleges[link]

Though technically not a requirement, many colleges make community service an unofficial requirement for acceptance. However, some colleges prefer work experience over community service, and some require that their students also continue community service for some specific number of hours to graduate. Certain academic honor societies such as Delta Epsilon Sigma have rejected 4.0 GPA students that lacked community service experiences on their applications, because they honor community service so much.

Many student organizations exist for the purpose of community service, the largest of which is Alpha Phi Omega. Community service projects are also done by sororities and fraternities.

Alternative sentencing[link]

In this form of community service, people convicted of crimes are required to perform community services or to work for agencies in the sentencing jurisdiction either entirely or partly in lieu of other judicial remedies and sanctions, such as incarceration or fines.

For instance, a fine may be reduced in exchange for a prescribed number of hours of community service. The court may allow the convict to choose their community service, which then must be documented by "credible agencies", such as non-profit organizations, or may mandate a specific service.

Sometimes the sentencing is specifically targeted to the convict's crime, for example, a litterer may have to clean a park or roadside, or a drunk driver might appear before school groups to explain why drunk driving is a crime. Also, a sentence allowing for a broader choice may nonetheless disallow certain services that the offender would reasonably be expected to perform anyway; for example, a convicted lawyer might be specifically prohibited from counting ''pro bono'' legal services.

Most jurisdictions in the United States have programs by which the court may require minor offenders to perform work for city or county agencies under the supervision of the police or sheriff department, often on weekends, as an alternative to confinement in jail. Jail and prison inmates are also typically used for labor either in the jail or at outside work that benefits society, such as in light manufacturing, repair work, office work, on labor camps or farms, on chain gangs or on land conservation projects. This is, however, more properly considered a form of penal labor than community service.

At least part of the philosophy behind this kind of sentencing is that providing a service to the community is more beneficial than punishment for its own sake. Through community service, the community sees a benefit while saving the costs associated with incarceration of the convict and having the work carried out by paid staff. It is also thought to be a way to educate convicts on what constitutes ethically acceptable behavior.

Corporate social responsibility[link]

Some employers involve their staff in some kind of community service programming, such as with the United Way of America. This may be completely voluntary or a condition of employment, or anything in between.

In addition, approximately 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs where companies provide monetary donations to nonprofit organizations in recognition of their employee's volunteerism (Ex. $500 volunteer grant after 25 hours of community service).

Outside Canada[link]

Community service in the United States is often similar to that in Canada. In Europe and Australia, community service is an option for many criminal sentences as an alternative to incarceration. In the United Kingdom, community service is now officially referred to by the Home Office as more straightforward "compulsory unpaid work". Compulsory unpaid work includes up to 300 hours of activities, such as conservation work, cleaning up graffiti, or working with a charity. The Howard League for Penal Reform (the world's oldest prison reform organisation) is a prominent advocate for the increased use of community sentencing in order to reduce the prison population and improve the rehabilitation of those sentenced for criminal activity.

Starting in 2010, Danish High School students will receive a special diploma if they complete at least 20 hours of voluntary work. However, a number of the students fear that this will remove focus from their education, and representatives from the labor union fear that it will move tasks from paid job to voluntary work. Exchange students are warned that use of the term community service on a transcript may damage future career possibilities as it could indicate a criminal record.

The International Baccalaureate program requires 50 hours of community service, together with a written reflection on the service performed, to fulfill the requirement of 150 hours of CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) and receive an IB Diploma.

Example projects[link]

Cleaning a park.

Collecting items for charity such as clothes, food, or furniture.

Getting involved with Habitat for Humanity

Cleaning roadside verges.

Helping the elderly in nursing homes.

Helping the local fire or police service.

Helping out at a local library.

Tutoring children with learning disabilities.

Cleaning nursing home gardens

Cleaning local areas

See also [link]

Volunteering

Volunteer travel

List of community topics

Community development

Community building

Community economic development

Community practice

Volunteer Centres Ireland

Subbotnik

Working Saturday

The Howard League for Penal Reform

List of awards for volunteerism and community service

References [link]

External links [link]

366 Community Service Ideas

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

Perez, Shivaun, "Assessing Service Learning Using Pragmatic Principles of Education: A Texas Charter School Case Study" (2000). Applied Research Projects. Texas State University. Paper 76.

Category:Civil society

ar:خدمة المجتمع da:Samfundstjeneste es:Servicio comunitario fr:Travail d'intérêt général he:עבודות שירות nl:Vrijwilligerswerk sv:Samhällstjänst th:อาสาพัฒนา

{{infobox person | name

Paris Hilton | image Paris_Hilton_2009.jpg | image_size 200px | caption Paris Hilton at the Fox Reality Awards on October 13, 2009 in Los Angeles. | birth_name Paris Whitney Hilton | birth_date February 17, 1981 | birth_place New York City, New York, U.S. | occupation Businesswoman, socialite, model, producer, fashion designer | years_active 1993, 2000–present | networth US$ 100 million (2012) | height | weight | religion Roman Catholic | parents Richard Howard HiltonKathy Hilton | website Official site }}

Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American businesswoman, potential future heiress, producer and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton (founder of Hilton Hotels). Born in New York City and raised in both California and New York, Hilton began a modeling career as a teenager when she was with Donald Trump's modeling agency, T Management. Her hard-partying lifestyle and rumoured short-lived relationships with Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar de la Hoya led her to earn a position as a daily fixture in entertainment news — gossip-section Page Six, of the ''New York Post'' often includes articles about Hilton. Being known as a socialite, Hilton was hailed by the media as "New York's leading It Girl" in 2001. She went on to make cameo appeareances in ''Zoolander'' (2001), ''Wonderland'' and ''The Cat in the Hat'' (both 2003).

Hilton gained significant notoriety for her participation in a sex tape, which was released in November 2003, shortly before the premiere of the television reality series ''The Simple Life'' alongside fellow socialite and childhood best friend Nicole Richie. The show was a massive hit for the FOX network, premiering with 13 million viewers, and brought Hilton and co-star Richie to an international recognition. She then released her 2004 tongue-in-cheek autobiography called ''Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose'', she landed a supporting role in the 2005 horror film ''House of Wax'', and recorded the 2006 music album ''Paris''. She starred in the reality show ''Paris Hilton's My New BFF'' which was filmed in 2008 and also resulted in a second season. The show proved to be a success and was branched out to 2009's ''Paris Hilton's British Best Friend'' and ''Paris Hilton’s Dubai BFF''. Hilton was in 2008's ''Repo! The Genetic Opera'', where her work gained critical acclaim.

She has appeared in various lists compiled by magazines such as ''Maxim'', ''FHM'' as well as ''Stuff''. She is also regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine and was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by ''Men's Health''. Critics also suggest that Hilton epitomizes the title of famous for being famous; she is an example of the modern phenomenon of the "celebutante", the celebrity who rises to fame not because of their talent or work but because of their inherited wealth and controversial lifestyle. She has parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement — her fragrances have reportedly earned $1.5 billion. Currently, there are 55 Paris Hilton Stores worldwide and her brand includes, in addition to perfumes, purses, watches, t-shirts and shoes. She earns over $10 million a year from her brand and is paid $300,000 for appeareances in clubs and events. As of 2012, her net worth is estimated to be $100 million.

Early life and education[link]

Hilton was born in New York City, New York, to Kathy (née Avanzino), a socialite and actress, and Richard Hilton, a businessman. She is the oldest of four children: she has one sister, Nicholai Olivia "Nicky" Hilton (b. 1983), and two brothers, Barron Nicholas Hilton II (b. 1989) and Conrad Hughes Hilton III (b. 1994). Her paternal great-grandfather was Conrad Hilton, who founded the Hilton Hotels; he was of Norwegian and German ancestry. She is a half-niece of two child stars of the 1970s, Kim and Kyle Richards.

She was raised Roman Catholic and still attends Mass. Hilton moved between numerous exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. As a child she was good friends with other socialites, including Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Hilton attended the Buckley School and the exclusive St. Paul the Apostle Church and School, where she graduated in 1995. She then attended her freshman year of high school at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California from 1995–1996. Then in 1996, when Hilton was 14, her family moved to the East Coast. In New York, she briefly attended Convent of the Sacred Heart (while Lady Gaga was a student there) in 1996 before transferring again to the Dwight School. At 16, Hilton spent one year at the Provo Canyon School, a school for emotionally troubled teens. She then attended the Canterbury Boarding School, in New Milford, Connecticut from the fall of 1998 to February 1999 for her junior year, where she was a member of the ice hockey team. In February 1999, the month she turned 18, she was expelled from Canterbury for violating school rules. After being expelled from Canterbury, she returned to the Dwight School before dropping out a few months later as a high school junior. She later earned her GED.

Entertainment career[link]

2000–2002: Early work[link]

Hilton began modeling as a child, initially at charity events. When she was 19, she signed with Donald Trump's modeling agency, T Management. Hilton stated that while she "wanted to model," Trumb was wishing for have her at his agency, and after she signed she was "loving" the work. Hilton has also worked with Ford Models in New York, Models 1 Agency in London, Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, and Premier Model Management in London. She has appeared in numerous advertising campaigns, including Iceberg Vodka, GUESS, Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, and Marciano. In 2001, Hilton began to develop a reputation as a socialite, being identified as "New York's leading It Girl" whose fame was beginning to "extend beyond the New York tabloids". She has appeared in several magazines, including ''Elle'', the April 2004 issue of ''Maxim'' and the October 2005 cover of ''Stuff''.

Hilton started to act by doing cameo appearances in films such as ''Zoolander'' (2001). However the next year, 2002, she was one of the leads in the straight-to-video horror movie ''Nine Lives''. The film did well in sales. ''Beyondhollywood.com'' felt that "Hilton’s presence in the cast is the film’s main marketing point, which is plainly obvious by the fact that she’s front and center on the box art and is the only recognizable name in the cast" and also noted that her character was basically herself: "Hilton plays — what else? — a spoiled American socialite who shops on three continents in one day. The script is even clever enough to take a few jabs at Hilton’s real-life social standing, even mentioning that she’s been on the cover of a few sleaze rags in her day".

2003–2005: Career breakthough[link]

Hilton's breakout role came in 2003, when she co-starred with socialite counterpart Nicole Richie in the Fox reality series ''The Simple Life'', which premiered on December 2, 2003, shortly after Hilton's sex tape was released. The show started airing to surprisingly well received ratings; the premiere episode drew 13,000,000 viewers, increasing Fox's Adults 18-49 rating a phenomenal 79%. "everyone likes it because it's for all ages. People from the city will be like, 'Oh my God, I cannot believe you did that,' and people from the country think it's funny because they do it every day", Hilton said about the reason why the show was successful. Some entertainment writers felt the overnight success of Hilton was spawned by the whole tape controversy. ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented: "I dare say the Paris Hilton-Rick Salomon tape received more print and television coverage in a week than the run-up to ''The Simple Life'' received in the months since its premiere was announced. We in the media have become Paris-ites". ''People'' magazine wrote that the show "no doubt was helped by the very public saga of a pirated three-year-old video tape, which recently made the rounds on the Internet showing Hilton engaged in various sex acts with ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon". At that time, she started to be recognizable for her onscreen dumb blonde persona in reality television. According to UK's ''Now'' magazine, in a 2009 interview she said that "For five seasons I was stuck doing this character. It was kind of hard always having to play that character when it's not who I am". In a January 2011 interview with ''Movieline'', she remarked: "In ''The Simple Life'', producers told me to play a dumb blonde and that's what I did. I didn't realize at the time that I'd have to do that for five seasons and keep up this character of me. I think people assume that that is how I am in real life but I'm actually quite a businesswoman".

Hilton launched a lifestyle brand in 2004. She helped design a collection of purses for Japanese label Samantha Thavasa. The 10-piece line collection, a jewelry line designed by Hilton, started being on sale on Amazon.com. "I grew up surrounded by the finest fashion and jewelry designs, and I really wanted to create a line that was beautiful and very high quality, yet affordable and available to everyone," Hilton stated. "This jewelry is for the heiress in everyone." The line was described as "inspired by Hilton's personal style – feminine, flirtatious and glamorous – with heart, star and cross motifs." She was involved in the creation of a perfume line by Parlux Fragrances. Originally set to be a small release, high demand led to a wider release before December 2004. The launch was followed by a 47% increase in sales of Parlux products, predominantly due to sales of the Hilton-branded perfume. After the success of Hilton's perfume, Parlux Fragrances released several more perfumes with her name, including fragrances for men.

In the autumn of 2004, Hilton released an autobiographical book, ''Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose'', co-written by Merle Ginsberg, which includes full color photographs of her and her advice on life as an heiress. She mentioned in the book she was looking for a simpler life: "I don't always want the glamorous, jet-set life," she wrote. "Someday soon, I want to have children and a big house with a lot of animals – like my parents had". Hilton reportedly received a $100,000 advance payment for this book. Some in the media panned the writing as amateurish, and the book was parodied by Robert Mundell on ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. The book was in the ''New York Times'' bestseller list, ranking at seven. The quote "Dress cute wherever you go; life is too short to blend in", which appeared in the book was added to The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations in September 2009. Hilton followed her book up with a designer diary, also with Ginsberg, called ''Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me'' in 2005 and also in that year, she released her second fragrance ''Just Me''.

After Hilton hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' with musical guest Keane in February 2005, she got her first major role in the horror thriller film ''House of Wax'', in which Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray also starred. The movie, after being first screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, opened in May 2005, receiving mixed reviews. She described how her character was like: "I think Paige is like a small town girl. She's sort of like me, but not really. She was more shy, more insecure, and she, like, cared so much about this guy, and she thought like she was, like, scared he wasn't going to marry her and things like that." Matthew Turner for the ''View London'' said that Hilton "does better than you might expect". Also, ''MTV'' felt that she gave a good enough performance: "Paris Hilton is actually pretty good — she seems natural, at ease. She can be sweet and appealing, she can be sexy (no stretch), and she can be a good sport, too. Her role as Paige Edwards won the Teen Choice Award for "Best Scream" and earned her a nomination for "Choice Breakout Performance  – Female". (It also won her the 2005 Razzie for "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards.) She also earned a nomination for "Best Frightened Performance" at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. ''House of Wax'' grossed over $70,000,000.

''The Simple Life'', which ran for three seasons on FOX, was cancelled after a dispute between Hilton and Richie in 2005. Hilton commented: "It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it." Neither Richie nor Hilton spoke publicly about the cause of the split, though it was speculated that the pair fell out due to Nicole showing one of Paris' homemade sex tapes to a group of their friends. They relinked their friendship in October 2006.

2006–2008: Focus on music and film[link]

After Hilton founded Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records, in 2004, she released her self-titled debut album, ''Paris'', under the label on August 22, 2006. Although the album reached number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 for a week, its total sales volume has been low – but the first single "Stars Are Blind" was a top ten hit in 17 countries. "I have always had a voice and always known I could sing, but I was too shy to let it come out. I think that is the hardest thing you can do, to sing in front of people. When I finally let go and did it, I realized it is what I am most talented at and what I love to do the most," she said in an interview, expressing her passion for music. ''Allmusic'' commented that the album was "more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too." ''Billboard'' magazine described it as "an enjoyable pop romp". As a whole, critical reception was mixed.

The straight-to-DVD motion picture ''Bottoms Up'' was released in late 2006. The film came out with negative reviews; Australia's ''Urban Cinefile'' remarked that Hilton, as the lead role, "spends most of her screen time flicking her hair as she delivers lines like 'books are those things you read'". In December 2006, ''Pledge This!'', film in which Hilton appeared and produced, premiered in a limited release before going directly to video. She missed the premiere of the movie at the Cannes Film Festival in protest to the addition of some nude scenes that were going to be included in the film. Hilton said, "I was so angry I snubbed my own premiere." In August 2008, Worldwide Entertainment Group Inc. sued Hilton in the Miami District Court, alleging she did not honor her contractual agreement to provide "reasonable promotion and publicity" for the film. It was reported she was paid $1,000,000 for her work.

Ater ''The Simple Life'' was cancelled by FOX in 2005, it was subsequently aired by E! Entertainment Television for the fourth and fifth seasons. There were some complications to shoot the fifth season because of the arrests of both Hilton and co-star Richie in 2006. Despite talks of a sixth season, the series finished its run at the end of the fifth season in 2007. The show brought high ratings for the network. In that year, Hilton modeled for 2 be free and her fourth perfume came out, called ''Can Can''.

In January 2007, Hilton released the DreamCatchers line of hair extensions in partnership with Hair Tech International. In early August 2007, Hilton signed a licensing agreement with Antebi for a signature footwear line, "Paris Hilton Footwear", featuring stilettos, platforms, flats, wedges, and a sports collection, expected to reach stores in 2008. In mid August 2007, Hilton launched a line of tops, dresses, coats, and jeans at the Kitson Boutique in Los Angeles. She felt the event was "a dream come true" and described the clothing line as " fun, bright and flashy".

In December 2007, Hilton posed nude, covered in gold paint, to promote "Rich Prosecco", a canned version of an Italian sparkling wine. She also traveled to Germany to promote the drink, appearing in various print ads for the product. Hilton's love for dogs led her to create an apparel line for dogs called Little Lily by Paris Hilton, with some of the proceeds going to benefit animal rescue. "I have 17 dogs and I like to dress them, so I started designing this clothing line and it's really cute, like dresses and jeans — everything you can imagine for humans, but for dogs," she said in an interview during Super Bowl XLII festivities.

In April 2008, she guest starred on the ''My Name is Earl'' episode "I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends". On August 6, 2008, Hilton appeared in a one minute fifty second long video online, ''Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad'', directed by Adam McKay and posted on the Funny or Die website. The video featured Hilton in a parody advertisement, and was made in response to a television campaign advert ''Celeb'', by the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign. In ''Celeb'', McCain briefly compared his rival Barack Obama to that of celebrities such as Hilton and Britney Spears, going on to question his readiness to lead and criticize his energy policy. In what ''The Washington Post'' opined "might just be her best acting role yet," Hilton appears in the video wearing a leopard print swimsuit. The video received seven million views in two days garnering worldwide press coverage, and drew both written and verbal media response from both campaigns. Continuing the spoof campaign, in October Hilton featured in a second parody video posted on ''Funny or Die'', the two minute twenty second long ''Paris Hilton Gets Presidential with Martin Sheen'', alongside Hollywood actor Martin Sheen, with his son, actor Charlie Sheen, appearing in a cameo role. Hilton, heavily made up and in a green evening dress, interviews Martin Sheen in a kitchen, discussing various political issues, seeking his advice from his days playing a fictional President on ''The West Wing''.

A the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, it was screened a documentary about Hilton called ''Paris, Not France''. "I think there's a lot of misconceptions in the media. This movie is very personal. It's kind of like a diary", she said about the motion picture. Hilton admitted that when she talked with the movie director Adria Petty, she "broke it down to her and talked about things that have never been spoken about before, and people will learn a lot from that". It is shown in the documentary how she felt about the way the media had portrayed her: "I'm basically being judged, and they're creating this false person, and I can't do anything about it". Petty, during the premiere at the festival remarked that Hilton has "created a mystery about herself that a film like this maybe wouldn't have been a great thing for her in the past. But now, she's been so saturated in the media. We're so used to her. To see a new side of her is so exciting". Later, in 2009, the film was aired in July for MTV.

Hilton starred in an MTV reality series titled ''Paris Hilton's My New BFF'', about her search for a new best friend. The series premiered on September 30, 2008. That day, Hilton released her song "My BFF" on KIIS-FM with host Ryan Seacrest. It was the theme song for the ''BFF'' show . The series proved to be a hit, by being watched in its premiere episode by 1,200,000 viewers and averaged a 1.6 rating among spectators 12-34 in its Tuesday 10 p.m slot, topping all other cable shows in the hour.

Hilton played the character of Amber Sweet, the surgery- and painkiller-addicted daughter of a biotech magnate in the goth/rock musical with a cult film following, ''Repo! The Genetic Opera''. ''Bloody Disgusting'' noted that Hilton "is QUITE good in her role, both acting and singing (all of the primary characters sing their own songs). I usually can’t stand her in anything, but she won me over here". ''Horror.com'' said: " Not only is this by far Hilton's best role, she's actually got a grain of gravitas in the end". She remarked that "Just getting a role like this offered to me was new to me because I always get offered a certain role just basically playing myself". The film, first screened at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International, received a limited release in the United States and Canada on November 7, 2008. Around that time, Hilton released her fifth fragrance for women called, ''Fairy Dust''.

2009–2011: Worldwide TV career[link]

As a result of the American version success, on January 29, 2009, ''Paris Hilton's British Best Friend'', a spin-off, began airing on ITV2 in England. She began to film the show in October 2008. She said that she would not leave London until she could "find that amazing girl or guy who can meet the challenges of being" her "British bestie". She also felt that her friend had to be "hot", "can keep up" with her – it had to be somebody who "is real and won't be a backstabber". The show did quite well; it was watched by 428,000 viewers in its first episode and brought 605,000 viewers for its finale. The second season of ''Paris Hilton's My New BFF'' premiered on June 2, 2009. In that same month, Hilton shot ''Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF'' (which, after some complication, it was aired in 2011). Runner-up of the British series Kat McKenzie died on July 3, 2009, of a suspected overdose. Hilton guest-starred in the fifth episode of ''Supernatural'''s fifth season. "Paris Hilton is playing a demonic creature that takes the form of ... Paris Hilton," creator and executive producer Eric Kripke said in a statement. "It'll be a fun, irreverent episode and we here at ''Supernatural'' are thrilled that Paris agreed to do it." In July 2009, her sixth fragrance for women ''Siren'' was launched.

In February 2010, Hilton participated in an advertising campaign for the launch of the Brazilian beer Devassa Bem Loura, whose slogan in English roughly translates to "very blonde bitch". As part of the campaign, Hilton joined the brewery's float in the carnival of Rio de Janeiro. Despite the buzz caused by Hilton in Rio de Janeiro, Devassa beer had captured just 0.2% of the market at the end of 2010. Hilton launched her 10th fragrance, ''Tease'' inspired by Marilyn Monroe in August 2010.

Hilton provided her voice for the character of Bella in the ABC made-for-television film ''The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation'' (it is her first voice-over role). She said of the film: "I just think it's a really cute film" and that "I love animal movies, I love Christmas movies, and also, my grandmother, who passed away a couple of years ago from breast cancer, actually had a standard poodle and her name was Paris. So when I'm watching this, it's kind of like watching grandma's dog. It's kind of like a sign to me." The film aired on November 28, 2010 and attracted good ratings with 2.611 million viewers. In December 2010 Hilton launched her own motorcycle team. "I can't believe I have my own racing team! So cool! :)" Hilton wrote on her Twitter while at the launch. The team, whose colors are pink, white and blue, will compete in the MotoGP 125cc category from 2011-2013.

Later that year, Oxygen Channel gave the go-ahead to a new reality show called ''The World According to Paris''. The show followed Hilton in her daily life, and premiered in June 1, 2011 to 409,000 viewers. Although being the highest Wednesday premiere for a show, it was considered a bomb and that led the media to surmise Hilton had became irrelevant and even during an interview with ABC News' Dan Harris, she walked out after being asked if she was worried about her moment having past. ''The New York Times'' wrote that Hilton "is an attractive woman with proven talent for marketing and self-promotion, though as a reality heroine she seems a little passé — a Sony Walkman in an iPod era, a Friendster in the age of Facebook or, to put it in context, a single-process blonde in a triple-process world", and also remarked that she "appears to have plenty of boyfriends, present and ex. Paparazzi still snap her picture. But it’s hard to see how she can recapture the kind of audience she enjoyed in her heyday — even by streaming her premiere live on Facebook".

She also modeled for Brazil fashion week in 2010 and 2011 In São Paulo, Brazil. In 2011, it was launched a new collection of fragrances called the Passport collection. The perfumes are inspired by popular cities such as Paris, France; South Beach, Florida; and Tokyo, Japan, she was named "Billion Dollar Entrepreneur" by ''Variety'' magazine and was featured on the cover and opened up her third store in the Philippines. Also in that year, a Paris Hilton brand store was opened in India with plans to open 8 more stores. She also modeled during Ukraine Fashion week 2011 for designer Andre Tan.

2012–present: Upcoming projects[link]

In September 2011, at the Sun City music festival, Afrojack previewed ''Good Time'', an unfinished demo with Hilton's vocals. In the same month, DJ Antoine revealed that he had met with Hilton twice to discuss collaborating on her upcoming album. In October, Manufactured Superstars revealed that their next single would be "Drunk Text", which stars Hilton in the music video. The video was leaked on February 23, 2012, and there were many speculations from media outlets, stating that the single was going to be part of Hilton's upcoming album. Later, her spokesperson said that "we can confirm that the video leaked today is not part of Paris Hilton’s new album. This video was recorded over a year ago. The first single will be out in a few months, we will let everyone know when it’s due for release."

In January 2012, at the 69th Golden Globe Awards After Party, she stated she was going to appear in Darren Lynn Bousman's horror film ''Devil's Carnival'', remarking that the film was a musical. In an interview with the director, he admitted that although considering Hilton for a role in the film, he felt that "there just wasn't anything in there that was perfect for her". He told, however, he will work with Hilton in the future. In March 2012, it was reported that she will appear as herself in Sofia Coppola's ''The Bling Ring'', a film about a group of teenagers who robbed the houses of celebrities such as Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom between 2008 and 2009, is scheduled to be released in 2013. In February 2012, she launched a new line of sunglesses in Shanghai. The launch was a "huge success", she said.

In the January 2012 issue of ''FHM'' magazine, Hilton gave an update about her second studio album, stating: "I've been working on the album with lots of other top DJs for a while now and I think people will be really surprised. It's very modern and very catchy; perfect party music". She has since told MTV News "I was just in the studio with RedFoo the other night, so we're going to be doing my new single with LMFAO," and continued to say "I'm going with a whole new genre. I have Afrojack executive-producing the entire album. So we've just been coming up with the most incredible tracks." She also stated that she is working with Snoop Dogg and Flo Rida. It was announced in early May that the single, which is called "After Midnight", will premiere on June 5. She also made headlines after reporting she will have her debut as a DJ at the Pop Music Festival in Brazi on June 23. Afrojack praised Hilton during an interview with ''Castanet'', reported the ''New York Post''. While discussing about working with her in the upcoming album, he said: "The thing is with her… she’s like one of the most talented performers I know. She may not be a Celine Dion, but she knows how to perform on stage. She knows how to sing, believe it or not". Also, he commented that "In the studio with her for the first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the girl can sing. And she loves the dance music so we made some nice music. And it was fun".

She said she will be opening a beach club in 2012: "The first one is opening in the Philippines soon. It's going to have nightclubs, restaurants, bars, gyms. Everything really". It has been reported that her fragrances have grossed over $1.4 billion in revenue since 2005. As of March 2012, there are 55 Paris Hilton Stores worldwide, and her signature brand includes 17 different products lines such as t-shirts, shoes, fragrances, handbags and watches.

Celebrity status[link]

She denied proclaiming herself as the "iconic blonde of the decade" such as Diana, Princess of Wales, and Marilyn Monroe in the May 2007 issue of ''Harper's Bazaar''. She appeared in the 2007 ''Guinness World Records'' as the world's "Most Overrated Celebrity". In a poll conducted by the Associated Press and AOL, Hilton was voted the second "Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006", behind Britney Spears. Hilton has often appeared in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women poll, ranking at number thirty four in 2006, twenty three in 2005 and fifity nine in 2004. She was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by ''Men's Health''.

Critics suggest that Hilton epitomizes the title of famous for being famous; since her beginnings in the industry, she has attracted massive media attention for her controversial lifestyle, her arrests, her high profiled relationships and her party girl image. Back in the day, when her reality show ''The Simple Life'' was broadcast, she was a daily fixture in tabloids and there was a point where ''New York Daily News'' gossip columnist Lloyd Grove banned her from his page and the Associated Press conducted what they called an experiment in February 2007, trying not to report on Hilton for a whole week. According to a 2011 poll conducted by Ipsos, Hilton is the most unpopular celebrity among Americans, with 60% of the responders having an unfavorable opinion on her. In 2012, she ranked at number five in the "Most Over-exposed" list by ''Forbes''.

Charity[link]

She has also helped with some humanitarian organizations. In June 2008, she donated money to the construction of a medical building at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She stated that "The children I have met through my involvement with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have truly touched my heart. I am proud to make a donation and lend my name to the fundraising effort to help children who are facing terribly serious illnesses. The fabulous new hospital facilities at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will provide a caring, healing environment for children and their families for many years to come." In 2010, Hilton was named as ambassador for a new initiative from the USO that aims to give a MP3 player to all US active service troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She received the Heart of Gold Award by the Starlight Children's Foundation for her philanthropy efforts on March 26, 2011. After the ceremony, she wrote through Twitter that "These families and their children go through so much and my heart and prayers are with them. It's such an amazing feeling to give back and make a difference in someone's life. I am so honoured to be a part of such an amazing cause." She participated, alongside Fergie and husband Josh Duhamel, in the run that raised money for the people affected by the Japan Earthquake. Recently, she got involved with My Hope for Children.

Personal life[link]

Hilton loves small dogs, and lives with a Yorkshire Terrier and a female Chihuahua named Tinkerbell among many other pets. Hilton is frequently seen carrying Tinkerbell (dubbed an "accessory dog") at social events and functions, and in all five seasons of television reality show ''The Simple Life''. In 2004, Tinkerbell "authored" a memoir, ''The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries''. On August 12, 2004, Tinkerbell went missing after Hilton's apartment was burgled, and a $5,000 reward was offered for her safe return. She was found six days later. By December 1, 2004, Tinkerbell was again spotted with Hilton at various events. Hilton has also purchased a male Chihuahua on July 25, 2007, from Pets of Bel Air in Los Angeles. Hilton's love for her dogs led to the rumor that she wanted to be frozen with them at the Cryonics Institute, but Hilton denied the rumor on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''.

On January 22, 2007, Hilton's private life was thrust into the media spotlight with the launch of ParisExposed.com, a website that features images of personal documents, video, and other material allegedly obtained when the contents of a storage locker rented by Hilton was auctioned off due to lack of a $208 payment. The website began charging online access to this material and received 1.2 million visitors in just over 40 hours. Among the contents were medications, diaries, photographs, contracts and love letters, as well as a video of her shot by Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild. On February 3, 2007, Hilton obtained a temporary injunction against ParisExposed.com, closing down the website. On February 5, 2007, CNN's ''Anderson Cooper 360'' discussed footage obtained from the ParisExposed.com website which features Hilton using the ethnic slurs "niggers", "chink", "Jappy" and the derogatory term "faggot".

Relationships[link]

Hilton was engaged to fashion model Jason Shaw from mid-2002 to early 2003. In 2003–2004 she had a relationship with singer Nick Carter. Later she was engaged to Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis, from May 29, 2005, to November 2005. Thereafter, she began dating another Greek shipping heir, Stavros Niarchos III, before breaking up in May 2006. In early 2008, she was spotted with Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden and in May, Hilton announced her intention to marry Madden during an interview with television talk-show host David Letterman. The two broke up in November 2008, and "remain very good friends". She began dating ''The Hills'' star Doug Reinhardt in February 2009; Hilton has also referred to her intention to marry Reinhardt, saying "He's gonna be my husband." The couple broke up in June 2009, only to get back together again in August of the same year. On April 13, 2010, Hilton reportedly split from Reinhardt because she was worried he was just using her to further his career. Shortly after splitting from Reinhardt, Hilton started dating Cy Waits, entrepreneur and co-owner of Tryst Nightclub and XS Nightclub in Las Vegas. Hilton expressed that she would like to marry Cy, stating: "“I can see myself marrying him. We are so happy!”. In late June 2011, Hilton revealed that the couple had split up and remained close friends.

As of March 2012, Paris Hilton is in a relationship with Dutch-Surinamese DJ Afrojack.

Legal troubles[link]

Hilton was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, the level at which it is illegal to drive in California. The arrest complicated the shooting of the fifth season of series. Hilton's driving license was subsequently suspended in November 2006, and in January 2007 she pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge. Her punishment was 36 months' probation and fines of about $1,500. On January 15, 2007, Hilton was pulled over for driving with a suspended license and signed a document acknowledging that she was not permitted to drive. The next month, Hilton was caught driving 70 mph in a 35 mph zone, again with a suspended license. She also did not have her headlights on even though it was after dark. Prosecutors in the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney charged that those actions, along with the failure to enroll in a court-ordered alcohol education program, constituted a violation of the terms of her probation.

On May 4, 2007, Hilton was sentenced by Judge Michael T. Sauer to 45 days in jail for violating her probation. Initially, Hilton planned to appeal the sentence, and supported an online petition asking California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a pardon. The petition was created and organized on May 5, 2007, by Joshua Morales. In response, various opponents started a counter-petition to maintain the sentence. Both petitions attracted tens of thousands of signatures. Hilton later switched lawyers and dropped her plans to appeal.

Hilton was required to begin her jail term on June 5, 2007, and checked herself into the Century Regional Detention Facility, an all-female jail in Lynwood, California after attending the 2007 MTV Movie Awards on June 3, 2007. However Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca signed orders on June 7, reassigning Hilton to 40 days of home confinement with an electronic monitoring device due to an unspecified medical condition. Baca commented on the release saying, "My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice," contesting that under normal circumstances, Hilton would not have served any time in jail, and he added that "The special treatment, in a sense, appears to be because of her celebrity status ... She got more time in jail". On the same day that Hilton was released from jail, Judge Michael Sauer summoned her to reappear in court the following morning (June 8) as the sentencing statement had explicitly said she would serve time in jail with "No work furlough. No work release. No electronic monitoring." At the hearing he declined to be briefed by Hilton's attorney in private chambers on the nature of her condition and sent her back to jail to serve out her original 45-day sentence. Upon hearing the sentence, Hilton shouted, "It's not right!" and started screaming, requesting to hug her mother who was present in the courtroom. Concern about Hilton's condition led to her being moved to the medical wing of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, and she was moved back to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood on June 13.

While in jail, Hilton was influenced by the clergyman minister Marty Angelo: Hilton referred to starting a "new beginning" during her interview with talk show host Larry King on June 28, 2007, two days after being released from jail, and quoted from Angelo's autobiography, entitled ''Once Life Matters: A New Beginning''. On June 9, 2007, Marty Angelo petitioned Sauer, asking to serve out the remainder of Hilton's jail sentence if the judge would release her to an alternative treatment program, but the petition was turned down. On the same show, she revealed taking Adderall for ADHD since childhood.

On July 2, 2010, Hilton was accused of smoking marijuana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup game between Brazil and the Netherlands. She was escorted from the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium by local police, however the case was later dismissed for unknown reasons. Hilton's publicist, Dawn Miller, stated "I can confirm that the incident was a complete misunderstanding and it was actually another person in the group who did it". Two weeks later, Hilton was detained and released after being caught in possession of cannabis at Figari airport, Corsica.

On August 28, 2010, she was arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession in Las Vegas while her boyfriend, Cy Waits, was booked on charges of driving under the influence. Initially her defence claimed that the handbag containing 0.8g of cocaine was not hers as "This purse in question was a high street brand – and by no means up to her high fashion standards.". Later she claimed some of the personal items (like cash and credit cards) from the bag acknowledging it was hers.

In order to avoid being convicted on felony, Hilton pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors on September 17, 2010. Under the terms of the plea bargain, she was sentenced to one year probation, 200 hours community service, $2,000 fine and ordered to complete a drug abuse program. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said that: "If she is arrested for anything besides a minor traffic violation she will spend a year in jail. There will be no discussion. The court will have no discretion."

On September 21, 2010, while travelling to a press conference in Tokyo to promote fashion and fragrance lines, Hilton and her sister Nicky were stopped by immigration officers at Narita Airport, Japan because of Hilton's conviction for drug possession a day earlier. Under Japan's strict anti-drug laws, all people sentenced for any drug crime are in general denied entry. Narita officials questioned Hilton "for hours" and Hilton and her sister were forced to sleep over at the airport-hotel. On September 22, Japanese authorities decided not to grant Hilton entry into the country and she was put on a plane back to the U.S. the same day. Other stops on their Asian promotion tour were cancelled, as countries like Indonesia and Malaysia have even tougher anti-drug laws.

Heiress[link]

In December 2007, Hilton's grandfather, Barron Hilton, pledged 97 percent of his estate (the Hilton family fortune) to a charitable organization founded by his father, Conrad N. Hilton, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. As a result, the inheritance of his grandchildren is sharply diminished. An immediate pledge of $1.2 billion was made (the proceeds of the sale of Hilton Hotels Corporation), with a further $1.1 billion due after his death. He cited the actions of his father, Conrad N. Hilton, as the motivation for his pledge. Conrad, Barron's father, had left 97% of his estate to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Barron subsequently contested his father's will to win back a sizeable amount of the Hilton family fortune in a settlement. By leaving his estate to the Foundation, Barron is donating not only the fortune he has amassed on his own, but he is also returning the Hilton family fortune amassed by his father, Conrad, to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, where it would have gone over 30 years ago had Barron not contested his father's will. Barron said he is proud to follow his father's example.

Filmography[link]

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1993	''Wishman''	Girl on Beach
2000	''Sweetie Pie''
2001	''Zoolander''	Herself	Cameo
2002		Jo
2002	''QIK2JDG''	Strung-out Supermodel
2003	''L.A. Knights''	Sadie
2003		Barbie	Cameo
2003	''''	Female Club-Goer	Cameo
2003–2007	''The Simple Life''	Herself
2004		Madison	TV series ("Things That Go Jump in the Night")
2004		Ashley	TV series ("Jason Tutors Max")
2004	''''	Kate	TV series ("The L.A.")
2004	''Veronica Mars''	Caitlin Ford	TV series ("Credit Where Credit's Due")
2004	''Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!''	Heather
2004	''''	Heather Smith
2004	''Raising Helen''	Amber	Cameo role
2005	''American Dreams''	Barbara Eden	TV series ("California Dreamin'")
2005		Paige Edwards
2006		Lisa Mancini
2006	''Pledge This!''	Victoria English
2008	''''	Cristabel Abbott
2008	''Repo! The Genetic Opera''	Amber Sweet
2008	''''	Herself
2008	''My Name Is Earl''	Herself	TV series ("I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends")
2008–2009	''Paris Hilton's My New BFF''	Herself
2009	''Paris Hilton's British Best Friend''	Herself
2009	''Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF''	Herself
2009	''Rex''	Paris	TV film
2009			TV series ("Fallen Idols")
2010	''The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation''	Bella	TV film
2011	''The World According to Paris''	Herself	TV series
2012	''The Bling Ring''

Bibliography[link]

2004: ''Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose'', ISBN 0-7432-6664-1

2005: ''Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me'', ISBN 0-7432-8714-2

Discography[link]

2006: ''Paris''

Awards and nominations[link]

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2004	Teen Choice Award	Choice Reality Television Star – Female	''The Simple Life''
2004	Teen Choice Award	Choice Television Personality – Female
2005	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Scream Scene
2005	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Breakout Performance – Female	''House of Wax''
2005	Teen Choice Award	Choice Television Personality – Female
2005	Teen Choice Award	Choice Crossover Artist
2006	Golden Raspberry Award		''House of Wax''
2006	Golden Raspberry Award	Most Tiresome Tabloid Targets
2006	Teen Choice Award	Choice Reality Television Star – Female	''The Simple Life''
2006	MTV Movie Award		''House of Wax''
2007	Teen Choice Award	Choice Reality Television Star – Female	''The Simple Life''
2007	Teen Choice Award	Choice OMG! Moment
2009		Female Celebrity Fragrance of the Year
2009		Innovator of the Year Award
2009	Golden Raspberry Award		''The Hottie and the Nottie''
2009	Golden Raspberry Award		''The Hottie and the Nottie''
2009	Golden Rospberry Award	Worst Supporting Actress	''Repo! The Genetic Opera''
2009	Teen Choice Award	Choice Reality Television Star – Female	''Paris Hilton's My New BFF''
2009	Teen Choice Award	Choice Summer Television Star – Female	''Paris Hilton's My New BFF''
2010	Golden Raspberry Award	Worst Actress of the Decade	''House of Wax'', ''The Hottie and the Nottie'' and ''Repo! The Genetic Opera''

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century women writers Category:Actors from New York City Category:American dance musicians Category:American female models Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American memoirists Category:American pop singers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American socialites Category:American television actors Category:American women in business Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:Warner Bros. Records artists

af:Paris Hilton ar:باريس هيلتون az:Peris Hilton zh-min-nan:Paris Hilton bcl:Paris Hilton bg:Парис Хилтън bs:Paris Hilton ca:Paris Hilton cs:Paris Hilton da:Paris Hilton pdc:Paris Hilton de:Paris Hilton et:Paris Hilton es:Paris Hilton eo:Paris Hilton eu:Paris Hilton fa:پاریس هیلتون fr:Paris Hilton fy:Paris Hilton ko:패리스 힐튼 hi:पेरिस हिल्टन hr:Paris Hilton id:Paris Hilton is:Paris Hilton it:Paris Hilton he:פריס הילטון jv:Paris Hilton kn:ಪ್ಯಾರೀಸ್ ಹಿಲ್ಟನ csb:Paris Hilton la:Paris Hilton lv:Parisa Hiltone lb:Paris Hilton lt:Paris Hilton hu:Paris Hilton mr:पॅरिस हिल्टन ms:Paris Hilton nl:Paris Hilton ja:パリス・ヒルトン no:Paris Hilton nn:Paris Hilton nds:Paris Hilton pl:Paris Hilton pt:Paris Hilton ro:Paris Hilton ru:Хилтон, Пэрис simple:Paris Hilton sl:Paris Hilton sr:Парис Хилтон sh:Paris Hilton su:Paris Hilton fi:Paris Hilton sv:Paris Hilton ta:பாரிஸ் ஹில்டன் te:ప్యారిస్ హిల్టన్ th:แพรีส ฮิลตัน tr:Paris Hilton uk:Періс Гілтон vi:Paris Hilton wuu:帕荔斯 希尔顿 yi:פאריס הילטאן zh:芭黎絲·希爾頓

name	Can I Get a Witness
artist	Marvin Gaye
album	Greatest Hits
b-side	"I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby"
released	September 1963
format	7" single
recorded	July 17, 1963; Hitsville U.S.A.(Detroit, Michigan)
genre	Soul, rock and roll
length	2:53
label	TamlaT 54087
writer	Holland–Dozier–Holland
producer	Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier
last single	"Pride and Joy"(1963)
this single	"Can I Get a Witness"(1963)
next single	"You're a Wonderful One"(1964) }}

"Can I Get a Witness" is a 1963 hit song by Marvin Gaye on the Tamla (Motown) label. Written and produced by Motown songwriting and producing team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was built among gospel-styled music and heralded Gaye's beginnings in the church with a rhythm and blues/rock and roll setting. The song featured Gaye on piano, playing a boogie pattern, The Funk Brothers, and members of The Supremes in the background accompanying Gaye. The song became a hit in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and British musicians Lulu, Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, Sam Brown and Steampacket (which featured a very young Rod Stewart) recorded cover versions of the song. Gaye's version peaked at #22 on the Hot 100 chart and its title soon became a catchphrase. Lee Michaels' 1971 version reached #39 on the Hot 100; both his and Gaye's versions peaked during Christmas week.

In popular culture[link]

Gaye's recording is featured in the 1999 biographical film ''The Hurricane''.

Personnel[link]

Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye

Background vocals by The Supremes: Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson

Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Category:1963 singles Category:Marvin Gaye songs Category:Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Category:Motown singles

nn:Can I Get a Witness

Name	Michelle Obama
Image name	Michelle Obama official portrait headshot.jpg
Office	First Lady of the United States
Term start	January 20, 2009
Predecessor	Laura Bush
Birth date	January 17, 1964
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Birthname	Michelle LaVaughn Robinson
Nationality	American
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Barack Obama (m. 1992)
Children	Malia (born 1998) Sasha (born 2001)
Residence	Hyde Park, Chicago (private)The White House (official)
Alma mater	Princeton University (A.B.)Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Protestant Christian
Signature	Michelle Obama signature.svg }}

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago and to work at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. As the wife of a Senator, and later the First Lady, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition and healthy eating.

Family and education[link]

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois, to Fraser Robinson III, a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian (née Shields), a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school. The Robinson and Shields families can trace their roots to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South. Specifically, her roots can be traced to the Gullah people from South Carolina's Lowcountry region. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was an American slave in the state of South Carolina, where some of her paternal family still reside. Her maternal great-great-great grandmother, Melvinia Shields, also a slave, became pregnant by a white man. His name and the nature of their union have been lost. She gave birth to Michelle's biracial maternal great-great grandfather, Dolphus T. Shields.

Michelle grew up in a two-story house on Euclid Street in Chicago's South Shore community area. Her parents rented a small apartment on the house's second floor from her great-aunt, who lived downstairs. She was raised in what she describes as a "conventional" home, with "the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table". The family entertained together by playing games such as Monopoly and by reading. They attended services at nearby South Shore Methodist Church. The Robinsons used to vacation in a rustic cabin in White Cloud, Michigan. She and her brother, Craig (who is 21 months older), skipped the second grade. By sixth grade, Michelle joined a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School (later renamed Bouchet Academy).

She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago's first magnet high school, where she was a classmate of Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita. The round trip commute from the Robinsons' South Side home to the Near West Side, where the school was located, took three hours. She was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer. Michelle graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of her class.

Michelle was inspired to follow her brother to Princeton University; Craig graduated in 1983. At Princeton, she challenged the teaching methodology for French because she felt that it should be more conversational. As part of her requirements for graduation, she wrote a thesis entitled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community." "I remember being shocked," she says, "by college students who drove BMWs. I didn't even know parents who drove BMWs." While at Princeton, she got involved with the Third World Center (now known as the Carl A. Fields Center), an academic and cultural group that supported minority students, running their day care center which also included after school tutoring. Robinson majored in sociology and minored in African American studies and graduated ''cum laude'' with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985. She earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. At Harvard she participated in demonstrations advocating the hiring of professors who were members of minorities and worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, assisting low-income tenants with housing cases. She is the third First Lady with a postgraduate degree, after her two immediate predecessors, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush. In July 2008, Obama accepted the invitation to become an honorary member of the 100-year-old black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which had no active undergraduate chapter at Princeton when she attended.

She met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin (she has sometimes said only two, although others have pointed out there were others in different departments), and she was assigned to mentor him as a summer associate. Their relationship started with a business lunch and then a community organization meeting where he first impressed her. The couple's first date was to the Spike Lee movie ''Do the Right Thing''. They married in October 1992, and have two daughters, Malia Ann (born 1998) and Natasha (known as Sasha, born 2001). After his election to the U.S. Senate, the Obama family continued to live on Chicago's South Side, choosing to remain there rather than moving to Washington, D.C. Throughout her husband's 2008 campaign for President of the United States, she made a "commitment to be away overnight only once a week — to campaign only two days a week and be home by the end of the second day" for their two children. She is the first cousin, once removed, of Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., one of the country’s most prominent black rabbis.

She once requested that her then-fiancé meet her prospective boss, Valerie Jarrett, when considering her first career move. Now, Jarrett is one of her husband’s closest advisors. The marital relationship has had its ebbs and flows; the combination of an evolving family life and beginning political career led to many arguments about balancing work and family. Barack Obama wrote in his second book, ''The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream'', that "Tired and stressed, we had little time for conversation, much less romance". However, despite their family obligations and careers, they continue to attempt to schedule date nights.

The Obamas' daughters attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school. As a member of the school's board, Michelle fought to maintain diversity in the school when other board members connected with the University of Chicago tried to reserve more slots for children of the university faculty. This resulted in a plan to expand the school. Malia and Sasha now attend Sidwell Friends School in Washington, after also considering Georgetown Day School. Michelle stated in an interview on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' that they do not intend to have any more children. The Obamas have received advice from past first ladies Laura Bush, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Rodham Clinton about raising children in the White House. Marian Robinson, Michelle's mother, has moved into the White House to assist with child care.

Career[link]

Following law school, she was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin, where she first met her future husband. At the firm, she worked on marketing and intellectual property. She continues to hold her law license, but as she no longer needs it for her work, it has been on a voluntary inactive status since 1993.

In 1991, she held public sector positions in the Chicago city government as an Assistant to the Mayor, and as Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development. In 1993, she became Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies. She worked there nearly four years and set fundraising records for the organization that still stood 12 years after she left.

In 1996, she served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University's Community Service Center. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs. She continued to hold the University of Chicago Hospitals position during the primary campaign, but cut back to part time in order to spend time with her daughters as well as work for her husband's election; she subsequently took a leave of absence from her job. According to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, her salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate. The Obamas' total income, however, was $991,296, which included $51,200 she earned as a member of the board of directors of TreeHouse Foods, and investments and royalties from his books.

She served as a salaried board member of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (), a major Wal-Mart supplier with whom she cut ties immediately after her husband made comments critical of Wal-Mart at an AFL-CIO forum in Trenton, New Jersey, on May 14, 2007. She serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

2008 Presidential election[link]

Although Obama has campaigned on her husband's behalf since early in his political career by handshaking and fund-raising, she did not relish the activity at first. When she campaigned during her husband's 2000 run for United States House of Representatives, her boss at the University of Chicago asked if there was any single thing about campaigning that she enjoyed; after some thought, she replied that visiting so many living rooms had given her some new decorating ideas.

At first, Obama had reservations about her husband's presidential campaign, due to fears about a possible negative effect on their daughters. She says that she negotiated an agreement in which her husband was to give up smoking in exchange for her support of his decision to run. About her role in her husband's presidential campaign she has said: "My job is not a senior adviser." During the campaign, she has discussed race and education by using motherhood as a framework.

In May 2007, three months after her husband declared his presidential candidacy, she reduced her professional responsibilities by 80 percent to support his presidential campaign. Early in the campaign, she had limited involvement in which she traveled to political events only two days a week and traveled overnight only if their daughters could come along; by early February 2008 her participation had increased significantly, attending thirty-three events in eight days. She made several campaign appearances with Oprah Winfrey. She wrote her own stump speeches for her husband's presidential campaign and generally spoke without notes.

Throughout the campaign, the media often labeled her as an "angry black woman," and some Web sites attempted to propagate this image, prompting her to respond: "Barack and I have been in the public eye for many years now, and we've developed a thick skin along the way. When you’re out campaigning, there will always be criticism. I just take it in stride, and at the end of the day, I know that it comes with the territory." By the time of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August, media outlets observed that her presence on the campaign trail had grown softer than at the start of the race, focusing on soliciting concerns and empathizing with the audience rather than throwing down challenges to them, and giving interviews to shows like ''The View'' and publications like ''Ladies' Home Journal'' rather than appearing on news programs. The change was even reflected in her fashion choices, wearing more informal clothes in place of her previous designer pieces. The ''View'' appearance was partly intended to help soften her public image, and it was widely-covered in the press.

The presidential campaign was her first exposure to the national political scene; even before the field of Democratic candidates was narrowed to two, she was considered the least famous of the candidates' spouses. Early in the campaign, she told anecdotes about the Obama family life; however, as the press began to emphasize her sarcasm, she toned it down. ''New York Times'' op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd wrote: }}

On the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Craig Robinson introduced his younger sister. She delivered her speech, during which she sought to portray herself and her family as the embodiment of the American Dream. Obama said both she and her husband believed "that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, and you do what you say you're going to do, that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them." She also emphasized loving her country, in response to criticism for her previous statements about feeling proud of her country for the first time. That keynote address was largely well received and drew mostly positive reviews. A Rasmussen Reports poll found that her favorability among Americans reached 55%.

On an October 6, 2008 broadcast, Larry King asked her if the American electorate was past the Bradley effect. She stated that her husband's achievement of the nomination was a fairly strong indicator that it was. The same night she also was interviewed by Jon Stewart on ''The Daily Show'' where she deflected criticism of her husband and his campaign. On Fox News' ''America's Pulse'', E. D. Hill referred to the fist bump shared by the Obamas on the night that he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination as a "terrorist fist jab"; Hill was taken off air and the show itself was cancelled.

First Lady of the United States[link]

Public image and style[link]

With the ascent of her husband as a prominent national politician, Michelle Obama has become a part of popular culture. In May 2006, ''Essence'' listed her among "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women." In July 2007, ''Vanity Fair'' listed her among "10 of the World's Best Dressed People." She was an honorary guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball as a "young'un" paying tribute to the 'Legends,' which helped pave the way for African American Women. In September 2007, ''02138'' magazine listed her 58th of 'The Harvard 100'; a list of the prior year's most influential Harvard alumni. Her husband was ranked fourth. In July 2008, she made a repeat appearance on the ''Vanity Fair'' international best dressed list. She also appeared on the 2008 ''People'' list of best-dressed women and was praised by the magazine for her "classic and confident" look.

At the time of her husband's election, some sources anticipated that as a high-profile African-American woman in a stable marriage she would be a positive role model who would influence the view the world has of African-Americans. Her fashion choices were part of the 2009 Fashion week, but Obama's influence in the field did not have the impact on the paucity of African-American models who participate, that some thought it might.

She has been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy due to her sense of style, and also to Barbara Bush for her discipline and decorum. Her white, one-shoulder Jason Wu 2009 inaugural gown was said to be "an unlikely combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy". Obama's style is described as populist. She often wears clothes by designers Calvin Klein, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Donna Ricco and Maria Pinto, and has become a fashion trendsetter, in particular her favoring of sleeveless dresses that showcase her toned arms.

She appeared on the cover and in a photo spread in the March 2009 issue of ''Vogue''. Every First Lady since Lou Hoover (except Bess Truman) has been in ''Vogue'', but only Hillary Clinton had previously appeared on the cover.

The media have been criticized for focusing more on the first lady's fashion sense than her serious contributions. She has stated that she would like to focus attention as First Lady on issues of concern to military and working families. ''U.S.News & World Report'' blogger, PBS host and Scripps Howard columnist Bonnie Erbe has argued that Obama's own publicists seem to be feeding the emphasis on style over substance. Erbe has stated on several occasions that she is miscasting herself by overemphasizing style.

Work undertaken and causes promoted[link]

During her early months as First Lady, she visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens. She also sent representatives to schools and advocated public service. On her first trip abroad in April 2009, she toured a cancer ward with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She has begun advocating on behalf of military families. Like her predecessors Clinton and Bush, who supported the organic movement by instructing the White House kitchens to buy organic food, Obama has received attention by planting an organic garden and installing bee hives on the South Lawn of the White House, which will supply organic produce and honey to the First Family and for state dinners and other official gatherings.

Obama has become an advocate of her husband's policy priorities by promoting bills that support it. Following the enactment of the Pay equity law, Obama hosted a White House reception for women's rights advocates in celebration. She has pronounced her support for the economic stimulus bill in visits to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and United States Department of Education. Some observers have looked favorably upon her legislative activities, while others have said that she should be less involved in politics. According to her representatives, she intends to visit all United States Cabinet-level agencies in order to get acquainted with Washington.

She gained growing public support in her early months as first lady. She is notable for her support from military families and some Republicans. As the public is growing accustomed to her, she is becoming more accepted as a role model. ''Newsweek'' described her first trip abroad as an exhibition of her so-called "star power" and MSN described it as a display of sartorial elegance. There were questions raised in the American and British media regarding protocol when the Obamas met Queen Elizabeth II, and Michelle reciprocated a touch on her back by the Queen during a reception, purportedly against traditional royal etiquette. Palace sources denied that any breach in etiquette had occurred.

On June 5, 2009, the White House announced that Michelle Obama was replacing her current chief of staff, Jackie Norris, with Susan Sher, a longtime friend and adviser. Norris will become a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Then in February 2010, the resignation of White House Social Secretary, Desiree Rogers was announced to be effective the following month. Rogers had been at odds with other administration officials, such as David Axelrod, and then the White House State Dinner faux pas occurred on November 24, 2009. Rogers was replaced by Julianna Smoot.

After a year as First Lady, she undertook her first lead role in an administrationwide initiative. Her goal was to make progress in reversing the 21st century trend of childhood obesity. She stated that her goal is to make this effort her legacy: "I want to leave something behind that we can say, ‘Because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.’ And my hope is that that’s going to be in the area of childhood obesity." She has named the movement "Let's Move!". This effort does not supplant her other efforts: supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family, encouraging national service, promoting the arts and arts education, and fostering healthy eating and healthy living for children and families across the country. She has earned widespread publicity on the topic of healthy eating by planting the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

First Lady Michelle Obama at Whitehouse.gov

"About Michelle Obama" at BarackObama.com

Michelle Obama collected news and commentary at ''Chicago Tribune''

Michelle Obama collected news and commentary at U.S.News & World Report

Michelle Obama On Love, Family & Politics, interview with Katie Couric of ''CBS News'', February 15, 2008

Photoessay in ''Newsweek''

Category:1964 births Category:African-American history Category:African American female lawyers Category:First Ladies of the United States Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Living people Category:Obama family Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Spouses of Illinois politicians Category:Spouses of United States Senators Category:United Church of Christ members Category:Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni Category:Women in Illinois politics

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