Michele Obama'S Senior Thesis

Among her maternal ancestors was her great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, born into slavery in South Carolina but sold to Henry Walls Shields, who had a 200-acre farm in Clayton County, Georgia near Atlanta. Shields, was biracial and born into slavery about 1860.

Among her maternal ancestors was her great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, born into slavery in South Carolina but sold to Henry Walls Shields, who had a 200-acre farm in Clayton County, Georgia near Atlanta. Shields, was biracial and born into slavery about 1860.

So when people ask me whether being in the White House has changed my husband, I can honestly say that when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, Barack Obama is still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago.

Michelle La Vaughn Robinson Obama (née Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American lawyer, university administrator and writer, who was the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017.

Are we ready to believe in the power of our own voices? Are we ready to work our hearts out to make our dream a reality?

The hope that when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just maybe they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best possible selves.

Among her contemporary extended family is rabbi Capers Funnye; born in Georgetown, South Carolina, he is the son of her grandfather Robinson's sister and her husband, and is about 12 years older than Michelle. She was determined to stay out of trouble and be a good student, which was what her father wanted for her.

She recalled facing gender discrimination growing up, saying, for example, that rather than asking her for her opinion on a given subject, people commonly tended to ask what her older brother thought.

Robinson said that being at Princeton was the first time she became more aware of her ethnicity and, despite the willingness of her classmates and teachers to reach out to her, she still felt "like a visitor on campus".

While at Princeton, Robinson became involved with the Third World Center (now known as the Carl A.

Fields Center), an academic and cultural group that supported minority students.

She ran their day care center, which also offered after school tutoring for older children.