Youll Never Believe Who Michelle Obama Is Crediting With Making Her Beautiful First Lady Michelle Obama recently delivered a speech at the memorial service for poet Maya Angelou, who passed away earlier this month. During her speech, she claimed that Angelou was the woman who first made Michelle feel beautiful as a black woman. Phenomenal Beauty was a collection of Angelous most famous poems, many of which emphasized the beauty of black women. Angelou was one of the first public figures to describe the beauty of black women in way that no one had heard before. And, according to the first lady, it was when she first realized she was beautiful. And oh, how desperately black girls needed that message, Michelle raved to the audience, As a young woman I needed that message. As a child, my first doll was Malibu Barbiethat was the standard for perfection. That was what the world taught me to aspire to. Michelle continued on to say, But then I discovered Maya Angelou, and her words lifted me right out of my own little head. Her message was very simple: she told us that our worth had nothing to do with what the world might say. Instead she said, each of us comes from the creator trailing wisps of glory. She reminded us that we must each find our own voice, decide our own value, and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birthright as members of the human race. What do you think of Michelles speech? 