Michelle Obama’s Great-Great-Grandma Was a Slave, & Her Story is Inspiring

Credit: Fameflynet Pictures

Director Ava DuVernay (Selma) recently tweeted a photo of memorial plaque honoring Melvinia “Mattie” Shields McGruder, who was born enslaved in 1844 and died at 94 in 1938.

The plaque notes she is the great-great-grandmother of Michelle Obama, and since Ava tweeted it out, Melvinia has gone viral.

“Become your ancestor’s wildest dream,” she wrote in the tweet. We’re sure Melvinia is smiling down now.

Michelle Obama Slave