In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service.

It felt like love to me. It embraced me. I accepted it and thought, "Well, this is how [Dre] loves." I got that from my mother and from my grandmother, who were abused.

It's one of many ways that Barack shows me and the girls how special we are. And that's the thing that touches me about him. I don't care what's on his plate. I don't care what he's struggling with. When he steps off that elevator into our residence he is Barack and dad. And there's just those little things that you do that remind you, that you know, I still got ya.

I know in the movie it looks like my grandmother is condoning it, but she really wasn't. But back in those days, men beat women. She was trying to tell me something without being judgmental, trying to help me understand that's what men do.

When my mother and my grandmother died three months apart, I knew my world was over.

One of the things that attracted me to Barack was his emotional honesty. Right off the bat he said what he felt. There are no games with him—he is who he appears to be. I feel fortunate as a woman to have a husband who loves me and shows me in every way.

It’s easier to hold onto your own stereotypes and misconceptions, it makes you feel justified in your own ignorance. That’s America. So the challenge for us is, are we ready for change?