The dress, a purple shift, is almost ludicrously simple. The pearls around her neck are fakes, each one the size of a gobstopper, and deliberately so. It is clear that the woman gazing out from the cover of Newsweek magazine has a message for anyone caring to glance at the news stand. Yes, Michelle Obama is a glamorous lawyer with a big salary, a bigger house and a husband with one hand on the Presidency, but never forget that this is also the little black girl from Chicago who overcame the odds to change the face of American politics.