Melissa Harris-Perry of Princeton University will deliver the 2011 Motorola Lecture, “Race, Gender and the Politics of Citizenship: Reading Michelle,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the U-M Museum of Art (UMMA) Helmut Stern Auditorium.

The event is hosted by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Women’s Studies Department.

Harris-Perry is associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University. She has provided expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial issues, religious questions and gender issues for NBC, MSNBC, “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Chicago Public Television, National Public Radio and many other radio and print sources.

Her work is inspired by a desire to investigate the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these challenges. Her next book is forthcoming from Yale University Press, “Sister Citizen: A Text For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Politics When Being Strong Wasn’t Enough.”

In her lecture, Harris-Parry explores First Lady Michelle Obama’s public persona as an important lens for understanding black women’s citizenship. Michelle Obama is the most visible, contemporary example of African-American women’s efforts to resist painful and historical stereotypes. She says the success and difficulties of her experience are emblematic, if not typical, of black women’s citizenship struggles.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, American Culture, UMMA, Department of Political Science, Office of the Provost and the School of Social Work.

The Motorola Lecture, established in 2001 with support from the Motorola Foundation, aims to expose U-M students to journalists addressing important issues concerning women and gender and to engage them in discussion about ways media can reframe public understanding of complex issues.