Topic: Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (born June 25, 1945, Detroit, Michigan) is an American politician and mother of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. She has been a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997, representing the 13th District. The district, numbered as the 15th District from 1997 to 2003, includes over half of Detroit and portions of Downriver. She served as the Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus in the 110th Congress (2007-8).

Born Carolyn Jean Cheeks, she graduated from the Detroit High School of Commerce. She then attended Ferris State University in Big Rapids from 1968 to 1970 and received a B.S. from Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo) in 1972. She earned a M.S. from the University of Michigan in 1977. She worked as a high school teacher and was later a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives from 1979 to 1996.

She was married to Bernard Nathaniel Kilpatrick, with whom she has daughter Ayanna and son Kwame Kilpatrick, who is notable for being a former mayor of Detroit who was convicted of felonies while serving in office. She has six grandsons, including two sets of twins.