Empowerment, Feminism, Self Esteem, Self Love, Self-Worth, Womanism
“Loving yourself is all encompassing. I feel most empowered and beautiful when I’m walking in my purpose. That’s different for everyone. For me, it’s my art. When I’m acting, singing or producing I feel aligned with my calling.
I used to believe that love was reciprocal by nature. I had to disconnect myself from bad influences: people who didn’t support me or really care about me. I had to learn my own value and draw very bold lines in the sand in terms of the types of behaviors I would allow in my sphere. I realized that my greatest work of art is my life, and my life is a gift far too precious to be shared with just anybody.
I wanted to change my hair. I wanted to change my height. I wanted to change the way I spoke. Basically, all the parts of me that others ostracized or made fun of me for. I was forced to create my own standard for beauty, because I wasn’t exactly the same as any one side of my family. Growing up in a mostly white community in Long Island made things difficult as well. To be truthful, there are a lot of prejudices in the Caribbean and in Indian communities about hair type and skin color. So, I heard the good, the bad and the ugly and had to decide that I didn’t believe any of it.” – Tatyana Ali as told to Yahoo Beauty
