I don’t have to be perfect. All I have to do is show up and enjoy the messy, imperfect and beautiful journey of my life.
Learn to embrace your own unique beauty, celebrate your unique gifts with confidence. Your imperfections are actually a gift.
You and you alone are the only person that can live the life that writes the story that you were meant to tell. And the world needs your story because the world needs your voice.
I’m not interested in living in a world where my race is not a part of who I am. I am interested in living in a world where our races, no matter what they are, don’t define our trajectory in life.
To meet somebody who’s able to harness the level of courage it takes to walk away and to choose your own life and your own health, the well-being of your family, is really inspiring.
I’ll be honest with you. I’m a little bit of a loner. It’s been a big part of my maturing process to learn to allow people to support me. I tend to be very self-reliant and private. And I have this history of wanting to work things out on my own and protect people from what’s going on with me.
Today there are people trying to take away rights that our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers fought for: our right to vote, our right to choose, affordable quality education, equal pay, access to health care. We the people can’t let that happen.
As long as anyone anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake, and we are all vulnerable.
We need to be willing to be uncomfortable, to be flawed, to be imperfect, to own our voice, to step into our light, so that we can continue to inspire other people and employ other people, and make room for more and more voices and presence.
I’m here not just as an actress but as a woman, an African-American, a granddaughter of Ellis Island immigrants, a person who could not have afforded college without the help of student loans and as one of millions of volunteers working to re-elect President Obama!