Teyonah Parris Quotes

As a child, I certainly wanted to have hair that I could grow long and flip around. I no longer want that. My own hair that I have day to day is a fuzzy afro. And that's who I am.

I love seeing my mom and my daughter embrace their natural hair. I'm glad I've embraced it, too.

I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turn into confident ducks.

In the beginning, I was worried there are too many shots of me as a boy out there. Now I'm at a point where I know my past doesn't make me any less of a woman today. I can be proud of it. I don't have to bury it.

I think that my whole journey had been getting to the place where I can accept myself for who I am, to be the woman that I'm meant to be, but you have to get there first.

I kept extensions in until I finished high school. Although, once I got to college, that's when it all started to shift. I think it was just growing up and moving to New York, where I saw so many different people, vibes, and looks, and everyone really owned it. That led me to feel more free, take more risks, and go back into my natural hair.

I know who I am. I'm proud of my journey.

I'm 27. I feel like I get it. I'm OK with being sexy if I feel like it. Some days I'm brainy, some days I'm funny, some days I'm sexy, and sometimes, I just want to dance.

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

I am a bit of a fundamentalist when it comes to black women's hair. Hair is hair - yet also about larger questions: self-acceptance, insecurity and what the world tells you is beautiful. For many black women, the idea of wearing their hair naturally is unbearable.

The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are.

My whole journey has been about self-acceptance.

I want to stop transforming and just start being.

Getting in touch with your true self must be your first priority.

I thought I was going to school to be other people, but really, what I learned was to be myself - accepting myself, my strengths and weaknesses.

'Rick' never really fit. I tried for 18 years to make it work, and no one wanted to call me Rick. It should always have been Ricky. That's what it always should have been, so I'm going back to it.

I realize it's a cliche, almost, that coming out of the closet is a very healthy and empowering thing to do, but for me, it really has been a truly wonderful thing.

I definitely have come out of my shell a lot more. When you question who you are, you can't be proud of who you are. Now that I'm trying to peel off those layers and really understand who I am, I don't have anything to be shy about.

I love who I am, and I encourage other people to love and embrace who they are. But it definitely wasn't easy - it took me a while.

I know when I used to chemically straighten mine, I did it because I wasn't comfortable with my natural hair. I thought it was too poofy, too kinky. So for me, personally, when I started wearing it natural, it felt like I was blossoming because I was letting go of all the dead hair and all the parts of me that had rejected my natural state.

We all wait for a mirror to show us who we are, to validate us. When we hear something about ourselves that we have never heard before, it feels like a blessing, and it gives power.

I truly believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

I think what is magic about black-girl hair is, at its basic level, it's just resilient. It can go from straight to curly in the same day. It's just transformative. When you don't feel so strong, the hair can be a sign of empowerment.

When you really understand who you are, it enables you to fight and believe.

I've learned to accept who I am.