Jessica McDonald Quotes

I know I'm representing a group - black, Latin, whatever you want to put me with - and I want to show that they are beautiful the way they are. I think that's really important for our youth to see.

I didn't have a brown-skinned superhero growing up who wore cornrows and who reflected the inner city where I come from in Philadelphia.

It feels good to be a role model for little girls who don't often see natural hair on the red carpet.

We all want to be identified as someone cool, and I have struggled with repping where I'm from and my heritage before. It's part of growing pains. But when people see me being proud of what I am - and they are what I am too - it makes them proud. That's why I try to represent my Asian and my black side.

Ultimately, my goal is to inspire little brown girls that look like me, that are sitting on the porch wearing cornrows.

My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough.

I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become. I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.

What I think is exciting is that, to a certain extent, there is a revolution happening where black women are owning their own beauty, despite the standard of beauty that in the past has not had space for it.

I think it's huge that I'm wearing my natural hair texture on ABC in prime time. As Dr. Rainbow Johnson on 'Black-ish,' I think my hair is part of the reality of this woman's life. She has four children and is an anesthesiologist and a wife. She doesn't have a lot of time to fuss with beauty, so her look is pretty simple.

I grew up looking for myself onscreen and never could find myself. And I believe that I am supposed to be Toula to show people that it's O.K. to be different.

When my hair is picked out, my whole aura is picked out, like, 'See this, see me.'

Essence has been home for so many of us for so many years. I always say that Essence was the first place that I felt I was a pretty black girl.

'Essence' is political. I grew up on the magazine, looking at the covers. Seeing ourselves on the cover is political.

To me, being a black woman and being beautiful are not mutually exclusive.

When I was a youth, to be called 'African' was a diss. At school, the African kids used to lie and say they were Jamaican. So when I first came in the game, and I'm saying lyrics like, 'I make Nigerians proud of their tribal scars/ My bars make you push up your chest like bras,' that was a big deal for me.

I am proud to be able to exhibit my work and inspire young people. Especially young black women so they know that they are beautiful, that they don't have to hold onto any negative stereotypes.

Black is beautiful.

To see another fat girl on television, I think, is really powerful. I'm happy to open the doors for a younger generation of fat, black women to be visible, to be seen, to be heard.

I embrace my darker skin - always have, always will. In addition, I believe black women have always been trailblazers and trendsetters. Acknowledgement or not, we are and always have been beautiful.

With 'Black Panther,' black artists were provided with the opportunity and agency to create art that captures the full range of their imaginative possibilities. It matters that Chadwick Boseman is the protagonist and is supported by a cast of nearly all black characters.

I think it's amazing that I can go out there and be myself, and the fact that I'm carrying Puerto Rico on my back a little bit is such an honor.

Incredibly lucky to be an actor at this period in history. I'm able to work in this business and look put-together - sexy, even - with natural hair.

I would love to do more modeling. I would love to do anything really, mainstream, and help to create, I guess, a feeling of acceptance for people who are different and not look at them like they're freaks or whatever.

I think it's important to represent black women and our natural hair. Not wearing a weave is totally beautiful and acceptable.

I feel a responsibility to continue creating complex roles for black women, especially young black women.