Lauren Myracle Quotes

I loved reading when I grew up but did feel totally invisible because I couldn't see myself and my life reflected in the books I was reading.

With L'Oreal, I get to be Aimee Mullins, model. No qualifier. And that means everything to me.

Getting up and having the courage to share with people, all people, and even just being asked to sing, first of all, that's all part of how I express my identity.

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.

It's hard to be what you can't see.

Even with the beauty stories we put out, we saw there was an opportunity to address issues of representation, identity, self-expression. We created the community that we wanted to have at 'Teen Vogue.' We were willing to lose some to have more.

Seeing someone that you can relate to in the media is everything as a child, and a lot of people are not granted that luxury.

I'm definitely responsible for the image that I put out there. But it does become frustrating, because I don't want 'sexy' to be my defining characteristic. I'd love for my ambition and will and intellect and sense of humour to define me as well.

Encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find their own voice whether it's through writing, drama or art is so important in giving young people a sense of self-worth.

I'd like to be the role model to teach other people who have Down's syndrome to be actors and actresses and to be themselves and not try to be a big shot.

I knew I wanted to have a doll of myself on the cover. I thought, I wanna see myself as a Ken doll.

I've never felt as though I didn't belong, I just acted as though I did.

I've always felt a bit of an outsider. It used to worry me that, in terms of TV, I did not look like 'the girlfriend' or 'the daughter'. That pushed me to write my own stuff, as I thought no one else was going to write me a lead in the sitcom.

I used to draw stickmen with star glasses when I was at school. I didn't realise that would end up being me! The whole idea was that the glasses had mirrors, and if a youngster looked at me, they'd see themselves. Everybody is a star.

I grew up watching cinema in my country that wasn't telling stories about us, and we had to find a way to connect, and our references, our role models had nothing to do with us. And I'm so glad that it's changing.

I know what it's like to turn the page of a magazine and not see anyone like you. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of talking to yourself to confirm your self-worth.

One of the great needs of Negro children is to have books about themselves and their lives that can help them be proud.

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.

It's important to read books and see people who look like you. It helps you know that you are not the only one or the weird one because you're a black girl and you are not seeing anyone who looks like you in these books.

I define myself.

When I was younger, I didn't have that type of person that I could look up to and be like, 'OK, this is someone who dresses like me and I relate to.' I didn't have that growing up, so to give that opportunity to a younger generation of women - and not just Somali women, but anyone who feels different - that means a lot to me.

We always talk about how important representation is. It's so important to see someone that looks like you - whether you're African American, Asian, Indian or whatever your background is - doing incredible things. It's just motivation to go out there and do incredible things yourself.

For me, like, obviously, I want to see myself onscreen.

I don't want to travel around this world and have these kids treat me like I'm someone they're not, because I'm not doing anything that they can't do.

My parents have taught me the value of reading and self-love through books that have characters that look like me and talk like me.