For so long, I have been an outsider because of my size. And I think that fashion has always, in some way, catered to celebrities or to a thinner idealistic model.
There are some days I feel fat. I'm not convinced there's going to be a moment where every woman in the world wakes up and feels like a million dollars. So, what I want to do is give women the tools that will help when those moments come up. Sometimes it can be as easy as telling yourself that you are beautiful.
I'm a confident woman with thick skin, and as a model in the public eye, I'm conditioned to accept criticism.
I put myself out there, trying to prove that beauty is beyond size. It was risky, sure, but what I risked in terms of personal pride was nothing in comparison to what I was rewarded in terms of personal fulfillment.
We need to work together to redefine the global image of beauty and continue to push for a more inclusive world.
The sum total of what I learned about African American culture in school was Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Underground Railroad. This was more than my mom knew; she didn't even see a black person in real life until she was 18 years old.
