from the mouths of beauties: staceyann chin

"... i want to go down in history in a chapter marked "miscellaneous" because the writers could find no other way to categorize me  in this world where classification is key i want to erase the straight lines so i can be me!"

poet and spoken word artist extraordinaire, Staceyann Chin

from the mouths of beauties: lovetta conto

" No matter how down the women in the refugee camp were, they always found a way to express themselves with beautiful jewelry and clothes they made from what they had ... Some people may say, 'Why should a girl who comes from a place where people struggle to get food care about fashion or jewelry?'  But I believe that your spirit wants beauty no matter your conditions.  Even something as ugly as a bullet that was fired in a war can be made beautiful if you are willing to work to change it into something else."

Lovetta Conto

from the mouths of beauties: dr. maya angelou

"Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me." 

— Maya Angelou (Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women)

from the mouths of beauties: ani

"so i walk like i'm on a mission

cuz that's the way i groove

i got more and more to do

i got less and less to prove

it took me too long to realize

that i don't take good pictures

cuz i have the kind of beauty that moves"

ani difranco

(evolve)