Cover love ~ Viola Davis looks enviably happy on Essence

Viola Davis looks truly beautiful on the September issue of Essence. I love her hair (reminds me of my mum's hair), and honestly, didn't know that shade of lipstick would go well on dark skin ~would hunt for it! This cover has been on the news, thought I'd share it with you guys. 

Here's are some excerpts from the interview;

On growing up:

"My image of myself [as a youth] was in the mouths of young White kids calling me ugly and then going home to a mother who did not fully embrace her own beauty."

On finding love through prayer:

"I asked for a husband who was emotionally available, someone who was older, someone who maybe had a family before. I like older men. Someone from the South. Someone who loves God more than he loves himself. I met my husband three and a half weeks later, an ex-football player from Austin, Texas. On one our first dates, he took me to church."

On taking off her wigs:

"I had to defend myself as an artist, but I found myself defending myself as a dark-skinned black woman in front of people who did not know my life. I took my wig off because I no longer wanted to apologize for who I am."

On hair lovers:

"There's not one woman in America who does not care about her hair. But we give it way too much value. We deprive ourselves of things, we use it to destroy each other, we'll look at a child and judge a mother and her sense of motherhood by the way the child's hair looks. I am not going to traumatize my child about her hair. I want her to love her hair."

God truly does answer prayers. I remember when I was a young girl (was about 14 or 15 then) and I just went through the stress of making our native starch and banga (you probably don't know it), so I prayed to God to give me a husband whose best food would be rice. God answered my prayers and my husband's best food happens to be rice. When I found out while we were dating, I remembered my old but sincere prayer.

Anyways, nobody is perfect, but I pray God brings us to the point were we truly accept and appreciate ourselves. Then, we will most certainly be on the same page with happiness.

Stay blessed and have a very sweet week!

Uzoezi J.