Nia, such a beautiful article! Thank you!

I relate so much, despite my different life setting. I was another white girl in a white community - but as a teen, I barely considered myself 'acceptable' - cute was a big upgrade.

I smiled when you mentioned Lose my Breath by Destiny's Child. In 10th grade, a group of girls in our class made a choreography on this song and I felt validated to even be chosen among the six in the group - at the back.

:) Long story short, when I stubbornly began to approve of myself, on the outside, it seemed like the little goose grew into a swan.

It always starts on the inside.