“Take the time to define yourself and define your value. If you’re having a hard time doing that, ask yourself: What is something I would say to someone I love?”

We have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.

Who runs the world? Girls.

I’m learning how to drown out the constant noise that is such an inseparable part of my life. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world.

The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.

I went to a high school for the performing arts and I lived and breathed music. It kept me focused; it kept me sane.

A woman is most beautiful when she smiles.

When you’re famous, no one looks at you as a human anymore. You become the property of the public.

Independnce comes from you knowing who you are and you being happy with yourself.

Power is not given to you. You have to take it.

Me, myself and I. That’s all I got in the end.

I embrace mistakes, they make you who you are.

Baby it’s you. You’re the one I love. You’re the one I need. You’re the only one I see.

Embrace your past, but live for now.

I love my job, but it’s more than that: I need it.

I used to want you so bad, I’m so through with that because honestly you turned out to be the best thing I never had!

Perfection is a disease of a nation.

Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.

There is energy and power in a crisis.

Having grown up in a segregated environment in the south I know what it’s like to be stepped on, I know what it’s like also to see some black hero do well in the face of adversity.

In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart.

The hardest part of living without social media was remembering that my little life was enough, so I could just stay there and live it without asking for anyone else’s permission or validation. I realized that for me, posting is like asking the world, ‘Do you ‘like’ me?’

I don’t know if I’ve had my share of drama, but I’ve definitely had my share of hard times.

I fought, I fought harder, but one cell at a time, panic crept into my body, taking me over.

Pain stole my heart and made it home. And I can’t do anything but welcome it.