I am smart.

In fact, African American women, like me, just became the most educated group in America. We decided that we didn't like being told that we weren't good enough and that we could never achieve anything. We made it possible because we wanted it.

I am smart. I get it from my mother, a woman who has two degrees and has managed to overcome every obstacle that came her way. A woman who showed me that I have to break down the boundaries they put in front of me in order to be the best.

I am smart. I learned from my father that I have to be. In this world, anyone like me has to work twice as hard to do as well as a black man and four times as hard to do as well as a white man. Since I was younger, my father made me do my best because he knew that life would be hard.

I am smart. Even though no one thinks that I should be, I have always been smart. I have always done well in school and trained myself to be a leader. I always proved that I am worthy of being listened to.

I am smart because I want to be.

I am smart because everyone expects me to be dumb.

I am smart because one day a little girl with dark brown skin and curly hair is going to need to see someone who looks like her in order to know she's beautiful. I want that little girl to know that she is beautiful, even when society tells her she is not.

I am smart. I am strong. I am beautiful. I am kind. I am all these things because I am tired of being told what I can't be.