Michelle Obama joined the host of other celebrities who assured an adorable 4-year-old girl she is beautiful after a video of her complaining she was ugly went viral.
In the video that was originally shared last week by hairdresser Shabria Redmond, the preschooler, Ariyonna Cotton, while getting her hair done, can be heard saying she is so ugly.
Redmond, who is shocked at Ariyonna’s statement, reassures her she is so beautiful after telling her not to say that.
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“You are so pretty,” Redmond can be heard saying in the video. “When you look at yourself, you’re supposed to say, I am so pretty. You are so pretty, do you hear me? You’ve got the prettiest little dimples. You are too cute.”
Ariyonna, who is overwhelmed, begins to cry but an emotional Redmond continues to reassure her she’s beautiful.
“You ‘gon make me cry. You’re not ugly!” she says, as she hugs her and tells her she loves her. “You are so pretty. You have this beautiful chocolate skin … you are beautiful, black is beautiful, and if don’t nobody ever tell you, I will tell you; you are gorgeous.”
After the video went viral, scores of social media users and celebrities rallied around Ariyonna and heaped praises on her beauty.
Joining the list of people to let Ariyonna know she has #BlackGirlMagic was Michelle Obama. Taking to her Instagram, the former first lady told her she is gorgeous.
“Ariyonna, you are gorgeous,” she captioned. “In a world that sometimes tries to say otherwise, I want to tell you—and every other beautiful, intelligent, brave black girl—just how precious you are.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9k03BfgAhy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
The likes of Viola Davis also showered praises on Ariyonna and also addressed the issue of black women always being disrespected in an earlier post.
“THIS is the motivating factor for Black women to leave a legacy… of WORTH of BEAUTY!” Davis shared on Instagram. “We are fighting hundreds of years of brutal conditioning of being considered less than. It is sprinkled in our language, behavior, laws, music…etc.. and trickles down to our youth. I’m speaking LIFE into Ariyonna. From a sista who looks a lot like you….you were born worthy therefore you were born beautiful!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9er7gihXfA/
