Alicia Keys was photographed for the March cover of Glamour [1] at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. She was joined by a group of young women from The Lower Eastside Girls Club, beneficiaries of the magazine's philanthropic initiative The Girl Project — and in addition to opening up about her year-long journey going without makeup [2], the 15-time Grammy winner and mom of three [3] also shared words of wisdom and empowerment that young girls and grown women alike can benefit from. When asked what she would tell her younger self, Alicia responded with a powerful, sincere message:
"There is this fallacy about how women are catty, that we're all in competition with each other. I'd say: As opposed to getting swept up in jealousy, use that pang to give you an indication of what you are looking for. Actually, there is this awesome performer Lilly Singh [4] who always does this thing: 'Shout out another girl and tell her what you love about her.' Even doing that is such a good practice, I don't know if we tell women great news about themselves enough. You'd be surprised how often a young woman doesn't hear positive things about herself — not in her home, not at school. It's hard to create a beautiful image for yourself when you've never seen it or heard it."
Hear, hear!
