Jason Reynolds Quotes

I'd like to be the role model to teach other people who have Down's syndrome to be actors and actresses and to be themselves and not try to be a big shot.

My parents have taught me the value of reading and self-love through books that have characters that look like me and talk like me.

I think it's really important for all young girls to see themselves represented in fashion so they don't feel alone in the world.

Kids need to see their world reflected back to them.

I'm ready to be an action figure. I'd love that very much. And all the redheaded kids will get to go out and feel loved and be able to buy a redheaded action figure.

I know I'm representing a group - black, Latin, whatever you want to put me with - and I want to show that they are beautiful the way they are. I think that's really important for our youth to see.

I knew I wanted to have a doll of myself on the cover. I thought, I wanna see myself as a Ken doll.

Since the beginning of my career, I have publicly dressed and represented women of all sizes, of all colors. And that's a big part of who I am and what I want to give to the world.

If there was going to be a pioneer of the plus-size girl of my shape on TV, why not me?

The idea that I get to kind of redefine what is beautiful and whose story deserves to be told and showcase that you know, big women have love lives and complex colorful lives like everybody else, that's really important to me.

It's so important for women to create images of women - or any group, at that.

I'm working to create a space where it feels easy to include and imagine black girls and make black girls like me the main characters of our lives.

There's something to be said about seeing your face represented. There's just something really important about that. It just draws you in more.

It feels good to be a role model for little girls who don't often see natural hair on the red carpet.

Even with the beauty stories we put out, we saw there was an opportunity to address issues of representation, identity, self-expression. We created the community that we wanted to have at 'Teen Vogue.' We were willing to lose some to have more.

For me, playing a chubby or fat superhero was so special because I would go and watch these movies with my friends and would never see anyone like me. I am excited to be that for other kids who look like me.

When I saw Neneh Cherry singing on TV, I was so glad that there was someone of the same ethnicity - and with the same curly hair - for me to look up to.

The most amazing thing for me is when I open up a magazine and I see someone I could be friends with and looks, maybe, slightly like me. And I think that's the same with young girls. Because there needs to be diversity.

Anyone can wear my dresses. They will look good on any figure, no matter what shape you are. I want to celebrate a woman's inner strength, to inspire real women and make them feel confident and beautiful.

I feel I'll take on the responsibility of showing the world a whole different kind of Latin woman.

My visibility may have gotten Hollywood to redefine what's attractive.

But, yeah, as far as Asian Americans go, I hope they know they can look at me and see that they can do music on their own, within a band or just on their own, and not feel like there's any barriers. I've never felt any particular barriers myself, being who I am.

In the beginning, when I was doing my shows, I was incorporating a lot of Spanish, just trying to be a Latino comic instead of just a comic. Now I try to make the show as broad as possible... I don't want to alienate people. I want to make it so everybody can follow along and everybody can relate.

It really comes down to being able to inspire others by being comfortable with yourself. You have to show girls that everyone is different; everyone has things they don't like, but they work it and walk the runway.

With L'Oreal, I get to be Aimee Mullins, model. No qualifier. And that means everything to me.