Danielle Brooks is on the digital cover of Shape‘s September 2019 issue, out now.
Here’s what the 29-year-old Orange Is The New Black actress had to say…
On using her influence to promote body positivity: “I began to realize the impact of my voice when the first season of Orange Is the New Black dropped. I started to see girls use my red-carpet looks as inspiration for their prom dresses. I began to see my interview quotes on social media. I realized that I could be what I wished for as a young girl, for someone else. I wanted someone in the industry, who I felt was a reflection of me, to scream from the mountaintops, ‘I love my body! I can accomplish whatever I want in the exact body God created me to be in!’”
On creating joy for yourself and others: “When you let your light shine, it not only gives others the permission to do the same but opens up a world of unknown opportunities and joys for you as well.”
On breaking down barriers: “This opportunity to be on [the digital cover of] Shape is a pretty big deal to me. I feel like the world has built these invisible bullets to bully us in telling us who we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to look like. And I’ve always had this desire to prove people wrong—to say that this body that I’m in is enough. Now that I’m about to be a mother, it means even more—to make sure that this human being I’m going to bring into the world knows that they are enough.”
For more from Danielle, head to Shape.com.
