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Gabrielle Union addressed the challenges of raising a Black girl in a heartfelt Instagram post yesterday. In it, the Cheaper By The Dozen star opened up about how important it is to teach her 3-year-old daughter Kaavia, whom she shares with husband Dwayne Wade, to love herself.
“Teaching @kaaviajames to love every part of herself is a full time job with no days off but I approach it as an act of love,” the actress captioned the post.
“From the time Black girls are born, folks are checking our ears and nail beds to see how dark we might be or the incessant commentary about what ‘grade’ of hair our kids might have,” she continued. “All our parts are up for discussion and often times, scorn. I want Kaav to feel beautiful and powerful in EVERY room she walks into no matter who is standing next to her. Her beauty, her power, her love, is HERS. I want her to be free of Eurocentric beauty ideals and embrace all our glory.”
A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion)
The Instagram also included a video of Union and Kaavia. “Tell me about your hair,” she asks her daughter.
“My hair’s puffy,” she replies.
“What’s Mommy’s hair?” Union asks.
“Puffy!” Kaavia answers.
“Puffy? You like it?” Union asks. Kaavia responds, “Yes.”
“Is it beautiful?” Union says. “Yeah,” Kaavia says.
Then Union runs her fingers through Kaavia’s hair, saying, “Your hair’s so beautiful,” as Kaavia looks in the camera and smiles.
“Wanna see my hairdo?” Kaavia asks next. “My hair can go wooo!” she says as she runs her hand over her head.
“Your hair grows to the sun!” Union adds.
Union shared a video of her washing and styling her curls last week, to which Kaavia said, “It’s puffy!” as she touched her mom’s hair then gave her a kiss.
A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion)
Union’s post on Wednesday is a beautiful message of self-love and hope. She is passing down confidence and strength to her daughter through her powerful words and wonderful example, and it is so beautiful to see.
The fashion designer is also making sure her daughter knows that self-confidence never hurts other people.
“She will know that loving all of herself in no way diminishes the love that others have for themselves,” Union continued. “Being unique and amazing arent qualities reserved for a few, they are our birthright and we claim it. 🖤”
Many people commented on the heartwarming post. Zooey Deschanel wrote, “😍😍😍.”
Octavia Spencer commented, “Beautiful curls. Beautiful girls!!”
Ashanti commented, “❤️❤️.”
“@gabunion ❤️❤️❤️❤️,” Tracee Ellis Ross wrote.
The Truth Be Told star also credits Jazmyn Simon’s Most Perfect You book, available on Amazon for $14.70, for helping start the conversation with Kaavia.
“PS: THANK YOU @jazmynsimon your book ‘Most Perfect You’ is a HUGE help and I’m thankful it’s Kaavs current obsession!!! Pick up a copy folks!!”
Teaching kids to be confident may be a “full time job,” but Union is knocking it out of the park! We’re taking notes on her assertive, easy-to-understand approach to teaching her daughter to love herself.
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