WOMAN CODES: CONFIDENCE

Compiled by Bilal S. Akram

"The woman who doesn’t require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet." - Mohadesa Najumi

“I am a woman and a warrior. If you think I can't be both, you've been lied to.” - Jennifer

Zeynab Joukhadar

“Start unknown, finish unforgettable.” - Misty Copeland

”Don’t listen to those who say YOU CAN’T. Listen to the voice inside yourself that says, I CAN.” - Shirley

Chisolm

"Learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine in yourself, so that you can hear it in others." -Marian Wright

Edelman

"I’m convinced that we Black women possess a special indestructible strength that allows us to not only get down, but to get up, to get through, and to get over." - Janet

Jackson

"Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide." - Marva Collins

"The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within – strength, courage, dignity." - Ruby Dee

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept." - Angela Davis

"I don’t have to be perfect. All I have to do is to show up and enjoy the messy, imperfect, and beautiful journey of mine."

- Kerry Washington

"Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts." - Nikki

Giovanni

"Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am."

- Janelle Monáe

Proverbs 14:1 (1) “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” NIV

Dr. Michelle McKinney Hammond, bestselling author, wants everyone to live in their purpose. So she decided to make it her lives work to make sure everyone finds their selfworth.

Men today are beset with so many conditions, admonitions, and judgments about who they’re supposed to be and how to act yet still, be themselves, still be a man. Surrounded by so much turmoil and confusion, it’s very challenging for a man to aspire to any level of confidence in his identity and sense of self-worth and power.

Dr. Michelle McKinney Hammond, a best-selling author, lecturer, and relationship coach, feels that one of the primary reasons men are struggling is that they haven’t discovered their unique purpose in life. As she puts it, “We each exist for a reason, and everyone is ‘in purpose,’ whether they’re consciously aware of it or not.” Being “in purpose” is not some-