Here was an ugly little girl asking for beauty.... A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes. His outrage grew and felt like power. For the first time he honestly wished he could work miracles. Toni Morrison
About This Quote

This quote captures the essence of what it means to be special. The little girl in this story, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, was born to a teenage mother and was brought up in a poor black family in the 1930s and ’40s. She had a name so ugly, so unpronounceable, that she was forced to grow up without knowing who she was or having any confidence in herself. Her mother made her feel so ashamed of her looks that she was afraid to get her picture taken.

When little Essie did get her picture taken, she discovered that she had blue eyes. This inspired her to want to look into the mirror and see how beautiful she really was. She wanted to see if people were right when they said that blacks should not be allowed to see themselves as anything other than what society had labeled them: ugly and inferior.

Source: The Bluest Eye

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