Actress Lupita Nyong’o Gives Inspiring Speech on the Intersection of Race and Beauty

Lupita Nyong’o, an actress who recently won an Oscar for her supporting role as “Patsey” in 12 Years a Slave, spoke about the intersection of race and beauty at Essence‘s Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon on February 27. As Lily Rothman notes in TIME, “it’s worth noting that Nyong’o’s story about Alek Wek is a reminder of one important consequence of a lack of diversity in Hollywood and in the fashion world …Though diversity studies tend to concentrate on numbers and percentages, personal anecdotes like the one Nyong’o related remind us that it does matter to viewers that they see themselves represented in the media.”