“The one thing I feel is lacking in Hollywood today is an understanding of the beauty, the power, the sexuality, the uniqueness, the humor of being a regular Black woman.” Essence

It's such beauty in black people, and it really saddens me when we're not allowed to express that pride in being black, and that if you do, then it's considered anti-white. No! You just pro-black. And that's okay. The two don't go together. “Tina Taught Me” on “A Seat at the Table”

“It’s just like reading a book—the record is very visual in itself. I wanted to express an almost stately look for black men and women, because I feel like historically we haven’t been put in the most regal or majestic context. I set out to create that in the album sonically, and I wanted that to carry through in the visuals as well. My husband, Alan, and I wanted to represent black sisterhood, strength, pride, and elevate the black man and all of his beauty and glory. This was our way of contributing to that narrative.” On “A Seat at the Table,” via Vogue

“There are lots of beautiful young women of color out there who would look just as gorgeous or even more gorgeous on this cover and for you guys to see something in me—and for my story to connect in a way that you allowed me to tell and have this platform to tell my story to your readers, is just something I won’t take for granted.” In reference to her Essence cover

“So many makeup artists cover everything up. Let the skin tone shine through. There’s a reason why people are sitting in the sun, there’s a reason why people are injecting their lips. Our features are so beautiful, and we just don’t need to cover it up or enhance it even more, cause we already have it.... We invented the shit!” The Huffington Post

“I wouldn’t want to be anything or anyone else…. I love everything about being a Black woman.” India.Arie at Essence Festival

“My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden, Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me. When I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty, but around me the preference for light skin prevailed. To the beholders that I thought mattered, I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me, "You can’t eat beauty. It doesn’t feed you." And these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.” At Essence magazine’s Black Women in Hollywood event 

From the video to the lyrics, “Lemonade” is a literal love letter to the beauty and strength of Black women. 

“A few weeks ago I went to the White House for a party. It was the first time I’ve been there in many years and it was very exciting. And BET sponsored the party, so everyone there was black. And it was beautiful.” On "Saturday Night Live”

On generational beauty with her mother:

“To have movements like Black Girl Magic, I think it couldn’t be more positive for a young Black girl to see that it’s okay to be yourself, it’s okay to not have to transform and look like what you may see on the cover of a lot of magazines. That you are beautiful, that it’s possible to succeed in any field that you want to, looking the way that you do. With your hair the way it is. I think all of that is so extremely important and something that I’m constantly celebrating.” In an interview with President Barack Obama