The F Word: Empowering Quotes From Our Favorite Feminists

It's all about Black girl power.

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Photo By Photos from left: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Feminism Is for Everyone - Remember when female celebs would shy away from wanting to talk about women's issues, let alone label themselves as feminists? Times have definitely changed, as we see more women of color standing up and talking about gender issues and how they impact us. Here are some of the most uplifting words of wisdom from them. By Kellee Terrell(Photos from left: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images, Johnny Nunez/WireImage,  Brad Barket/Getty Images for Remy Martin)

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Feminism Is for Everyone

Zendaya - In a recent interview with the magazine Flare, Zendaya gave the perfect definition of feminism. “A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It’s equality, it’s fairness, and I think it’s a great thing to be a part of.”(Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images for amfAR)

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Zendaya

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Beyoncé

Photo By Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Amandla Stenberg - It's inspiring to see how well-versed this 17-year old is with her feminist ideals, especially when she can inspire others. She said, "It's empowering for you as a person and activist to talk about [feminism] because it becomes essential to your identity and empowers me as a Black girl to really be proud of my identity and fight for it."(Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Women in Film)

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Amandla Stenberg

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Zoe Saldana - When her husband took her last name, the world lost its mind. But Zoe Saldana set them straight on her Facebook page. She wrote, “Fathers, sons, brothers, men everywhere: Your legacy will not perish if you take your partner’s surname, or she keeps hers ... Why is it so surprising, shocking - eventful that a man would take his wife’s surname? Women have never been asked if [it’s] ok for them to give up their names — why doesn’t that make the news? Men, you will not cease to exist by taking your partner’s surname. On the contrary — you’ll be remembered as a man who stood by change.”(Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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Zoe Saldana

Laverne Cox Makes History Over and Over Again - Laverne Cox made history repeatedly in 2015, starting with becoming the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. She also became the first transgender actress to pose nude for Allure's "Nudes" issue, was named on the 2015 OUT Power 50 List, was included in People's World's Most Beautiful Women List, was named in Time's 100 Most Influential People List and was named one of the 31 Icons of 2015's LGBT History Month by Equality Forum. Slay, Laverne. Slay!(Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

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Laverne Cox

Amber Rose - For Amber Rose, the queen of calling out slut shaming, feminism was something she grew into with age. "I think I needed time to grow up...You get to a certain point in your life where you really find out who you are, and sometimes that happens when you're 25, but for me, it was 31. I didn't quite know that before. I guess social media did help create the feminist monster that I've become," she told Cosmopolitan. (Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

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Amber Rose

Nicki Minaj     - It's not easy to dominate a male-driven field, but Nicki Minaj proves that females can hold their own. "I always feel it's important for me to show females that they can be in charge of their own situation. ... When I win and when I lose, I take ownership of it, because I really am in charge of what I do. There are a lot of strong male rappers, who've influenced me a great deal in terms of my skill, my flow and my business-savvy side. But at the end of the day, I still want to inspire women," she told V.(Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch)

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Nicki Minaj    

Gabrielle Union - The Being Mary Jane star has been a staunch advocate for women's rights and reproductive health. Signing on to Planned Parenthood's Women Are Watching campaign, she talked about why we need to show up to the polls. "It’s hard to believe we’re still living in a time when some politicians believe they should make decisions for women about birth control and basic health care. We have to vote like our access to birth control and basic health care is on the line this year – because it is."(Photo: Desiree Navarro/WireImage)

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Gabrielle Union

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Kerry Washington - The Scandal star told Glamour in 2013 that she always talked about politics, race and gender — and will continue to now, especially around equal pay. "It’s a reality that in this country, we still don’t pay women what we pay men, and we don’t pay people of color what we pay white people…It’s important for people to think about that."(Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

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Kerry Washington

Lupita Nyong'o - The Oscar-winner melted hearts at an Essence Magazine luncheon last year while speaking about how Black beauty isn't just a light-skinned thing."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. And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you."(Photo: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)

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Lupita Nyong'o

Taraji P. Henson - The Empire star isn't concerned what people think about her politics. She is about fairness for all. In Cookie-fashion, she said, "If a feminist means speaking up for the rights of females — then dammit, I'm a feminist."(Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly)

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Taraji P. Henson

Tracee Ellis Ross - The Black-ish star admits to being reluctant to attach to feminism, but reclaimed it for herself. She told Janet Mock, "I feel that feminism has evolved in a different way and I think feminism started, which is what it needed to do, it was about taking on the roles of men and shifting into that patriarchal society. We are in a different situation now. I like to term it ‘neofeminism’. But I personally have no interest in being a man. I am owning my femininity as a woman and my power in that. That is my personal experience with [feminism].”(Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for ELLE)

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Tracee Ellis Ross

Janelle Monáe - The singer and CoverGirl spokesperson is all about being who you are and breaking gender norms as you see fit. She told PrideSource, "I just think it’s so important that at a young age we teach our kids and those whose future we’re nurturing that it’s OK to love whomever it is that you love and whom you’re attracted to – and it’s OK to like a dress if you’re a boy and to like a pantsuit if you’re a girl. These are just fears that previous generations have placed upon us, or people who’ve tried to control us and make us believe that this is just bad. But I think whenever you stop the true essence of a person loving who they are – the god-given person that they’ve been blessed to be – that is a crime." (Photo: Rindoff/Le Segretain/Getty Images)

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Janelle Monáe