My mom always told her daughters that beauty was skin deep. For that reason I always considered how a person reacted to me and others. I believe I’m a beautiful person because I relate positively to everyone I meet. If I connect with someone on a spiritual level , then we both are beautiful people.

I have met people whom society deemed “pretty” but who had ugly souls-that destroyed “pretty” for me and should destroy “pretty” to the eye of any beholder.

The Olympic swimmer who told a bold faced lie on the people of Rio was and is what I call the “ugliest” American to date. Donald Trump is ugly both spiritually and physically. Glenn Beck is an ugly person. I could go on and on with my list of what my mom taught me was ugly and how I judge people’s beauty.

Too long have Black people used the wrong yardstick to measure “beauty”. We have been brainwashed to see beauty as our oppressors thought they saw beauty. I used “thought” because they seemed to be conflicted about “black beauty”. Too many of our beauty accessors try to get black like me, thick lips and big hips. Botox is over worked, over priced and over used.

My advice to Leslie Jones (name sake) is to not stress the small stuff because only small, stupid people see a person’s physical appearance and make judgments on their worth. The worth and value of a person is not in outward appearance but in their spirit and soul that connects them to humanity.

My mama was right and I have witnessed it all my life. Some beautiful people are “pretty”, but many of the “beautiful” people are “horror shows”.

Be YOU Leslie and don’t let ugliness enter your spirit!