In 1990 at just 11years old, actor and singer Brandy Norwood had already established herself in the entertainment industry as a backing vocalist and had signed her first recording contract. She was only 14 years old when she landed her first major acting role on the ABC television sitcom Thea in 1993.
Known in the industry as simply Brandy, she scored her first hit song a year later with "I Wanna Be Down." At 17, she was tapped to star in her own TV show, Moesha.
Brandy spent her adolescence, a difficult time for most children, in the public eye. Her body and hair were matters of debate and scrutiny by both critics and fans.
A full 36 years after her first recording contract, Brandy still finds her body being critiqued by people online. After a flurry of opinions, the performer and mother to a 14-year-old daughter addressed it on Instagram.
Brandy wrote:
"Perhaps we’ve been looking for it in all the wrong places. In youth. In perfection. In approval. In bodies that never change and faces that never age."
"But life was never meant to leave us untouched. It shapes us. It humbles us. It refines us. Every season leaves its signature upon us."
"And maybe that’s where beauty has been all along. Not in escaping change, but in becoming through it."
She went on:
"I’ve learned that it takes only a moment to form an opinion about someone’s appearance, and a lifetime to understand what they’ve lived through."
"So may we become gentler with one another. Not because everyone is fragile, but because everyone is carrying a story we cannot see."
"Our words have weight. Our judgments have weight. Our kindness does too."
"The world will always be tempted to measure people by what is visible. But love has never looked only at the surface. Love sees the whole person."
"I’ve stopped trying to earn my reflection. I’ve stopped asking the mirror to tell me who I am. I know who I am. And that knowing has given me a freedom no opinion could ever take away."
"If this post leaves you with anything, I hope it’s this:"
"Before you speak about someone’s body, before you speak about someone’s face, before you decide who they are by what you see, remember, you are looking at someone’s child. Someone’s friend. Someone’s dream. Someone’s life. A soul."
"And souls have always been more beautiful than surfaces."
"love bran"
You can see her post, which includes a carousel of images here:
People appreciated her speaking out about online body shaming.
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Brandy famously played Cinderella opposite Whitney Houston as her fairy Godmother in a 1997 made for TV adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. Fans were thrilled when Disney's Descendants franchise tapped Brandy and her costar Paolo Montalban to reprise their roles as Cinderella and Prince (now King) Christopher Charming.
The Grammy-winning singer was recently presented the Legend Award by Essence magazine at the Essence Black Women in Music event with her daughter and parents in attendance. She shared the news on her Instagram.
In her remarks over the award, she wrote:
"To be celebrated by a community that has uplifted the beauty, brilliance, and divinity of Black women for generations is something I will carry with me forever."
Congratulations, Brandy, on all you've accomplished and all the best for your future.
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