to the beholders that i thought mattered i was still unbeautiful.again would say to me, "you can't eat beauty. it doesn't feed you." and these words played 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. [ applause ] what actually sustains us, what is fundamentally beautiful, is compassion. for yourself and for those around you. that kind of beauty -- excuse me. that kind of beauty inflames the heart o'and enchants the soul. it is what got patsy in so much trouble with her master. but it is also what has kept her story alive to this day. we remember the beauty of her spirit, even after the beauty of her body has faded away. and so i hope that my presence on your screens and in your magazines may lead you young girls on a similar journey, that you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get t

. >> i remember a time when i, too, felt unbeautiful. i put on the tv and only saw pale skin. got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. and my one prayer to god, the miracle worker, was that i would wake up lighter skinned. the morning would come and i would be so excited about seeing my new skin that i would refuse to look down at myself until i was in front of a mirror, because i wanted to see my fair face first. and every day i experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as i had been the day before. >> it's hard to imagine that gorgeous woman feeling unbeautiful. and it's almost cliche at this point to say that darker women have had an uneven history in hollywood. hattie mcdaniel became the first black woman to win an oscar in 1940 for her portrayal of mamie in "gone with the wind," but it was lena horne and dorothy dandridge who became the black icons of that era. their european beauty standard has been the hollywood standard since then. grace jones, naomi campbell and michelle obama have all been celebrated by the fashion world. and cicely tyson, a

. >> i remember a time when i too felt unbeautiful. i put on the tv and only saw pale skin.e prayer to god, the miracle worker, was that i would wake up lighter skinned. >> reporter: posted over the weekend her gripping speech has gone wildly viral climbing to nearly 2 million views. >> at that moment tell me, you were right there. what did it feel like? how did people react? i saw tears. >> there were tears. people were spellbound. >> reporter: the 31-year-old kenyan beauty revealed a bitter truth that black women know too well. that mainstream beauty standards don't always include them. in the crowd visibly speechless and proud, regina king, angela bassett and oprah winfrey. online a barrage of comment, lupita is the truth said one viewer. i love this so much i just want every young girl to hear it and know it and live it said another. but for some, her statement wasn't just about race, but about beauty in us all. >> a lot of women have this very unrealistic standard of beauty that is so narrow and so far removed. >> beauty was not a thing that i could acquire or consume.