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Crosscurrents

Vanessa Rochelle Lewis Is Reclaiming Ugly

Courtesy of Vanessa Rochelle
Vanessa Rochelle Lewis, founder of the Reclaim Ugly Movement.

Vanessa Rochelle Lewis was bullied for her appearance and sexuality. She redefined ugly to mean Uplift Glorify Love Yourself. Vanessa is the founder of Reclaim UGLY, a movement that helps people heal from “uglification” and celebrate their beauty.

"How do we get in touch with our own personal selves enough to understand what we actually find beautiful and not what we've been spoonfed to believe is beautiful?"

Vanessa is postponing her live Reclaim Ugly Revival. Instead, she’s hosting an online Reclaim Ugly Open Mic this Friday, March 20 at 6 p.m.

Click the play button above to listen to the interview.

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Jeneé Darden is an award-winning journalist, author, public speaker and proud Oakland native. She is the executive producer and host of the weekly arts segment Sights & Sounds as well as the series Sights + Sounds Magazine. Jeneé also covers East Oakland for KALW. Jeneé has reported for NPR, Marketplace, KQED, KPCC, The Los Angeles Times, Ebony magazine, Refinery29 and other outlets. In 2005, she reported on the London transit bombings for Time magazine. Prior to coming to KALW, she hosted the podcast Mental Health and Wellness Radio.