By Amber Monaé

Scandal actress, Kerry Washington, is more than a prominent red carpet fixture. She is down to earth, stylish and also a fierce ally.  She can rock the hottest looks, rap the hardest bars to rap songs, give resounding speeches at conventions and also lead a woman’s march. She’s a phenomenal woman and graces the May issue of Glamour magazine. Learn more

Proenza Schouler dress, earrings.

*Excerpt from her woman’s march speech*

Six months from now, a year from now, “if you feel like, ‘Wow, there is an agenda at work to make me feel like I don’t matter, because I’m a woman my voice doesn’t matter, because I’m a person of color my voice doesn’t matter, because I’m an immigrant, because I’m a person of the LGBTQ community, because I’m an old person, because I’m a young person, because I have a f-cking voice, I don’t matter.’ You matter!”

Dries Van Noten dress, heels. Dior choker. BaubleBar choker

In her art and her activism, Kerry’s message to us, always, is that we matter. The women she portrays are filled with searing dignity. In a world that tries to devalue women, particularly black women, to play these characters with dignity is to say that these women, these black women, matter!

Valentino dress. Valentino Garavani earring. 3.1 Phillip Lim bra and Oscar Tiye boots