She was always the kind of lady I aspired to be. She’s one of the reasons I don’t take sh*t at the post office, or on the phone with my phone company. I’m very much a “Can I speak with your manager?”, “This is unacceptable Godd*mnit!”, type of woman. I laugh as loud as I want, and when my tears fall from my eyes they come hard and fast. I never leave food on my plate. I eat it all and will most likely get seconds. My closet is full of show-stopping glitter pieces that probably don’t “flatter” my figure but they sure as hell make me feel like a natural woman. She gave me lessons on how to embrace black womanhood in all its glorious, full-bodied form. When I watched Aretha move mountains with her gospel I felt like she was giving me permission to move mountains too.Let us slide into your DMs.Sign up for theTeen Voguedaily emailWant more fromTeen Vogue? Check this out:Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Has Died at 76 she's lined up several sought-out acting roles. First up: she's starring inChasing Mavericks found that for the first time since they began asking the question, in 1985, a majority of Americans said that life imprisonment is a better punishment than execution for the crime of murder.Many erroneouslyclaim that since he was high-caste and had ancestry from the Caucasus region, he was quite literally Caucasian, and therefore white — meeting naturalization requirements.The Court ruled