Smith, of course.

Another Smith by marriage, Jada Pinkett Smith joined the Smith tribe when she married actor, producer, rapper Will Smith. 

She’s an actor, singer, songwriter, writer, businesswoman and mother of two.

I confess that I did not know much about Ms. Smith (and still don’t, really) until I stumbled across a quote of something she said in response to criticism and questions as to why she and her husband had let their twelve year old daughter cut her hair in a particular way.  Something about that resonated with me.

Here’s the quote that apparently originated on Facebook:

The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women,girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain. Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It’s also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother’s deepest insecurities, hopes and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be. More to come. Another day.

What’s also really cool is Mr. Smith’s response to the same question asked by Parade Magazine:

We let Willow cut her hair. When you have a little girl, it’s like how can you teach her that you’re in control of her body? If I teach her that I’m in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she’s going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world.  She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she’s going out with a command that is hers.

So, I’m going to be following Mr. and Mrs. Smith from now on, I think.  Because I approve this message.