Tyra Banks Thanks Sports Illustrated For Putting Black Girls On Cover

At tonight’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful special on NBC, Tyra Banks gave a heartfelt speech, thanking Sports Illustrated for being “daring” and putting black girls on the cover of the magazine.

Below is a transcript of her speech:

A lot of the women here say it was their dream. But it wasn’t my dream, because I didn’t think it was possible. And I didn’t think it was possible because of the color of my skin….I want to thank Sports Illustrated…for thinking different, and I say “different” without an “ly,” for being daring and for making every little black girl that year that saw that issue go “oh my God, mama, I think I’m pretty because a black girl’s on the cover just like me.” I stand here representing everybody with a dream, to know that if you have a dream and you have tunnel vision, it can come true. But remember to dream bigger. Because if you do, those things can be reached, too.