Official Clip - The Root; Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts / Disney Plus (YouTube)

The multi-hyphenate Allen has certainly broken barriers throughout her career as Roberts mentioned, who queried about the discipline it took to keep going throughout rejections and denials.

Advertisement
Advertisement

“It’s not so much disciplining myself, it’s believing in myself,” Allen mused. “My mom believed in me and she made me believe in myself. So, when there were—more than glass ceilings—big brick walls, she would make me understand that this was one little place in the universe and that I had to have confidence that I was going to go beyond the borders, oceans [and] mountains...I could go as far as I could see.”

That brick-walls-over-glass-ceilings note is especially resonant—it honestly perfectly encapsulates the intersections of being a Black woman.

Advertisement

Allen leaves us with a lovely mantra to meditate on, “Be true. Be beautiful. Be free.” Message!

Throughout the series, Roberts will also sit down with Sofia Carson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenna Dewan, Sheila E., Melissa Etheridge, Mickey Guyton, Betsey Johnson, Billie Jean King, Tig Notaro, Raven-Symoné and Josie Totah.

Advertisement

Turning the Tables With Robin Roberts premieres July 28 on Disney+.