SI Swimsuit model Tyra Banks Cried the When She Saw Her First SI Swimsuit Cover - Swimsuit | SI.com

SI Staff | Mar 10, 2022

Tyra tells the story of the first time she saw her first SI Swimsuit cover. She explains, "to be a black woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit Edition. This is Americana. This is not about color. It's just about being a female. And some people might say, 'It's [just] swimsuits', but I think every facet [of] trying to break down barriers,... whether it's race, whether it's color, whether it's, sexual orientation -  everything counts."

"So to me, being on the cover meant, 'wow.' Model is model - beauty is beauty - girl is girl'....Girls everywhere [are] going to look at that and go, 'wow, Tyra kind of looks like me, and they put me on that cover. Maybe that means that I'm beautiful. I don't have to look like those other girls that I could never look like.'"

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