Whitney star Yaya DaCosta has taken it upon herself to shine a light on women who have paved the way throughout history.
#ImEveryWoman, her new Instagram photo campaign (she has been unveiling one photo per day this week, leading up to Whitney‘s Saturday night premiere), highlights eight strong women. The twist? DaCosta is the subject of the pics, emulating these women in some of their most iconic poses.
“We thought it would be fitting to pay homage to some of the great women of the world, past and present, by literally becoming ‘every woman’ even if just for a moment,” she writes on her website.
She channels everyone from Pam Grier and Nina Simone to Lucille Ball and Meryl Streep. In each photo caption, she explains what makes these women so strong and thanks them for blazing the trail.
“I AM NINA SIMONE. Sonic alchemy. Soul-wrenching pitches. Brutal honesty,” she captioned her Nina Simone pic. “Thank you, Nina Simone, for singing truth to power, for teaching, and for touching even the coldest of hearts with your exquisite voice and light.”
The inspiration, she said, came from filming Whitney. One scene that she particularly enjoyed—performing “I’m Every Woman”—which required multiple costume changes.
“One of my favorite things about Whitney is how she embraced and encouraged other women, urging us to love one another, appreciate one another, and see each other as reflections of ourselves,” she writes online.
Check out her entire photo series on Instagram.