Latifah endorses Woman’s Confidence Day

Proposal suggests first Wednesday in June be used to celebrate women

Evan Vucci / AP

Singer and actress Queen Latifah, right, walks with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., left, after making remarks on the first National Women's Confidence Day on Wednesday, June 7 in Washington.

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updated 5:48 p.m. ET June 7, 2006

WASHINGTON - Actress and hip-hop artist Queen Latifah says her self-confidence comes from a supportive family — even the brother who made fun of her when she wanted to play basketball.

“I got the support I needed from my mother, grandmother and aunts. But many women today do not have the confidence they need,” she said Wednesday while endorsing a National Women’s Confidence Day.

She said her brother also supported her despite the ribbing over basketball.

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Women need confidence to reach their goals, she said, but also to free themselves from an abusive relationship, to forgive hurts inflicted by others and to say they are sorry for hurts they themselves may have inflicted.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., has proposed that a National Women’s Confidence Day be celebrated the first Wednesday in June. She called Latifah “one of America’s best-known and certainly most-confident role models.”