Yara Shahidi has grown up as the face of Black-ish, and most recently Grown-ish. The talented actress has been a coveted model, covering many amazing top-notch publications, but the Harvard student says in an interview with the gurardian.com, that she would put it all on the line to talk politics.
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Speaking out on the recent tragic loss of lives in El Paso and Dayton, this talented young woman is showing that she is truly one voice of a generation that must be heard. However, the young star didn’t just take up political conversations, she grew-up having them, so to her they are nothing out of the ordinary.
“It’s not as though I wasn’t political before I was on my first panel,” she says in her interview. “These conversations were already happening in my home. I come from a lineage of entertainers who put their careers on the line to speak about politics. And that’s the only reason I can have this space. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the Harry Belafontes and Ertha Kitts, the Sidney Potiers and many others who jeopardized their careers and combined their art with their activism. I feel an immense privilege to be able to do the same.”
And that is just what Shahidi has done. With the co-founding of her organization, “Eighteen x 18,” Shahidi encourages youth-voter engagement. And going beyond that, Shahidi is a woman of action and not just talk. She donated to Colin Kaepernick’s fund, she’s a vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter, she speaks out and up for marginalized communities, she supports prison abolition, among much much more.
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Although she is coined as “the voice of a generation.” The truly humble nature of Shahidi shines through as she responds to “how does she feel when being referred to as such?” Her response: “I read that and think it’s physically not possible. I am beyond proud of being a part of a generation that no one person could be the face of. I’m grateful to be one of many voices.”
