Thirteen-year-old Lidya Jewett is opening up about her story as a young black actress in Hollywood. Recently, the Good Girls star took to Instagram to share with the world stories that resonate with so many personalities in the industry, regardless of age.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBJbih3Fo0s/
“My story *The first time I was called a ‘n*gger* was by a white man. I was 10. I was sitting in a restaurant in Atlanta where I was shooting a movie. He then said I looked like those ‘little girls blown up in the church’. He also said I belonged in Selma. *i have had more than one hair person sigh loudly when doing my hair on a movie set and roll their eyes at the other hair people. They think I don’t see and hear but I do. *i have been given costume accessories and I’m told ‘they want you to wear these flesh tone pieces’. But they are not my flesh tone,” Jewett wrote on her Instagram post.
She continued, “the next time I was called a *n*gger* I was told I belonged in the back of the bus. I was also 10. *when I am in a store the security people are close by. I have been taught to keep my hands out where they can be seen and not pick up anything or to put my hands near my pockets. I hear the speaker call for a security scan of the part of the store I am in. I am taught to stand out in the open.”
Finishing out her post, the talented young star said, “I have never even thought of stealing anything. I can pay for the things I want to buy. I deserve to have flesh colored items that match my flesh. I deserve to have people who GET to touch my hair be respectful about it because it is me. I deserve not to be called the n word. And I deserve to be able to relax in a store that I want to shop in and not worry that people think I might steal. I deserve these things because these things matter. I matter. Black lives matter.”
Although Jewett stars in a hit television series on a major network, the reality is, she is not seen as a budding superstar by many. She is prejudged for the color of her skin before people actually get to know the content of her character. As she so poignantly pointed out, she matters. Black Lives Matter. And at only 13, her strong and beautiful voice has already spoken out and up for many more than she will ever know.
