Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Black-ish’ Star Yara Shahidi Speaks on Racism in Hollywood (Watch)

Actress Yara Shahidi attends the 2016 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
Actress Yara Shahidi attends the 2016 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.

“A speech given by Black-ish” star Yara Shahidi last month on racism within the entertainment industry has gone viral.

The 16-year-old actress was accepting an award for her philanthropy at the Points of Life Conference on Volunteering and Service in June when she called out Hollywood for perpetuating racial stereotypes. She said it causes black and brown kids to think “they are an anomaly if they succeed and the expectation if they fail.”

“How can there be parity or the belief that we are valued similarly if we are still being perceived and perceiving others as a tired stereotype or as one-dimensional?” Shahidi asked the audience.

The actress said it was her obligation to be a part of a “truer representation of the colorful world that we live in.” She cited shows like “Transparent, “Jane the Virgin” and her own Emmy-nominated show, “black-ish,” as positive examples.

The character she plays, Zoey, is her form of “activism through art,” she said.

“It is through my character and characters like her that the barrier of racism, ageism, sexism and other -isms can be broken down,” the actress said.

“Art plus activism in any and all forms is a powerful statement that can spread a message that transcends the barriers and limitations of our different realities to reveal the commonality of our shared human existence,” she stated.

Watch Yara’s entire speech below:

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