Yara Shahidi -- The Voice of a Generation
Yara Shahidi has been dubbed by many as the voice of her generation and with good reason. This young star is most known for her breakout roles in Blackish and its spin-off show Grownish, and is becoming equally known for speaking out on social issues. Talented actress, activist, fashion stunna, spontaneous bust-a-mover are just a few of her other titles. Michelle Obama gave Yara a recommendation for Harvard, so we should also add young genius to her list of accolades. Talk about a cosign. On what planet does this ever happen, you may ask? On Yara's planet. Here are 10 reasons to fall in love with Yara Shahidi, if you haven't already.
Yara Shahidi with cast of Blackish. Photo Credit: Walt Disney television
"I KNOW, ULTIMATELY, I WANT TO HELP EFFECT CHANGE; OTHERWISE I WOULD LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR EVERYDAY AND THINK 'WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?'"
1. Yara spoke Farsi before she even spoke English, thanks to her Iranian roots.
2. Legend has it that this beauty + brains ran out of history books to read at school when she was six, and her mom had to give her more.
3. Amazing people run in her family. Her younger brothers are actors. Her father is a cinematographer, whose resume includes photographing the Purple Rain Prince. And her cousin was one of the first Iranian-American female astronauts. (Told you Yara is on a whole other planet).
4. Yara co-founded an organization called Eighteen x 18 to drive young voter turn out. More on this in a bit.
5. Yara has a black belt in Karate, which explains her awesome sense of movement.
Yara Shahidi and her mother. Photo Credit: Walt Disney television
“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."
6. This one will blow your mind, which is why it couldn't just be jumbled with #3: Yara's cousin is Nas! 7. Yara got into every single college she applied for, including Harvard.
8. Yara's mother is African American and her father is Iranian. This explains her gorgeous, exotic looks!
9. She played a young Olivia Pope on a few scenes in Scandal. How did we miss this cameo?
10. She had a voter registration booth at her 18th birthday party. She is no joke.
I think we could all learn something from Yara's dynamism and her joy and passion for life. She gets it all in: she works hard, plays hard, is serious about social causes, and also the biggest fun-loving goof ball ever. Definitely going to be channeling in some Yara energy for 2020.
xoxo
Feature Image: here
Quotes obtained from The Guardian and the insider respectively.