We already know that actress Amandla Stenberg, who's best known for her role as Rue in The Hunger Games, is wise beyond her years. She's served up some gospel truth when it comes to cultural appropriation, has called outKylie Jenner for the same, and is publishing a comic book featuring a badass black female protagonist. Most recently she was interviewed by Solange Knowles for Teen Vogue where she spoke openly about finding her identity as a black woman: "I think that as a black girl you grow up internalizing all these messages...[and] the only way to fight that is to just be yourself on the most genuine level."
Stenberg did just that in a Snapchat video on Teen Vogue's account. "I want to thank Teen Vogue for giving me this opportunity," she said. "I cannot stress enough how important representation is...It’s deeply bruising to fight against your identity and just mold yourself into shapes that you just shouldn’t be in. As someone who identifies as a black bisexual woman, I’ve been through it, and it hurts and it’s awkward and it’s uncomfortable."
She encouraged others to embrace their identities and ended by calling for more representation of all types of women. "I’m sick of all the misogyny and homophobia and transphobia that I see around me, and I know you are too," she said. Let's take her enlightened words to heart, shall we?
