Yara Shahidi is fighting for Black joy

In a week that has given us Viola Davis on Vanity Fair and Simone Biles on Vogue, it was only natural that we cap off the run of gorgeous, talented Black coverstars with Yara Shahidi on Elle Magazine. The 20-year-old actress and activist was photographed by her father, cinematographer Afshin Shahidi, for the cover and sat down with We Love You, Charlie Freeman author Kaitlyn Greenidge for a conversation on using her platform to force real change and how crucial Black joy is in the fight for Black life."Joy is increasingly important to me.... Yes, this is a fight in the face of Black death," Shahidi told Elle. "There has to be a celebration of Black life. We have to be viewing this moment as a preservation of Black life. A fight for our willingness to thrive, or a fight for our willingness to be happy and unencumbered. A fight for our ability to just be allowed to exist. And so often that’s been taken away. We should be allowed to heal, be allowed to revel in our happiness."

 

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The young actress, who was basically raised to be an activist, spoke about how her grandparents started her education in Black liberation early and said discussions about race and advocating for her community were standard on both sides of her family. "I’m beyond grateful that our house has been consistently a place of conversation and a place of action since I was young," she said. Back in June, she even shared one such conversation with her grandfather on Instagram—it seems he's one of the guiding forces in her pursuit of joy.

 

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A key part of Yara's activism is passing the mic when necessary as well as highlighting and uplifting Black creatives—something evident in the team behind her cover. She was styled for the Elle shoot by creative director and Styling Hollywood star Jason Bolden and wore pieces by Black designers including a Kenneth Ize suit, The Bombchel Factory earrings, Something by Sonjia paperbag pants and a true skintone bodysuit by Nubian Skin. Yara also did her own makeup and had her mom do her hair for the occasion. Especially in fashion, Shahidi says it's important for members of the Black community to open doors for more creatives to enter the field."[Black joy looks like] mentorship," she said. "When I think of fashion, for example, I’m grateful to be in a community. My stylist, Jason Bolden, has always prioritized what it means to support Black people in the fashion industry. We’ve consistently been in conversations about how to use this space for something that’s powerful."[video_embed id='1995110']RELATED: Viola Davis talks inclusivity in Vanity Fair [/video_embed]"Who are we bringing into these moments? Who can we open doors for? Who can we be in community with?" she continued. "Joy comes from being able to consistently embrace our sense of community and revel in our culture year-round. We must believe that there is something that we’re fighting for in order to keep fighting." She added that the daily struggle of activism in the face of brutal racism can easily stifle the imagination, but it's the "nuanced Black imaginary world" that the Black community is fighting for."We need this imagination and creative force to completely reconstruct our reality. To not only destroy, but to completely reconstruct what the future looks like," she said.Yara has been using her platform to raise awareness around issues like police brutality and systemic racism since she was 14 and just starting out on Black-ish, and she's continued learning to navigate those waters in the years since. In the past couple months, she's remained consistent—calling for justice for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells and Riah Milton—sharing the words of activists who came before her like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Angela Davis and celebrating her fellow Black creatives like Chloe x Halle, Simone Biles and her cousin, Lipmatic founder Destiny Jones.[video_embed id='1973107']BEFORE YOU GO: Michael B. Jordan wants Hollywood to 'commit to Black hiring' [/video_embed]