[UPDATED 5:27PM ET – We are aware that Amandla Stenberg currently uses they/them pronouns, as they discussed with a fan back in 2016. We regret the earlier version of this article using incorrect pronouns and have edited it to reflect the correction. – TMS]
Black Panther is being celebrated for many reasons, including its amazing black cast filled with beautiful dark-skinned women who are glowing with the glory of Wakanda. The importance of seeing dark-skinned black people being shown as beautiful cannot be understated, which is why Amandla Stenberg’s comments on turning down the role of Shuri are so important.
“I was in the audition process for it, then I decided to not continue with the process because I thought that it wouldn’t be right for me as a biracial, light-skinned American to be playing [the role],” they told ESSENCE.
Stenberg added, “I don’t think visually it [would’ve] made sense, and it wasn’t appropriate for me to go after that role. Black Panther is one of the only films that we have that has darker-skinned representation. That’s what was so beautiful about it.”
Now, to those who would say, “What? Are there no light skinned people in Africa?” let us not be obtuse about this issue. Dark-skinned people are treated like garbage pretty much everywhere on earth. One of the biggest businesses in beauty is around skin lightening. We cannot pretend that the representation of lighter-skinned women of color, or ones with more Euro-centric features, doesn’t greatly outnumber darker-skinned women or women who have a more “non-white” phenotype.
Almost every time we get a woman of color in a lead role, she’s biracial and/or lighter-skinned, so the loss of Amandla in Black Panther or the fact that the Dora Milaje is majority dark-skinned (there are lighter-skinned Dora in the movie, so even that argument is moot) is not a snub of lighter-skinned black women.
I’m glad that Amandla understood that, and while I know they’re still catching some ire over being cast in The Hate U Give movie adaptation, it seems they’ve learned from their experience, and considering they’re only 19, the fact that they were able to turn down being in a multi-million dollar franchise after being dragged for it once shows a lot more care than shown by white actors twice their age.
Plus, now we all get exposed to the glory that is Letitia Michelle Wright, who is a joy and the only reason besides the nostalgia cameos I’m watching Ready Player One.
(via Essence, image: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)
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Published: Mar 2, 2018 02:40 pm