Girls to Know
Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi is an 18 year old actress and activist who advocates for issues like diversity in Hollywood, young voter turnout, and girl’s education. One of her greatest impacts was founding the organization Eighteen x 18 and using her platform as an actress to push young people to vote. She also asks young people speak up and take action through the stories and experiences that impact their lives.
Something I would want to ask Yara Shahidi is how her journey to becoming an actress created her path towards becoming an activist. She has spoken with people like Oprah and worked directly with Michelle Obama, and I would want to know how she became connected to such impactful people and how they influenced her own activism.
Yara Shahidi is a girl innovator in the sense of turning her activism into action. She was passionate and educated about many of the issues that effect her as a young, African-American, female. As an actress with a platform, she saw it her duty to try and do something about those issues. Therefore, she created Eighteen x 18. Not many people can say they would have done the same in her shoes. She is someone who exhibits passion and initiative for her cause, which very much makes her a girl innovator.
Yara makes me want to speak up and do something about some of the things I deal with in my every day life. There are many issues I face as a young female minority that I don’t feel like I’ve taken nearly enough action upon. I’m sure there are plenty of other girls who experience things similar to me that can’t speak out, and I want to not only share my story, but share their’s as well.
“When you’re a part of any protected class, whether it is being a woman, a person of color, a part of the LGBTQ community, or an immigrant, we’re expected to get everything right and be the embodiment of perfection when it is not expected of other people.”
There is something so profound in what Yara is saying in this quote that resonates with so many people and for so many different reasons. If anyone in a protected class wants to achieve anything, they are held to such a higher standard and are put under an immense amount of pressure. They have to prove they can compete with the white men in this world that are easily given what minorities strive for. Yara clearly understands that pressure and it’s part of why she is so passionate about what she does. That’s why I believe she is such a wonderful role model for all people who want to see a better world.
Storm Reid
Storm Reid is a young 15 year old actress that advocates for bullying prevention, self-love, and girls education. Bamazing is her own initiative to push young girls to believe in themselves. She designed shirts and posts on social media to promote her initiatives. The profits from the shirts go to the LadyLike Foundation to help girls in underprivileged communities also believe in themselves. I would love to ask Storm what inspired her to be so proactive at the young age of 15? She is a girl innovator because she’s using her platform to educate and help other young people through the challenges they may be dealing with. She inspires me to be more confident and believe in myself, so I can be a role model to other young girls who need to see it to believe it. “You’re not going to be perfect, but the most important thing is not trying to please anybody. It’s loving yourself inside out.” Even though I’m about 7 years older than her, this is still something I need to hear every now and then, which shows how mature she truly is.
Millie Bobbie Brown
Millie Bobbie Brown is a 14 year old female actress and the youngest ever Goodwill ambassador. She was an advocate for the #GoBlue petition to hold world leaders accountable for upholding children’s right. She is also an advocate for girl’s education, gun control, and childhood cancer. I would love to ask Millie who inspired her activism and whether they met after or before her acting career took off. She is a girl innovator because her youth was not a deterrence, but an activator to speak up and engage her platform about important and complex issues. She inspires me to never feel like I’m not old enough or good enough to make a difference. “With my platform, anyway, I want to try and do good things and want to help people.” This quote shows that she has a good heart and is wise to how much of an impact she can have on the world.
