Young Black Actors and Hollywood’s Dilemma

Originally published March 29, 2016, @ blackhairmagazine.org

When churning out the next big, blockbuster movie, studios always run the risk of performing poorly, often due to a variety of factors, including the actors therein. When choosing an actor to portray a brand new character, it may seem safest to go with the well known, caucasian actor; less risk that way. This, of course, places a major obstacle in the path of young black actors in Hollywood looking to make it as big as their white counterparts.

Black stars on television have been doing very well for themselves recently with popular shows like Empire, How to Get Away With Murder, and Scandal, but television is a very different medium. The industry is concerned with getting people to pay to be in the seats; it’s a bit different than getting people on the couch.

Despite this, some notable young, black actors have begun breaking into the movie scene including 27-year-old Michael B. Jordan, whose break-out role was, unfortunately, the atrocious Fantastic Four remake (sitting pretty at 9% on Rotten Tomatoes), in which Jordan was arguably the best part of the movie. John Boyega, the 22-year-old star of the upcoming, guaranteed to be smash hit Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and 32-year-old Chadwick Boseman, king of the biopic.

Let’s not forget, Anthony Mackie, who landed the role of Falcon in 2013’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the ever-present Don Cheadle, and Oscar nominee, Chiwetel Ejiofor, who landed a role in this fall’s critically praised, blockbuster adaptation of The Martian. With the right parts, all of these actors are poised to accept the transcendent rolls tackled by Forrest Whitaker, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Will Smith before them; all actors who blew through the racial barrier into mainstream, worldwide success.

Hiring a black actor for a major role shouldn’t be a risk, and these young actors are rising up, hopefully, at a tipping point; actors of all races and nationalities are coming more and more into mainstream rolls and finding success worldwide, and we can only wait and see how far they take us in the coming years.

 

Black Roles, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/who-is-new-denzel-hollywood-721791

On Hair Texture

Originally written for I Love Lulu, Hair Salon, September 26, 2018

It’s easy to get caught up in the categories like 4C and the like, and even easier to look at the person next to you with pure, unmitigated hair-envy. We like to want what we can’t have. It can be difficult to want our own hair, especially when it always just seems too thick or too thin, too curly or too straight. But even though every hair texture is different, that doesn’t mean we have to look at them on a gradient. Every hair texture is equal when it comes to beauty. Whether it’s silky smooth or wooly thick, we love our blouses and we love our sweaters, why shouldn’t that same appreciation of texture should apply to our hair too?

Your hair is beautiful, enjoy it! Try a new do, invest in a new product suited for your unique fabric, whatever it might be, and stitch together your own kind of look. Everyone says beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and guess what? It comes in all textures too. Hair fads come and go and come back again, and it’s easy to get discouraged by what’s “in” or “out” but your hair texture’s not a fad; it will stick it out through it all.

  Let’s not kid ourselves; some textures are celebrated in the media while others are almost invisible. Watch enough Pantene commercials and you start to get the gist. You start to wonder if your hair is wrong and try to figure out how best to change it, tame it, hide it. That’s why it’s got to start with us, not the person next to you. That’s why we’ve got to embrace it. We’ve got to appreciate our own kinks and curls, our occasionally out of control manes, and love on them, care for them and treat them like the beauties they are if we want others to appreciate it too. And hey, if they don’t feel like it, that’s fine. Be your own hair goals! It’s on your head and it’s beautiful, why not treat it that way?