Amandla Stenberg covers the February issue of Teen Vogue. Many of us are familiar with Amandla for being one of the few teenagers to really “get it” in a larger sense. She uses her celebrity platform to educate, inform and grow. She grew in fame and popularity when she discussed her hair/black-women’s hair, cornrows and racial/culutral appropriation in the context of Kylie Jenner, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and more. Her perspective was and is utterly valid, and often missing from pop culture conversations. She’s just 17 years old and she is our future!
Anyway, on behalf of her Teen Vogue cover, Amandla took over the magazine’s Snapchat and ended up coming out as bisexual. She told fans:
“It’s a really really hard thing to be silenced and it’s deeply bruising to fight against your identity and to 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… but then I realized because of Solange and Ava DuVernay and Willow and all the black girls watching this right now, that there’s absolutely nothing to change. We cannot be suppressed. We are meant to express our joy and our love and our tears and be big and bold and definitely not easy to swallow…Here I am being myself and it’s definitely hard and vulnerable and it’s definitely a process but I’m learning and I’m growing.”
I love that she name-checked Ava DuVernay. I think people really underestimate how quickly Ava became an icon in the African-American community and how people are still pissed that Ava’s film Selma was snubbed so hard for awards last year. As for Amandla’s coming out, good for her! CB always says that it’s so rare for celebrities to identify as bisexual these days.
You can also read Amandla’s Teen Vogue profile here. Solange did the interview! They start off discussing their hair, and Amandla says:
“I think that as a black girl you grow up internalizing all these messages that say you shouldn’t accept your hair or your skin tone or your natural features, or that you shouldn’t have a voice, or that you aren’t smart. I feel like the only way to fight that is to just be yourself on the most genuine level and to connect with other black girls who are awakening and realizing that they’ve been trying to conform.”
I agree that not only is destructive to women of color to internalize those messages, and I agree with Amandla’s previous arguments that it’s just as destructive to see white people appropriating parts of your physicality and culture while simultaneously stifling your voice. It’s all the same conversation.
Photos courtesy of Teen Vogue.
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On a superficial note, that cover is stunning.
Rue is growing up.
She’s gorgeous and a good role model for young girls whom are told to silence their voices.
She really is. I’m such a fan. It’s cool when someone says or does something that offends her n she’s like “bitch, I’m not here for it!”
She is beautiful inside and out, a truly example not only for young girls but for us, a little older women! #TeamAmandla
She’s heartbreaking beautiful.
Good for her!
She’s gorgeous and seems like she has a good head on her shoulders. Really nice to see someone like that as a counterpart to the more vapid Cara, Jenners and so on.
Holy moly that cover is freaking amazing.
She does seem like a cool intellectual girl. More of this, less Kylie people!
The last point is everything.
It always amazes me to see people whine about cultural appropriation and yet be strangely quiet when blacks are totally missing from something.
African Dashikis as fashion? Lulz white designer. Pictorial on afros? Weird, they couldn’t find a single black model. Locks on a white girl? Fashion forward! Nouveau! Locks on a black girl? She prob smells like weed.
It sends a damaging message to constantly see aspects of yourself held up as cool or amazing…so long as you’re not a part of it.
Right? Did you SEE that hungarian woman that superimposed her face onto women of African tribes to “celebrate” their beauty?
This is the shit we see and deal with all the time? “Cornrows are cool!”- yet black girls have been chastised for them before
Traditional garb is a new fashion statement!- yet Native American women struggle to keep aspects of their culture to themselves.
As a WOC you definitely internalize these messages. I’m just NOW embracing my blackness in my mid-20s. People don’t realize how damaging it is
As a fellow hungarian, l’m very ashamed of this happening, especially at the time when we had a positive moment at the Golden Globes with Son of Saul. Unfortunately there are quite a few racist, bigoted and uneducated oblivious people however the vast majority of the country is open minded, tolerant and does recognize the true beauty of others, Im very sad that she paints us in such a light, when we are rarely mentioned it has to be because of such an ignorant act 🙁
Don’t worry I know that. Just like the vocal white supremacists don’t speak for all Americans.
Love her hair and love that she has a voice and that she speaks intelligently about difficult topics. I’m curious, though, why does she have to “come out”? Not that I think here is anything wrong with being anything other than hetero, but wondering why we feel the need for someone to come out and moreso, why it’s applauded? Not looking for a fight or for someone to get all offended about it. Just genuinely curious.
To normalize non-heterosexual orientations. So that others that are that way know they are’t alone. To remove the stigma that comes with being bisexual as not being a really sexual orientation. To create visibility, because everyone wants to see themselves be represented. There are plenty of good reasons to publicly come out.
It’s applauded because there are still many hurdles to overcome before we reach a point were not being straight won’t be a big deal. If she had not come out in this way but had just in passing started talking about having a girlfriend, the media would have still made a big deal about it, unlike if she had just in passing talked about a boyfriend which wouldn’t garner much, if any, media attention and that’s because being straight is so accepted that’s it’s expected. People are still being discriminated against and biphobia is real, so for someone that is well known to come out it’s an act of bravery because they can be jeopardize their career and fanbase.
Thank you.
@Santia: You are welcome.
Yes. Esp when bisexual men and women seem to get more ish from all sides for not “choosing” a side. Think back to that stupid interview with Anna Paquin where they suggested she would cheat on her husband because she was bi
Maybe because she’s comfortable in her own skin and with who she is. Maybe she’s thinking how can she tell other young girls to be themselves and own who they are if she keeps that part of her identity hidden. Or it could be just a case of I will out myself before someone else does. No need for rumors, I am who I am.
Because heterosexual is still assumed to be the default.
It’s more likely that the majority of humans are bisexual on some level (see: Kinsey scale). Sexuality is a spectrum – not black and white.
Some scientists theorise that up to 10% of the population is homosexual (as are many species of animals). This world would have way more openly identifying bisexual people if there weren’t such a stigma against it.
For every kid not ubderstanding their feelings and thinking they’re weird. For every adult struggling with their beliefs and being shamed by their desires. For every person who is STILL persecuted around the world for such a simple thing as who they’re attracted to. For them to see more people to identify with and not feel alone… well yeah, it is important.
Love her!! Great interview.
OK, I knew nothing of this girl until now, and all I can think is, ‘Wow, she is S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G!!!!’
What a beautiful young woman. At what age did you think of yourself as a woman? It was interesting to me that she referred to herself as such. I think I was in my twenties before I stopped referring to myself as a girl, but I was not especially mature when I was young, as she seems to be.
The concept of beauty has done so much harm in many ways.
It’s very personal, I’m much older than her and interestingly I still don’t really consider myself a woman. Or rather I’m not particularly bothered when someone still calls me girl.
Of course at any given moment I might grumble, “I’m a grown-ass woman.” depending on the circumstances, but that’s mostly a joke from HS about how very much I (and the rest of my all-girl’s class) wasn’t.
I just turned 40 on Thursday and fully wear my Big Girl panties all of the time now. (:
I think late 20’s, around my Return to Saturn I started growing up and maturing. By then I had two children, and it seemed apparent I was no longer a girl, but not quite fully recognized as a grown woman quite yet.
I didn’t start calling myself a fortified woman until my early 30s, after I left my husband, and I recall saying, “I’m a grown up woman capable of taking care of my own life” to my ex, and actually believing it.
I’m southern European, but is that really how it is? That women with hair and skin colour like her feel as though they shouldn’t like, want or embrace it? I’m 35 but ever since I was about 13 those physical attributes are what I thought were among the most beautiful in the whole world. All I have to say is if that’s what you were born with, LOVE IT BECAUSE YOU ARE RIDICULOUSLY BEAUTIFUL.
Yes, it is.
As a black woman myself…yes. You grow up with white is the best mentality. Your hair, your features they aren’t pretty to mainstream…and thus you feel wrong. Heck just google beautiful women and 9/10 are white. It takes a lot to undo these messages but people like Amandla are making it easier
Unfortunately Yes. Furthermore as a traditional Black woman with z-kinky (not cute curly) African hair and dark skin color, you are made to feel even less than because you don’t have the “good hair”, “light skin” and “close to European” features that bi-racial and multi-racial women like Amandla and Solange have. This is a model that White Hollywood picks. However it’s a prejudice that you don’t just have a problem with in White culture but equally so in Black culture that has internalized the racism into colorism. So yes the average Black girl in America with traditional Black features has to fight it out on two pressure fronts.
I’m assuming too by her heritage of having a White Father but living in predominantly White neighborhoods that her Black identity would be even more clearly delineated and her white ancestry denied. Which is why society forces biracial children to pick the side that others identify them as, maintaining the one-drop rule. Very complicated.
Yeah, it sadly is the case.
At 19, It’s still hard for me to accept my hair and skin tone. I was recently in class, I was sitting behind a white woman that was making fun of another black woman’s hair, said hair being in a protective style (cornrows, braids ect..) and it was perfectly healthy. It’s just incredibly infuriating.
Definitely.
For a seventeen year old, she seems to be very intelligent and level headed. My only hope is that she goes to college and let het intellectual mind grow
I hope she goes to college and breaks down walls and barriers and leaves her mark on wherever is lucky enough to have her.
I hope she goes to college.
“There’s a secret language shared among black girls who are destined to climb mountains and cross rivers in a world that tells us to belong to the valleys that surround us. You learn it very young, and although it has no words, you hear it clearly. You sense it when you walk into rooms with your hair in full bloom, each coil glorious, your sway swift and your stance proud. You feel it like a rhythm you can’t shake if you even dared to quiet the sounds around you.”
Wow. This whole interview is amazing.
Wow. Intense quote.
Sorry, but that quote just makes me roll my eyes, I’m not American so I guess I’m not her target audience but I think she sounds ridiculous. I get that people like that she’s forthright and not afraid to speak her mind but to me she just sounds like a typical teenager, full of her own importance and taking herself far too seriously.
FYI, that quote was from the interviewer Solange, not Amandla.
On another note I was happy and surprised to hear about Charlie Carver coming out. One of the older twin boys of Lynette on DH and Teen Wolf
Not only is she smart and talented, she’s also gifted with the ability to communicate wisely – and on top of it beautiful. It’s hard not to like her. Go Amandla! I’m glad teenVogue put her on the (stunning) cover.
As for the issues, she’s raising – on her father’s side, she will also know of the hardship of being Iniut. She can be the voice of many. Hopefully many will listen.
Good on her!! I think her and Zendaya are absolutely fantastic and I want to sincerely thank CB’s writers for keeping up to date with these awesome girls and for introducing me to them in the first place. Please continue covering them. As a mid 20 young white woman who considers herself a feminist I feel it is essential to listen to my sisters who are women of color or latinas or have any different kind of cultural or ethnic background – It is absolutely enlightening and inspiring to follow them and others.
There is a lot to learn from changing your perspective.
Shoutout to all the brilliant women commenting here. I feel fantastic today and have hopefully had an essential breaktrough when it comes to my depression. I just want to share the joy today. Everyone have a great day!
Love your comment Mimi. Sending tons of love ❤️❤️
You made me smile, thank you mimi
As a woman of color this made me smile as well. Thanks for having an open mind and heart. We need more people like you <3
ADORE! i want to echo Mimi and request More Her, More Willow, More Amber Riley, More Uzo, More Ava duVernay (if yall do NOTHING else Find the “Denzel Is The Best actor of all Time, Period” Podcast – yes that’s the name! with her and W Kamau Bell and How they came up with a Fictional perfume inspired by Viola emmy speech Called “ELEGANT SHADE” she gives a state of the Black woman Union read that is just a Song to my heart!! ) Im here this year fully and Wholly to super uplift and protect at all cost and big up the Carefree Black Girls and All the brown bodies!! ✊🏾
So much Love back to you, AlmondJoy, Cate, and Nicole, you have made me smile too! And QQ, I feel a little bit as if a celebrity has answered my comment 😀 I have been checking out your tumblr from time to time and I have seriously learned so much from you already. Thank you!! <3
I’m always stunned when I read Amandla interviews. It’s nice to see teenage celebrities who are educated and willing to learn about the world around them.
I bet she’s going to become a great filmmaker like she’s aspires to be.
I am awed as well. She needs an even larger platform.
She makes me ashamed of my 17-year-old self.
On a superficial note, these photos of her are AMAZING. She is such a gorgeous young woman, inside and out.
“So when was the moment that you realized exactly what you were taking on just by existing in this space?
AMANDLA: It was when I was 12 and I got cast in The Hunger Games, and people called me the N-word and said that the death of my character, Rue, would be less sad because I was black. That was the first moment I realized being black was such a crucial part of my identity in terms of the way that I was perceived and how it would affect any line of work that I wanted to pursue”
This part is so sad.
Heartbreaking.
Sadly minority kids learn it so young. There is no effort to protect their innocence or give them the benefit of the doubt. They’re gunned down in parks or arrested in schools.
Omg that is messed up!
Cannot imagine. That would be so life-changing and impossibly hard to get over.
I’m not sure I would be as strong as she was, to turn that harmfulness—that toxicity–into a positive. Yet that experience seems to have really strengthened her conviction and propelled her to be an introspective, prominent voice for young black women and men. So if there was one good thing to come out what must have been a traumatic experience, I guess that’s it.
what a gorgeous young lady!! I love Amandla from hunger games and to see her flourish in such a beautiful way is truly inspiring! power to these smart young women!!
This young woman is Everything to young women. Smart, kind, invested in being a voice. So much YES!!!!
She evidently was pushed to come out by Willow, and evidently Willow is a huge “nudger” in assisting people become comfortable with their sexuality. Speculation has it that both she and Jaden identify on the spectrum but Will and Jada don’t want them to vocal yet.
I got lost in a Blind Item hole one night at work.
Neither Willow nor Jaden seem to have any trouble bucking conventionality especially regarding gender presentation, why would anybody think they are in spite of this hiding their sexuality? Or that they have even figured out that part of themselves yet.
Not hiding, coming out publicly. Via announcement and acknowledging it for public consumption. For some people the mere presentation of who they are isn’t enough.
Maybe willow and Jaden would also like to be Out examples and not acknowledging it publicly feels false to them?
I dont know, this seems like a lot mental gymnastics to me. I think the gay rumors are probably based on Jaden and Willow shunning of traditional gender presentations. Kind of like how people declare boys in the glee club and girls in the soccer team gay. Anyway, these kids are incredibly brave, I’m sure that if they ever want to share who they are attracted to, they will.
So beautiful inside and out!
Beautiful inside and out. I have great admiration for this young woman. I predict amazing things from her.
“be big and bold and definitely not easy to swallow”
THAT IS SUCH A COOL THING TO SAY. I think I just fell a little bit in love with her!
She seems so impressive. I’d already read her Teen Vogue article and was impressed by her thoughtfulness there too. And, on a superficial note, she is gorgeous with fabulous hair and I loved the Teen Vogue shoot. Finally, I also love that she mentioned Ava – Ava seems impressive but is not getting enough respect from the sexist, racist old men that run Hollywood.
Love this girl so much! And that cover is stunning.
she’s so annoying, but good for her. she’s incredibly intelligent and wise beyond her years
She is stunning! And we should all be able to create and live in our own world. We shouldn’t have not be ourselves out of fear. My maternal family is deeply religious and I’m the black sheep. Growing up it was always a struggle, I’m bi- racial, she’s right you do internalise it.
When I finally told my family, soon after a series of unfortunate events occurred in my life and they all pointed at me in shame that because I didn’t believe in the doctrines I’m damned and God has left me. Much later I came through those events much stronger and resolute that yes God exists but not in the form of any religion. And I come from two ethnicities and one is not better than the other. It’s interesting she sees herself has specifically black and doesn’t mention her Danish roots.
It’s wonderful to see that she doesn’t feel the need to be overtly sexualised on the cover. Her beauty speaks for itself.
sunning face indeed,she can do no wrong!
Who cares? Why does she feel that the world needs to know that some 17-year-old girl likes boys AND girls? Not so much empowerment as narcissism. Oh, and who the hell is she?
Google Amandla Stenberg and that will tell you who the hell she is. That won’t be too hard, will it? 🙄
I’m meh about people coming out in public. I get that it helps to normalise non-hetero people; I just don’t care about people’s sexuality.
Having said that, Amandla is absolutely gorgeous. I think for sure she’s one of the most beautiful young women in the industry at the moment and I love how intelligent and self-assured she seems in her interviews.