Imagine being 5-years-old; your perception of the world is built entirely on what you see. The main characters of your picture books are silly and always get in trouble, but you notice none of them have your mocha brown skin.
Imagine being 12-years-old; you’re sitting in your room watching your favorite tv show, the main character loves fashion just you. As you are watching you notice no one has big kinky coils like you and you start to think that your natural hair is ugly.
Imagine being 20-years-old; you’ve waited weeks for this audition, you have all your line memorized and you are excited. As you recite your monologue, the casting director asks you to read the part of the sassy assistant. He doesn't think you are a match for the lead role. …show more content…
Growing up there were not many books that showed brown girls with natural hair. It made me question the beauty of my skin and curly hair. Even today, the representation of black women is so minuscule that I take what I could get, even if it portrayed us in a negative light. During my time as an actress, directors constantly typecast me as the sassy assistant or background character regardless of the role I auditioned for.
My experiences have made me passionate about diversity in art and media because I do not want another generation of little black girls to grow up without proper representation. I want young children of color to grow up seeing actors, painters, photographers, and dancer that look like them. I want them to know that they have amazing talents like the people they see on tv and in magazines.
We must dissect the root of the problem, the limited opportunities artists of color are given. Casting directors still use discriminatory practices during auditions when they should cast without bias. Show writers are still underdeveloping characters of color when they need to write dynamic roles for PoC. Art schools are denying poor PoC access to their programs when they should allow everyone an equal opportunity. Musicians of color constantly have their work stolen when they should be credited for their talents. And consumers patronize whitewashed art when they should encourage and support artists of color
Imagine being 12-years-old; you’re sitting in your room watching your favorite tv show, the main character loves fashion just you. As you are watching you notice no one has big kinky coils like you and you start to think that your natural hair is ugly.
Imagine being 20-years-old; you’ve waited weeks for this audition, you have all your line memorized and you are excited. As you recite your monologue, the casting director asks you to read the part of the sassy assistant. He doesn't think you are a match for the lead role. …show more content…
Growing up there were not many books that showed brown girls with natural hair. It made me question the beauty of my skin and curly hair. Even today, the representation of black women is so minuscule that I take what I could get, even if it portrayed us in a negative light. During my time as an actress, directors constantly typecast me as the sassy assistant or background character regardless of the role I auditioned for.
My experiences have made me passionate about diversity in art and media because I do not want another generation of little black girls to grow up without proper representation. I want young children of color to grow up seeing actors, painters, photographers, and dancer that look like them. I want them to know that they have amazing talents like the people they see on tv and in magazines.
We must dissect the root of the problem, the limited opportunities artists of color are given. Casting directors still use discriminatory practices during auditions when they should cast without bias. Show writers are still underdeveloping characters of color when they need to write dynamic roles for PoC. Art schools are denying poor PoC access to their programs when they should allow everyone an equal opportunity. Musicians of color constantly have their work stolen when they should be credited for their talents. And consumers patronize whitewashed art when they should encourage and support artists of color