Yara Shahidi On The US Election after the bazar’s cover

20-year-old actress and activist, committed to championing change to ensure everyone’s dreams can become a reality

Born in Minnesota to an African-American mother and Iranian father, 20-year-old Yara started her career as a child, appearing in commercials for the likes of Ralph Lauren, Disney and McDonald’s. She went on to become a household name at just 14, after bagging the part of Zoey Johnson on Black-ish – a show that’s celebrated for addressing race, culture and socio-economic issues. Despite having its  finale in May of this year, Black-ish found itself back in the news recently as an episode that was dropped over fears it was too anti-Trump became available to watch for the first time. Creator, Kenya Barris asked ABC to reconsider its decision this summer.

“I’m really pleased,” says Yara, passionately. “I remember when Black-ish first came on, before we knew Trump as President Trump in any capacity, one of the first mean pieces of vitriol we got was from his Twitter account, saying ‘“Blackish”? Can you imagine the furor of a show, “Whiteish”! Racism at the highest level?’ She pauses to laugh in disbelief and point out that she’s paraphrasing.

“So many families don’t have the privilege of turning these subjects on and off. Even with my own family, when an episode ends I don’t have the privilege of saying ‘well that conversation is over with’ because these are things that affect us 24/7. So to be able to air an episode that dives into these issues, of what it’s like to grow up as a black family, is important for our very large audience to see.

And she’s keen to highlight that speaking about Trump doesn’t have to be seen as political: “I really don’t believe that responding to Trump’s behaviour is a partisan issue. It’s not that you have to be part of a certain political party, it’s really a large moral question of who is allowing this… who are the enablers not calling into question what he’s doing?”

Yara’s Eighteen x 18 initiative encourages young people to vote, and as the United States’ elections fast approach, it’s high on her priority list. With the US, like the rest of the world, navigating its way through the COVID- 19 outbreak and resulting economic decline, it’s not a straightforward task. “What the pandemic has brought is the knowledge that nothing is certain, so you have to be as dynamic as the circumstances,” she explains. “We used to rely on the fact that voting is super simple; it takes two seconds. Now it looks different. We have to be really transparent about the changes. We have to  figure out how we can level the playing field and arm young voters with the information they need.”

It’s this political engagement that gained her the respect of Oprah Winfrey, who on interviewing a then 17-year-old Yara, told her: “Your future is so bright it burns my eyes.” And her high hopes for the young actor didn’t stop there. While taking part in a Q&A on Instagram, Oprah went on to say: “I hope I’m still around when she becomes President of the United States – and that is going to happen – if she wants it to.”

Yara’s Eighteen x 18 initiative encourages young people to vote, and as the United States’ elections fast approach, it’s high on her priority list. With the US, like the rest of the world, navigating its way through the COVID- 19 outbreak and resulting economic decline, it’s not a straightforward task. “What the pandemic has brought is the knowledge that nothing is certain, so you have to be as dynamic as the circumstances,” she explains. “We used to rely on the fact that voting is super simple; it takes two seconds. Now it looks different. We have to be really transparent about the changes. We have to  figure out how we can level the playing field and arm young voters with the information they need.”

It’s this political engagement that gained her the respect of Oprah Winfrey, who on interviewing a then 17-year-old Yara, told her: “Your future is so bright it burns my eyes.” And her high hopes for the young actor didn’t stop there. While taking part in a Q&A on Instagram, Oprah went on to say: “I hope I’m still around when she becomes President of the United States – and that is going to happen – if she wants it to.

Yara is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and her compassion for others is clear. She spent her formative years in a tight-knit Iranian community, and both parents made a concerted effort to teach her about her heritage. While Yara’s multicultural background is extremely important to her, she also tries to understand communities beyond her own. She notes that often people in the US can make sweeping generalisations about Middle Eastern countries, instead of seeing the communities within them as multifarious, and the people as individuals.

“Having a family that’s Iranian, I’ve always had a global sense of community and culture. It goes back to why I’m a total history nerd. I think [we should] continue to create a more realistic version of history that doesn’t push forward this [idea] that Europe was the centre of the world. What we’re ignoring are the levels of contribution that everywhere else in the world made to our development and wellbeing. I don’t know if people would equate technological innovation to the Middle East, although if there was a fair portrait in our history, there would be a better understanding.