DeWanda Wise

thumb ​DeWanda Wise (née Jackson; born May 30, 1984) is an American actress. She starred in Spike Lee's Netflix comedy-drama series She's Gotta Have It (2017–19), a contemporary adaptation of his 1986 film. Quotes I wasn’t 12 with an at-home steamer and an ice roller — Amazon didn’t exist back then. But my mom used to sell Avon. She was a single mom who was always finding another hustle, so I was a product junkie for a very long time. I was moisturizing in the mirror when I was five. For me, skin care is part meditation. It’s something I’ve always been strangely into. I use refined coconut oil. I use shea butter. I use things to moisturize that you can buy at the grocery store. There is an element of being super old-school and granola about it. I do the same with my hair. When I’m trying to do a deep mask, I’ll mash up some avocado. You can keep it simple; it doesn’t have to cost a whole lot. A lot of it, for us, is genetic. It’s so funny, when I see celebrities selling certain products, I’m like, 'You don’t need that. You just out here lying, talking about anti-aging when Black don’t crack.' At this point, it’s law. We don’t [crack]. It’s our birthright. We have to suffer through other injustices, so we don’t have to age the way other people do. In that vein, I didn’t grow up with ageism either. I was moving to L.A. and a well-meaning director was like, ‘You are going to have to straighten you hair all the time and be Barbie and fit into these hyper-Eurocentric modes of beauty and acceptance.' And I was like, ‘Nah, that don’t apply to me.’ The way that I’ve found success so far has been in being me and finding work that allows me to tell my truth. Thankfully, I took more cues from my personal life than online platforms, magazines, or film. My friends are from completely different backgrounds — whether that is race, class, or orientation. That’s been so important to my self esteem, honestly. I never thought about how powerful it was to be surrounded by people who love you for you. I would like to acknowledge my pretty-ass privilege. I feel like people often talk about colorism and certain kinds of privilege. I always acknowledge what it means to walk through the world with this face — shout-out to my parents. It’s a helpful tool in this industry when other people think you are cute. DeWanda Wise On Skin Care, "Pretty Privilege," & Breaking Out Of The Box;By JESSICA CRUEL on MAY 24, 2019 External links Category:Actresses from the United States Category:Living people Category:1984 births Category:Women born in the 1980s Category:African Americans Category:People from Maryland