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Yara Shahidi
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thumb|Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi (born 10 February 2000) is an American actress known for her roles in Black-ish, and it's spinoff Grown-ish.
Quotes
It may look like helicopter parenting, but in Black culture and Iranian culture, that interconnectedness is deeply important
Yara Shahidi's Family: All About Her Parents and Siblings 17 April, 2024
For me, optimism is a belief in self
Having to pour so much thought into basic survival doesn’t give your brain space to think about, Well, why are we living?
It’s overwhelming to think about how broken some of these systems are, how imperfect some of our tools for change are
Young people rise to the occasion time and time again, especially when we’re faced with things that are of deep concern to us
We need every voice. We need every person
It’s easy to feel down. That’s why Yara Shahidi is speaking up for optimism. 18 March, 2025
On a set, you’re a character. Everything about you is altered. In the tent, the goal is to be yourself.
Being Black and Iranian is something that even subconsciously plays into what I bring to a role
“It’s not about appearances or needing to seem like I’m good at everything
YARA SHAHIDI ON HOW SHE TURNED REALITY TV INTO A PERSONAL ADVENTURE 4 September, 2025
Education has always been an integral part of my life
My parents instilled this idea that learning is a lifelong adventure, whether that's in a classroom or out in the world
It's OK to not have all the answers
We cannot rely on the status quo, and we will need to pursue unconventional paths
Let yourself be bad at things
Not every attempt of mine would be a surefire success
We are not here to know, we are here to learn
The best learning happens when we give ourselves permission to fumble through something new
Finding what fulfills us is the ultimate success
It's OK to have multiple passions and to pursue them in various capacities
Allow yourself the freedom to explore different fields
Yara Shahidi on Learning, Growth and Pursuing Passions Beyond the Classroom n.d
My 20s has been a jarring experiment in figuring out how to give myself space to be mediocre at things
I have an unreasonable belief that I should be good immediately, and that's no way to discover new paths
One of the biggest exercises in being curious has been the first step of self-work, of talking to myself about being bad, and allowing myself to be absolutely an amateur with no goals of being advanced at something
At the age of 14, I had a mic in my hand and they were asking me about representation and about topics that I think not many 14-year-olds have a chance to discuss
ACTRESS YARA SHAHIDI SITS DOWN WITH HOPKINS STUDENTS AND ALUMNI 14 March
My education allowed me to speak more confidently about the things that I advocate for in my work
I feel like I’m only here because of the people who have come before me
Fashion innovation is hard, but when people come in with their own aesthetic, it’s really inspiring
Originality and authenticity are synonymous to me in that, on a spiritual, more emotional level, it’s about staying grounded in who you are
The moments when I stop worrying about how I’m being perceived are really freeing.
Yara Shahidi on the Power of Observation 11 October, 2023
But what I love so much about the collision between time and space that has happened right now is the fact that I am in no way the face of anything, because when I look at so many of my peers, there are people doing the same work, more work, different work than I am
I describe my future as being policy-adjacent
I'm never going to find myself in positions in which I genuinely regret what I'm doing.
We want this spectrum of ourselves portrayed in every physical possible spiritual, mental, emotional way that is so much more than saying I am a brown woman, or I am a black woman on TV, but saying, I am a fraction of my community
we are continuously undoing the works of how media, in particular, has been weaponized against minorities of any kind
So many times in the conversation, [colorism is used] as a straight up denial of blackness
I realized that when my norms did not fit those of the world around me, it was time to change the world norms
The story of immigration is something that is undoubtedly tied to mine
Leaving my teens is very intimidating to me.
If Yara Shahidi Seems Perfect, It's Because She Has To Be 8 March, 2019
The journey into becoming an actor wasn’t one that was necessarily anchored in this desire to be on screen, but more so anchored in this desire to be a part of storytelling
My sense of audacity came from the fact that I felt so well represented in my home, from what I was looking at, from the fact that my parents formed what we call an alternate curriculum of books, folklore, fairytales, where everybody was global, Black, Brown, from every different part of the world
The question of why should the audience care is something that we’re always having to answer
Yara Shahidi on Where She Gets Her ‘Sense of Audacity’ 7 August, 2025
External links
Yara Shahidi
Category:Actresses from the United States
Category:African Americans
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:People from Minneapolis
Category:2000 births
Category:Women born in the 2000s
Category:Living people