Identity Undefined

The very definition of the suffix “-ish”, multicultural multihyphenate Yara Shahidi seeks to lead her generation of diversity in unity.

- Joie Goh

IT WOULD BE disingenuous to fall back on clichés when it comes to talking about Yara Shahidi and comparing her with teenagers her age — not only for her sake, but for her peers. I had to check myself from making sweeping statements such as “while other 18-year-olds were busy posting selfies on Instagram, Shahidi organised a political outreach programme and was accepted to Harvard”, because they ring hollow in light of recent events. Just mere days after witnessing the deaths of 17 of their friends and teachers by the hand of a former schoolmate, the survivors of the February high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, organised #NeverAgain, a national anti-gun movement to promote gun control. They also faced off with lawmakers about their inaction over the hazardously lax firearms regulations, and inspired fellow teenagers to march, protest and stage school walkouts across the United States.

Therefore, instead of pitting Shahidi against an entire population of young millennials, it’s more appropriate to view the actress-activist as one of the leading voices of a new generation of politically inclined and socially involved teenagers. Born to an Iranian photographer father and an actress mother with African-American and Native American ancestry, Shahidi began acting as a child, eventually landing the role of Zoey Johnson on the ABC sitcom “Black-ish” and subsequently as the main character in “Grown-ish”, a spin-off detailing Zoey’s college experience.

However, what sets Shahidi apart from the milieu of young actors is her luminary off-screen activities. Compared to her political one, her fashion resume almost seems frivolous, and they’re not: she is the US brand ambassador for Chanel, has fronted campaigns for GAP, Aerie and Beyonce’s Ivy Park label, and was dressed for the red carpet by Prada, Ralph Lauren, Giambattista Valli and Etro, amongst others.