The young star has quickly built a brand that not only shows her notoriety as a supreme actress, but also as a thoughtful thinker and activist. While accepting the Young, Gifted and Black award at the 2017 Black Girls Rock ceremony, the 17-year-old shared some words of wisdom with her fellow Black sisters.
"White taught me what Black was not. Male taught me what female was not. Straight taught me what gay was not. Sad taught me what happy was not. Law taught me what equality and equity were not," she said. "But our charge is not to live within this negative space of who we are not to be. Who are we not to be, after all?"
Extending on her empowering words, Yara encouraged Black women to nurture their power in its entirety, regardless of what society may project.
"We thrive because we are," she added. "We are because we chose to be and their yin does not define our yang and while this ideological construct makes people so uncomfortable, Black Girls Rock demands that we take an oath to ourselves and to everybody around us to embrace our power and our glory in its fullness."
Take a look at her full, rousing speech, above.
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