BLACK GIRLS ROCK HONOREE: AMANDLA STENBERG

Feminist, Activist, and Cultural Appropriation Teacher all before she turned 17.  All she was in "The Hunger Games" as "Rue" was cute. But I didn't know she was an awesome black feminist until her video "Don't Cash Crop On My Cornrows" went viral. I've been following her, along with thousands of others, ever since.  Amandla absolutely deserved to be honored at Black Girls Rock in 2016.  The comic book series she is creating, "Niobe: She Is Life"  is the proof.
  



A writer at NY MAG summed my feelings up perfectly. She perfectly described why things like "Black Girls Rock" is needed, was needed decades before it began in 2006. 

"I sometimes think about how I would have approached life differently if I could tell my younger self the things I know now: that I am worthy, that I’m a valuable contributor, and that my differences [as a black female] are an asset instead of a handicap. I got emotional when Amandla received her award because in many ways I feel she mirrors the woman I would have become had I believed in myself more at a younger age. In her speech, she talked about how her blackness is a blessing, and I couldn’t help but think,Gosh, I wish I had all my sh*t figured out like her at age 17.

~Ashley, NY Mag

Too many pop up ads for me to recommend the link. But here's the source of the Black Girls Rock discussion

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/04/black-girls-rock-is-the-celebration-we-deserve.html#

I didn't know that this is the reason why this 17 year old feminist is my hero until I read this. I knew Amandla Stenberg is a hero of mine, but I didn't know why.  If I had known, I wouldn't have been able to say it better myself.  

I'm trying to imagine the force that must be her mother.   A mother can't create an Amandla on her own. Amandla is her own person making her own choices like anyone else. But her mother almost has to have given her the freedom and tools to build herself into who she has become. I can't believe I'm waiting to read the autobiography of a 17 year old. Maybe I'll only have to wait until she's 34.  That's only another 17 years. No problem. I'll wait.

Amandla and Mom(?)

In the meantime, here's a a link to the hard copy of her comic book here:


And here is the less expensive kindle version of  Niobe: She Is Life #1