“My mama is African American and from Wisconsin. My baba was born in Ir...” — Yara Shahidi Quote

“My mama is African American and from Wisconsin. My baba was born in Iran. My parents have stressed the idea of creating your own path, and creating your own identity is part of that. That's why embracing these two cultures is important to me.”

“Never jeopardize who you are for a role. Now, I'm not saying you should never change for a role, because the fun of being different characters is adapting different nuances and different parts of the character, but never jeopardize your moral compass or anything like that to have a role.”

“When I was young, I dreamt of being a starlet in Hollywood. But there comes a point in every African American's life when you realize the limitations, that you could only play maids or some little supporting role. Even Lena Horne couldn't get good parts.”

“Women of African descent, since the beginning of time, have altered their hair, decorated it and used it to designate status.”

“African American history is really American history because African Americans really helped build this country.”