From Around The Web
I recently heard Yara Shadidi speak on the Citizen Verizon Assembly and was completely inspired by everything she said. If you’re not familiar with the ‘Grownish’ actress, she’s known for using her platform to spotlight social and political issues, even before 2020. Watch the Citizen Verizon Assembly replay here. The whole program is great but Yara’s segment begins around the 8-minute mark if you want to skip ahead.
https://twitter.com/YaraShahidi/status/795810638966575104
Prior to the event, Fast Company interviewed Yara and she stressed how important it is for individuals and corporations alike to honor their civic duty responsibility. This is also something I feel very strongly about, hence the creations of this website. My goal is to reshare resources like this to help inspire others to get involved. Read the full Fast Company article here.
Below are 5 important quotes that stood out to me from Yara’s interview. Please feel free to offer your comments and thoughts below.
1.
“The two things that have always felt important, but have become clear to me, is needing to cultivate community as well as the importance of constantly instilling hope. “[My generation] was born into a world in which we are hyperaware of the atrocities of the world at a particularly young age. And so a lot of the work of being active is how do we maintain this sense of hope, such that the work that we’re doing is sustainable and there isn’t a feeling of burnout?”
– Yara Shahidi, actress and activist
2.
“I think it is important that we have large conversations with corporations about their civic duty. It’s my personal belief that not everybody’s supposed to do everything, but I do think that there are certain skill sets that every corporation, every individual has that can help solve a problem in a way that only they can.”
– Yara Shahidi, actress and activist
3.
“So much of our time can be spent having the precursor to what’s important. What’s been very cool—if I say anything is cool about the time that we’re living in—is the fact that a lot of people are encouraged by the consistent engagement in conversation and education; being in a space of learning and knowing that not every conversation will just touch on every topic.”
– Yara Shahidi, actress and activist
4.
“I feel as though imagination and creativity is an important tool, and it’s become increasingly important to me to talk about having space to imagine and to dream,” she says. “There’s so much that you have to endure to get through a day that oftentimes you’re not left space to dream.”
– Yara Shahidi, actress and activist
5.
“We live in a world in which our next steps will be in creating a world we’ve never seen before, but that takes the work of serious imagination. I try and participate in that, not only in the day-to-day work of, how can I be of service and lifting the burden of discrimination, but also how do I partake creatively in the work of pushing forward our imagination and pushing forward spaces that we have not been allowed into?”
– Yara Shahidi, actress and activist
