Thank You, Yara Shahidi
You might know her as Zoey Johnson – the TV character navigating the perils of college life on the hit show Black-ish and its spinoff, Grown-ish. What you might not know is that Yara Shahidi, the 20-year-old actress is a longtime change agent for social and charitable causes.
You might know her as Zoey Johnson – the TV character who grew from an entitled, materialistic teen concerned mostly with fashion and the number of social media followers she garnered into a more complex young woman navigating the perils of college life on the hit show Black-ish and its spinoff, Grown-ish.
What you might not know is that Yara Shahidi, the 20-year-old actress who plays the mostly apolitical Zoey, is a longtime change agent for social and charitable causes. And in contrast to the relentlessly popular character she plays, Shahidi is a “total nerd,” as she puts it.
“I’ve been that person that had a Thesaurus right next to me when I was little,” she said in a recent interview.
Shahidi these days is combining those two traits to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She challenged her Black-ish costar and TV mom Tracee Ellis Ross to a long-running game of Scrabble GO, an online version of the popular board game that can serve as a vehicle for fundraising. Proceeds, based on Shahidi’s final score, will go to St. Jude.
DISCOVER
-
Possibilities
Becoming Bertha: Growing up through cancer treatment
Undergoing cancer treatment for a second time at 16, Bertha found makeup and music to be outlets for self-expression.
-
All Access
All Access: Patrick & Cathy Warburton
St. Jude All Access dives deeper into Patrick and Cathy Warburton's relationship as to why St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is their charity of choice.
-
Storied Lives
The kid with a passion for vehicles rides on for St. Jude
Mission driven, the St. Jude mail van driver knows his work helps because he, too, was a St. Jude kid.