You Can't Contain Amandla

When the world talks about next-gen stars,AmandlaStenbergtops the list. The hero of The Hate U Give shows us how to follow her lead.

- Marley Dias

THE SET OF THE HATE U GIVE COULD HAVE been a somber, hushed place. After all, the movie (and the book on which it’s based) centers on the effects of police violence after a local cop kills a black teen. But what Amandla Stenberg, 20, remembers is the music. She and an almost all black cast and extras, many of them heavily involved in grassroots efforts to support Black Lives Matter, would rap between takes, breaking into Kendrick Lamar anthems like “Alright.” (Sample lyrics: “Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright.”) People were able to be their full “authentic selves” on set, Amandla says, and that time between takes “was a celebration of our community and the ability we have to use our collective voice to stand up.”

Amandla tells me this over the phone at the end of August, the same week that I have to attend orientation at a new school. Before I dialed, I took a deep breath to calm a rush of nerves. We’re not so different, I thought—we’re both readers and writers, both activists. But Amandla has become a voice in social movements like Black Lives Matter, even as she promotes movies and poses for beautiful photo shoots (like this one). Sure, I founded #1000BlackGirlBooks to call for more diverse stories and once met Angie Thomas, who wrote the novel The Hate U Give, at a book festival. But when it comes down to it, I’m just starting high school, and Amandla was in The Hunger Games.