amandla stenberg passed on black panther due to light skin: “there are spaces that i should not take up”

Actress Amandla Stenberg revealed in an interview that she was in talks, and going through the casting process for a role in the ‘Black Panther’ movie directed by Ryan Coogler.
“I got really, really close and they were like, ‘do you want to continue fighting for this?’ And I was like, this isn’t right”, Stenberg said. “These are all dark skin actors playing Africans and I feel like it would have just been off to see m as a bi-racial American with a Nigerian accent just pretending that I’m the same colour as everyone else in the movie”. “That was really challenging, to make that decision, but I have no regrets.”

“I recognize 100 per cent that there are spaces that I should not take up and when I do take up a space it’s because I’ve thought really, really critically about it and I’ve consulted people I really trust and it feels right.”

In other words, she recognizes her light-skin privilege and understands colorism. Hopefully this will inspire other well-known actors… (what’s good Zoë Saldana?!)