Amandla Stenberg is not tolerating the toxicity and racism she has been facing since the release of the new Star Wars Disney+ series, The Acolyte. The 25-year-old, who plays the two lead characters Osha and Mae in the miniseries, is addressing the “discourse” head-on with a music video that she revealed was put together in just 72 hours. “Happy Juneteenth 🖤,” she wrote in the caption of the post. “And to those who are bombarding me with intolerable racism—since it only took me 72 hours on my laptop to create this song and video, you have 72 hours to respond. and I expect choreo!!”
The video opens with Stenberg reciting, “I’m going viral on Twitter again / Open up the news to find some interesting things,” while reflecting on reaching 20 million views and an interview from 2018 with Trevor Noah. In the interview, she discussed the message of her movie The Hate U Give, expressing that she wanted white audiences to feel empathy when watching a film about police brutality against a Black teenager.
Stenberg clarified that her words from the interview have been taken out of context to fit a specific narrative. She also addressed criticisms labeling the show as “woke” due to her casting and the LGBTQ+ themes presented in the series. She responded to these critics in her rap, stating, “Last I recall, ‘woke’ was something we created / Speak truth to power, keep an eye out for you silly racists.” She further expressed her frustration with those who use the term “woke” negatively.
The video concludes with Stenberg singing about being tired of suppressing her anger. It is clear that she is using her platform to address important issues and combat racism and misinformation head-on.