Yara Shahidi is an American actress, producer, and activist, best known on screen as Zoey Johnson on the sitcom “Black-ish.” The role earned her an NAACP Image Award and a Gracie Award for Female in a Breakthrough Role. A headlining series role for her character in a spin-off called “Grown-ish” premiered in 2018.
Shahidi was born in 2000 and began her career when she was six years old. She appeared in television commercials and print advertisements for McDonald’s, Ralph Lauren, Disney, and Target. In 2009, she made her theatrical debut as Eddie Murphy’s spirited daughter in “Imagine That.” The role earned her a Young Artist Award nomination for the best performance in a feature film category. In 2019, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for her role in the film adaption of the young adult novel, “The Sun is Also a Star.”
To her peers, Shahidi is known as an activist. On her 18th birthday, she hosted a voting-themed party, complete with a registration booth, and launched Eighteen x 18 with social news publisher NowThis. The platform encouraged young people to vote during the 2018 midterm elections. “My passion really stemmed from having gone through the 2016 election, where myself and many of my peers were unable to vote,” she told the Hollywood Reporter at the time.
Shahidi teamed up with the Young Women’s Leadership Network of New York and created Yara’s Club, which provides online mentorship to end poverty through education. She has also served as a spokesperson for DoSomething.Org and 3M’s STEM campaign and received spotlights in The New York Times “Youth Impact” and Variety’s “Next Big Thing” issues. In 2021, she joined Dior’s Stand with Women campaign.
Shahidi received a recommendation from former first lady Michelle Obama because of her activism, and, armed with a perfect GPA, entered Harvard University in 2018. She is majoring in sociology and African-American studies. “The thing people don’t fully understand about my generation is just how multifaceted we are,” she said.