I swear to God I'm not trying to inflate my ego here but I've been told my entire life that I look like Zendaya. My mom and her friends believe it like it's a hardcore religion. Every time something happens with her, someone will send it to me and say: “Do you know you look like?"
I never could see it (still can’t) however, I do love her. I saw her as a hardcore representation for me personally. I was a huge Shake It Up fan, always learning all of the dances. Her on there dancing made me love it again and to this day I'm still doing it. The way I would see her in photoshoots and starting her brand, it would light up my life. I would struggle with trying to convey my creative ideas without judgment. But I would look to her and think: who cares? If I want to do something, I can do it.
Recently Zendaya won her Emmy, the youngest person to win one. I saw the video of her winning and the bright smile on her face, her family around her just as excited, and to be honest, I cried a little. It was a big moment and not only for her but for other girls that looked up to her. When she won, she said, “And I just want to say to all our peers out there doing the work in the streets: I see you”. And with that, it struck me like "Wow I may not win an Emmy, but I sure as hell can do something just as great".
That's what it means when representation is at play. It can inspire, it can drive. It can create such beautiful people and things beyond the imagination. It's a breath fo fresh air, just to know that you can exist. For my Project 2, I decided to talk about the meaning and effects of this breath of fresh air
Work Cited
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