Hunger Games’ Amandla Stenberg: ‘Do Black Female Lives Matter?’

Amandla-Stenberg-AP

Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg says the media is guilty of ignoring and disparaging black females.

The 16-year-old, who has been outspoken on the issues of race and cultural appropriation recently, took to her Instagram page Sunday to discuss her perceived cultural double standard, which she says plagues black women, and asks the question: “Do female black lives matter too?”

“Black features are beautiful. Black women are not. White women are paragons of virtue and desire. Black women are objects of fetishism and brutality,” wrote Stenberg.

“This, at least, seems to be the mentality surrounding black femininity and beauty in a society built upon Eurocentric beauty standards. While white women are praised for altering their bodies, plumping their lips and tanning their skin, black women are shamed although the same features exist on them naturally,” she continued.

The post came hours after Stenberg slammed model Kylie Jenner online for wearing a cornrow hairstyle as a fashion statement, saying Jenner should use her star power to help black Americans.

“The stigma surrounding it are embedded in American infrastructure and psyche as evidenced by the ways black women are sexually assaulted and treated by police – an act that goes frequently and reported by the media. When the media is not ignoring black women altogether, they are disparaging them,” Stenberg’s post reads.

She added: “As culture shifts and racial tensions are tested through the vehicle of the #BlackLivesMatterMovement, it is important to question:

Do female black lives matter?”

bigger than you or me. discussions are healthy. ignorance is not. words by me

A photo posted by amandla (@amandlastenberg) on

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