Amandla Stenberg – teenage actress, activist, future NYU student and Dazed favourite – has just announced she’ll be starring in a film based on the Black Lives Matter movement. The film adaptation of The Hate U Give (you’ll recognise the title from Tupac’s Thug Life) is based on a book by Angela Thomas. Stenberg will play Starr, a teenager whose life changes forever after her unarmed best friend is shot and killed by a police officer. 

Stenberg is the perfect choice for the role, of course. In addition to her acting talents, she’s spoken out frequently on issues ranging from cultural appropriation to Black Lives Matter. In a recent interview with Dazed, Stenberg revealed her plans to attend NYU film school and her hopes that she’d be able to study under legendary director Spike Lee, who is a professor there.

Stenberg said, “I feel like there’s a lack of representation for different kinds of people, and so I want to provide that. Especially focusing on stories that feature and star women of colour – that’s very important to me.” Intriguingly, she went on to highlight Spike Lee’s 1989 classic Do the Right Thing as a film that was particularly important to her. “[It was] such a society, culture changing movie. It focussed on police brutality and, you know, created stories for people who are not always the most represented.” The hope is that The Hate U Give will have a similar impact on young people of Stenberg’s generation.

The Hate U Give’s author, Angela Thomas, took to Twitter yesterday to express her support for Stenberg’s involvement in the film, saying she was “thrilled beyond words that such a talented and intelligent person will be bringing Starr to life on the screen”. 

H/t Mashable