Photo by John Salangsang/BFA.com
Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg is forever our favorite teen/cultural commentator -- and she continues to fight the good fight for considerate, conscious consumption, as her recent call out of Kylie Jenner's misguided cornrows proves.
Though it seems impossible that anyone with an internet connection in 2015 still thinks it's okay to co-opt pieces of important cultural currency sans context in the name of fashion, it still happens all of the time. Thankfully though, No B.S. Stenberg was quick to the draw, swiftly responding to the 'gram with some very valid concerns about Jenner's new "look." Especially since Jenner is a repeat offender who's gotten in hot water before for donning dreadlocks, blackface and grills -- all of which are not shows of her "grungy style."
Stenberg also followed up later, tweeting out an explanation about why this sort of fashion-baiting of traditionally black styles isn't okay, bringing up the fact that while black features are considered cool and beautiful, actual black women aren't valued to nearly the same extent, a problem that's rooted in the idea that fetishism often gets mixed up with appreciation.
words by me pic.twitter.com/g0HapkvfAt
-- Amandla Stenberg (@amandlastenberg) July 13, 2015
Jenner wound up looping in her friend/maybe-ex Jaden Smith, making a jab at the fact that Stenberg and Smith went to prom together earlier this year. Maybe it's time for Jenner to actually watch Stenberg's video about cultural appropriation and grow up a little. After all, while it's easy to chalk up Jenner's ignorance to her youth, keep in mind that she just got schooled by a 16-year-old.