Marsai Martin, actress and executive producer, has been one of the most influential Black Americans that has motivated me to grow into my full potential. As Marsai has been a positive figure for many young, black, coming-of-age girls, she has especially been mine because of the dedication and hard work she puts into her projects. Martin entered the acting world at a young age of five years old. It is expected to receive criticism in Hollywood, however, as she grew and the more successful she became, the more vicious the spectators shamed her.
Given her circumstances of being considerably young, Marsai could have chosen the option to opt out of that particular career path. However, she overcame those obstacles and continued to fight for the ultimate goal she was actively achieving. This is a particular example of how Marsai Martin teaches me how I want to live my life. As she silenced out the other voices, and solely listened to herself, Martin became a success story.
Growing up, seeing Black leads on television was uncommon. The lack of representation on a young impressionable child’s screen is excruciatingly harmful to them because there are no characters who share a similar lifestyle as them and go through particular things only a Black person would understand; so as a child, I had simply accepted that I would not see an African American girl on my screen. In contrast to my own beliefs, Marsai stated, “There were not a lot of black girls I saw on TV and film so I wanted to create something that all people felt welcomed to and young black girls could be inspired by.” She had decided that because there was not enough representation, she would become it.
Through firsthand experience, the simplicity of not having a face on the screen that either looks like you or knowing that they have been through similar experiences is life-altering. Written in an article published by Tamara Moten, one can learn that parents need to especially focus on the content their children are consuming. Allowing the only storylines on television to entail that of stereotypes and misjudgements in the Black culture allows for that misrepresentation to continue.
Especially being that the lack of representation that young Black children have is primarily based on Black trauma – Martin is the start of the new influence for the next generation. Her work is not solely based on the challenges Black Americans experience on a daily basis, but rather focused on the positive and outstanding power Black children exhibit by simply being themselves.
Martin embodies that of a strong and influential inspiration who continues to pave the way for other young women to step into the light and be an extraordinary advocate. She not only starred in the movie “Little,” but was also the incredible executive producer for the film. Along with “Little,” Martin has been a famous star in the other hit series “Black-ish,” “Mixed-ish,” “Paw Patrol,” as well as many other projects – and hopefully many more to come.