18 Mixed Black Celebs Who've Spoken About Their Identity

"One of the first things they said to me was: 'Okay, so we need to straighten your hair.' I refused point-blank because my hair was my identity."

1. Zendaya

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The actor is of Nigerian and European descent. At Beautycon Festival, she addressed colorism and called herself "Hollywood's acceptable version of a Black girl." She continued, "I feel a responsibility to be a voice for the beautiful shades my people come in. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a privilege compared to my darker sisters and brothers. Can I honestly say that I’ve had to face the same racism and struggles as a woman with darker skin? No, I cannot. I have not walked in her shoes and that is unfair of me to say. But I’m completely behind that woman."

"I want to be a part of the movement and growth. And if I get put in a position because of the color of my skin where people will listen to me, then I should use that privilege the right way."

2. Naomi Osaka

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The tennis star is of Haitian and Japanese descent. She told WSJ magazine, "I'm just trying to put a platform out for all the Japanese people that look like me and live in Japan, and when they go to a restaurant, they get handed an English menu, even though it’s just a little microaggression."

She also recalled a time she played against a Japanese opponent as a young girl. "She was talking with another Japanese girl, and they didn’t know that I was listening [or that] I spoke Japanese. Her friend asked her who she was playing, so she said Osaka. And her friend says, 'Oh, that Black girl. Is she supposed to be Japanese?' And then the girl that I was playing was like, 'I don’t think so.' I remember that specifically because, yeah, I sometimes feel like a lot of people think that way about me."

3. Tessa Thompson

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The actor is of Afro-Panamanian, Mexican, and European descent. At the Essence Black Women In Hollywood luncheon, she said her mother helped her navigate who she is. "She always gave me space to explore my identity; get in touch with who I am. She understood the void of not having enough guidance, in that. Even though she is not a Black woman, throughout my life, she filled me with such pride of being one."

“She told me that my broad features and my brown skin looked beautiful when classmates did their best to convince me otherwise. She went to a beauty supply store with me, where she bought an eco relaxer, which we were prepared to apply together. But she was proud and patient when I decided I wanted to keep my then crusty, crunchy, over-gelled curls. Because she realized that being the fullest expression of yourself is an act of bravery. She wanted me to be brave and because of her, I aim to be."

4. J. Cole

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The rapper is of Black and European descent. During an interview with XXL mag, he said, "I can identify with white people, because I know my mother, her side of the family, who I love. I’ve had white friends. I know people from high school that I might not have hung out with outside of high school, but I think I got to know them pretty well, so I know they sense of humor. But at the end of the day, I never felt white. I don’t know what that feels like. I can identify. But never have I felt like I’m one of them. Not that I wanted to, or tried to, but it just was what it was. I identify more with what I look like, because that’s how I got treated. Not necessarily in a negative way. But when you get pulled over by the police, I can’t pull out my half-white card."

5. H.E.R.

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The singer is of Black and Filipino descent. While visiting family in the Philippines, she told the Philippine Star, "It’s a big part of who I am, and I come from the Bay Area, where there’s tons of Filipinos. And I notice that when I leave the Bay Area, a lot of people don’t know about Filipinos. They don’t know who we are. They ask me questions, 'Do you eat with chopsticks?' etc."

During an interview with WWD, she shared that she identifies strongly with both sides. "My dad would throw down with the soul food when we had our Black side over. Black culture, to me, is so important, and I identify with young Black women. I represent young Black women, and I’m proud of that."

6. Halle Berry

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The actor is of Black and European descent. She told People that she attended an all-white school and had a tough time as the only Black child. "I got bullied a little bit...because of the color of my skin and at that time we were 'Oreos.' ... My need to please and my desire to achieve was because I was constantly trying to prove that I was as good as the other white students. I felt very less than, and I thought if I could beat them at everything, then I can be as good as them. Subsequently, that taught me how to win in life."

7. Halsey

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The singer, who uses she/they pronouns, is of Black and European descent. During an interview with Allure, she said, "A lot of people try to write off a lot of my experiences because I present white. No matter how many tears I’ve shed because I’m not connecting with my family or my culture in a way that I would like to, or because the waitress thinks I’m the babysitter when I go out with my family, none of that would compare to the tears that I would shed for presenting phenotypically Black and the disadvantages and the violence that I would face because of that."

Halsey said presenting as white has afforded them privileges. "My family has a lot of guilt about [that], but I think this is really common for mixed families."

8. Miguel

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The singer is of Black and Mexican descent. During an interview with Remezcla, he recalled the music industry struggling to understand his intersectionality at the beginning of his career. "It was definitely a point of, 'Huh? We don’t really get it.' A lot of my audience didn’t know I was Mexican."

During an interview with Viceland, he said, "Most people think of me solely as a Black artist, but there’s a reason why my name is Miguel."

9. Yara Shahidi

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The actor is of Black and Iranian descent. On AOL's Build Series, she shared that starring in Black-ish helped her understand her identity. "Being someone that is half-Black and half-Iranian and proud of both sides, it gave me a community of people that identify as blackish," she said. "Because so many times, if you are of any race, there is a certain feeling of this meter of like, 'How Black am I? How Iranian am I?' And it's hard when you're both to feel as though you can coexist as both and be fully both."

"I think being blackish was the perfect word because it described both the fact that I can be biracial and proud of my heritage on both sides. As well as accepting the fact that we live in a point in time in which a lot of my behaviors or the cultures I consume are an amalgamation."

10. Jesse Williams

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The actor is of Black and European descent. During an interview with the Guardian, he shared that his family moved to the suburbs, and he was one of few Black students. After becoming a teacher, Jesse got involved with social justice organizations and advocacy work. "I have access to rooms and information. I am white, and I am also Black. I am invisible man in a lot of these scenarios. I know how white people talk about Black people. I know how Black people talk about white folks. I know I am there, and everyone speaks honestly around me."

"I remember a mom of a friend of mine in the suburbs made some comment about a Black person and — I had to be 12, about 60 pounds — and I said something, and she said: 'Oh no, not you. You are not Black. You are great.' It was real. That happened. And she meant it. And she meant it sincerely and sweetly. She was paying me a compliment."

11. Michaela Jaé Rodriguez

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The actor is of Black and Puerto Rican descent. In an essay penned for the Emmys website, she wrote, "I grew up under a roof of driven individuals. My mother is an African American woman, my father is a half Puerto Rican, half African American man, and my stepfather an African American man. At a very young age, I knew that being a young Afro-Latina, there were going to be some uphill climbs for me."

"There's just not enough being done within the Black and Latino communities as far as representation is concerned, behind and in front of the cameras. Diversity has always been pushed in my household, so not seeing it fully exhibited and embraced breaks my heart."

12. Dwayne Johnson

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The actor is of Black and Samoan descent. When a Twitter user accused him of not identifying as Black, The Rock wrote, "Glad I came across this and I’ll give you guys some context & truth. I identify as exactly what I am - both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan."

13. Mel B

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The singer is of Afro-Caribbean and European descent. She told the Daily Star that she grew up in a predominantly white area and was called racial slurs by children at school. "I used to get chased home by kids shouting these names at me, so I learnt to run fast."

She also recalled facing microaggressions during her Spice Girls days. "I remember when we first did the video for 'Wannabe,' we had a big styling team, and one of the first things they said to me was: 'Okay, so we need to straighten your hair.' I refused point-blank because my hair was my identity, and yes it was different to all the other girls, but that was what the Spice Girls were about — celebrating our differences."

14. Kimora Lee Simmons

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The fashion designer is of Black, Korean, and Japanese descent. She told Working Mother, "I was a mixed-race girl with a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father, and none of the other kids at my school were like me. I was nearly six feet tall by the time I was 11 years old. Everything about me seemed to be a source of ridicule to other kids: my face, my height, the texture of my hair, my body shape."

"As my mom did for me, I’m helping my own girls learn about tolerance — to respect differences in culture, religion, and even the way we look. I also try to set boundaries, let them know what’s expected and give them room to develop and grow."

15. Jordan Fisher

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The actor is of Nigerian, Cambodian, English, Tahitian, Italian, Greek, and Scandinavian descent. He told Mixed Asian Media, "Being mixed affects my day-to-day life, so it’s affected every role I've had. It's hard because naturally, we want to label everything. It's just what we do. There's no shame in that. It's comforting for us to be able to look at something and say, 'Let me classify that and put it somewhere in my brain,' right? I don't take offense to that, but I'm painfully aware of the fact that I was like the only person of color in my school growing up and the only mixed kid in my town and the only dark kid in my family, until my little brother and sister were born."

16. Saweetie

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The rapper is of Black and Filipino descent. She told HelloGiggles, "I definitely felt out of place at times because the cultures that I was raised around were completely night and day. But I feel like those types of internal struggles help me understand people better, and I now know that not one set of people is the same. Like, my mom is of Filipino descent and my dad is of Black descent, so it allows me to be sensitive to other people’s cultures. Because sometimes people might not communicate or understand the things that I do. I might not understand what someone else is doing, but I’m always able to know that people come from different places and have different understandings."

17. Lisa Bonet

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The actor is of Black and European descent. She told Porter magazine, "The world wasn’t ready for what I represented, the merging of these two races. I didn’t always feel welcome — in my mom’s family, in my school. So I sheltered myself by always withholding a bit, because I didn’t always feel safe."

She said the one piece of advice she'd give her younger self would be to love herself more. "Try not to internalize the disdain and hate that was projected onto me."

18. And finally, Cardi B

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The rapper is of Afro-Trinidadian and Dominican descent. While chatting with Zendaya for CR Fashion Book, she said, "One thing that always bothers me is that people know so little about my culture. We are Caribbean people. And a lot of people be attacking me because they feel like I don’t be saying that I’m Black. Some people want to decide if you’re Black or not, depending on your skin complexion, because they don’t understand Caribbean people or our culture. I don’t got to tell you that I’m Black. I expect you to know it."

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