Anika Noni Rose is a Tony Award-winning actress who was featured in the Netflix Christmas film, “Jingle Jangle.” She is widely known for her role as Disney’s first Black princess, Tiana in The Princess and the Frog. Rose now hosts “Being Seen,” a podcast. She gave us details about what inspired the podcast as well as who will be joining her for the third season. “Being Seen” is produced by Harley & Co. and created in partnership with ViiV Healthcare.
What are some of the subjects you cover in the podcast?
It’s really about the space in which Black women and femmes are seen and how they wish to be seen. We’re talking about a lot of issues, including the bias and stigma that Black women face every day that significantly affects their health, both mentally and physically. We’re talking to some illustrious people about their life journeys and the struggles that they’ve had to surmount in order to be where they are.
We talk about joy. Laughter is a subject matter. It’s really prioritizing Black women in a space of conversation. This is really important, because when you think about our society, the stereotype about Black women is that we are strong, we are stalwart, we can handle anything. That’s very dangerous, you know, to be honest. We’re strong, yes, we can handle lots of things, because we’ve had to handle lots of things. But do we crack? Do we break? Are we vulnerable? Are we unhealthy mentally at times? Do we deal with depression? Are we sad? Could we use some assistance, a helping hand? Some empathy?
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