Black Excellence Marsai Martin

BY SABRINA GARCIA

So you ask, Black Excellence, what is it? Black Excellence comes in many different ways, Black Excellence comes in many different shades, and Black Excellence allows you to be anything from A-Z. It is the celebration of success in the black community, ¨Black Excellence is a mindset backed by actions that display leadership through perseverance¨ - Limeade.com.

Some examples of Black Excellence in entertainment but not limited to; include figures like Misty Copeland who was the first Black Woman to become a prima ballerina at the American Ballet Theater in 2015, Kamala Harris our first Black and Asian-American Vice President of the U.S, Tyler Perry first African-American to launch his own film and television studio, Barack Obama the first African-American to be elected president of the United States of America, and Toni Morrison the first African-American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. These are examples of success in the black community, they’ve accomplished incredible things and will accomplish many more, but I will focus on one specific black young woman who has shown Black Excellence within the entertainment industry.

Marsai Martin is a young actress, producer, and model. Marsai Martin born on August 14, 2004 and made her film debut in 2016 in the Amazon Studios Original Movie: An American Girl Story-Melody 1963: Love has to win, earlier in her career (2014) she was casted as Diane Johnson (series regular) on the ABC sitcom Black-ish about a black middle class family. Black-ish was Marsai’s breakthrough role, she received numerous nominations and awards for her role, including nine NCAAP Image Awards, a BET Youngstars Award and a Kidscreen Award for best acting. In 2014 while starring on Black-ish at the time 10 year old Marsai Martin came to the show’s creator Kenya Barris with an idea for a movie inspired by the 1988 film Big starring Tom Hanks, on May 2, 2018 Black actress Issa Rae signed onto the movie and later that month actress Regina Hall joined the cast. In August of 2018 the film Little started production with Marsai acting as a young version of the main character and executive producer, making Marsai Martin the youngest person let alone the youngest black woman to ever hold the title of Executive Producer on a major Hollywood production. The movie Little (2019) released in theaters on April 12, 2019 and went on to make $40.7 million dollars in the U.S and $48.8 million worldwide.

Marsai Martin is one entertainer who stands out to me because she inspires me to continue to pursue my passion for evolving within the entertainment industry. I’ve always loved the art of acting and found it fascinating how people can make you feel something through a screen, as I focus my artistic attention on music right now, I find myself in front of cameras all the time. I love to entertain people and see the joy, the smiles of people who like my music, through a screen or live ( which led me to join the choir at Avalon Park and be a singer and keyboardist for my band “Ragdoll”) . I love making music, just as much Marsai loves acting, she wouldn’t be a big figure now if she didn’t. Marsai knew if she wanted something big to happen she had to make it happen as she did, just as I will one day. If Marsai can do it so can I, so next time you hear the name Sabrina Garcia don’t forget it, you never know these days.

In conclusion Black excellence can be achieved in many ways and Marsai Martin is just one example within the Black entertainment industry. Marsai is an outstanding actress and will go on to achieve much greater things, she is such an inspiration to me and numerous other young black girls. Marsai Martin is the future of Black Entertainment, she is an example of Black Excellence. And I will be as well. “My goal is to show young women and girls that our voices and ideas matter, and you are never too young to dream big!”-

Marsai Martin

The articles that appear on this page and the adjacent page were submitted to us by students of the Avalon Park Fine & Performing Arts School located at 8045 S Kenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60619. We sincerely thank Principal Ms. Takeshi James and CPS for allowing the students participation. Black History is lesson that students are to be taught year around and not just once a year during the shortest month of the year. Our children must be taught where they come from and the trail blazer before them to understand the paths they should travel in the future.