6 Dope Facts About Actress Tessa Thompson
Tessa Thompson has been grinding at this Hollywood life for a long time and her upcoming role in Thor proves that she's a hustler. You may recognize the brown beauty from when she played as Michael "Bae" Jordan's love interest, Bianca, in the boxing movie Creed. She seriously knocked her performance out of the park, and we loved it!
But please believe that Tessa has been making moves way before Dear White People and has also been making music as a side hustle. Get to know this Hollywood hustler, and see why you should keep your eye on this one.
1. She worked with several artists, including Donald Glover, to help produce music for Creed.
Tessa said that she put in some serious work for Creed's musical score - two weeks straight, 15 hours a day. Talk about grinding! She told The Hollywood Reporter,
[Composer] Ludwig Goransson and I also had some guest artists come in. We had Donald Glover and an indie artist I really love called Moses Sumney. Other than that, it was basically just us hanging out. We had made 10 songs that we sent to Ryan, and there were four that he felt strongly about that would work in the context of the movie.
2. She was actually naked under the covers in one of her love scenes in Creed
Yes! Tessa was butt naked with Michael "Bae" Jordan in one of those Creed movie love scenes! I live! She spilled the tea about her steamy love scenes with the hot actor with Hello Beautiful.
"The nudity for us in that, and first of all it's a PG-13 film–but we are in fact naked under those covers," Tessa explained....'I think for us it was about being emotionally naked and not so much the physicality. Mike and I were fast friends and we were long admirers of each other's work, so we had an easy rapport and it didn't feel awkward. Literally, when we shot it that day Ryan was the only one who was in and out of that room,' she told us...
'We wanted to talk about what Black love looks like and shoot it in a way that looks honest,' she revealed.
3. She feels a sense of gratitude in selecting roles that speaks to America
Tessa also played Diane Nash in the electrifying, Ava Duvernay-directed film Selma.She admitted that she didn't know a lot about Diane Nash before taking the role, But after immersing herself in era films, books, and propaganda posters, as well as talking with some activists, she learned how Diane was actually an unsung hero from the Civil Rights Movement.
Tessa said that what she also found interesting was how similar the images from the movie Selma and the riots in Ferguson, Mo. were. She told Refinery 29,
I mean, to look at these images from Ferguson and some of the images, just a still from our movie, and see the parallel is so striking. So, I feel a great sense of gratitude for being able to work on projects that I think have something to say and to offer to us now. I never even thought of the idea of legacy, but regardless of what we do, we're here and we leave our mark on the world around us."
4. Her performance in Copper will seriously make you cry
Before Dear White People, Tessa played a very quiet former slave who is married to a New York City doctor in the BBC America Civil War drama Copper. Her character says few words, but when she talks, she commands attention.
There's one scene in the show where she tries to break down a light pole that her brothers were hung from when the city experienced civil unrest. The scene is so powerful that everyone I know, black or white, who has seen it breaks down crying. To date, this has been one of her most powerful roles.
Check out the drama on Netflix, and get ready to feel all the feels - anger, happiness, sadness - at the same time.
5. But don't get it twisted, because Tessa can turn up like the rest of us
Tessa was also getting her "dance on" with her friend Janelle Monae for Janelle's music video "Yoga." But she was killing it, though!
6. She studied hard to get the Philly girl lifestyle right for Creed.
Tessa said that she got to know her hair team very well to perfect how Philly girls act and talk. She said she wanted to make sure that role she was portraying related to the audience from the area, and she nailed it. She told BET,
[Bianca] She's such a Philly girl, and it's such a compliment for people to say, that are from Philly, you know, that you really captured that. That I felt like I was hearing and looking at a Philly jawn. I'm like, that's like the biggest compliment that I can give a sense of place and tell that story. Because I think representation is so important, and when you think about the Rocky movies, there are these films that are, you know these iconic Philadelphia films...
We wish Tessa much success!
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Have You Heard Of The 4B Movement? Here's Why It Matters.
Depending on what side of TikTok you’re on, you’ve been seeing an uptick in content about the 4B Movement. In response to South Korea having the world’s lowest birth rate, TikTok user @denimchromosome gave a brief synopsis of the movement on February 16. “Korean women are so done with Korean men that they’re literally just deciding to die out," she said in her post.
While the video is only 30 seconds, this user broke the movement down to its essence and sparked a broader conversation for people to fully dive into knowledge about the movement and why some Korean women have decided to fully commit to this push for gender equality and social justice.
What Is the 4B Movement?
The 4B Movement gained notoriety and prevalence in 2019 when a collective of Korean feminists decided they would no longer marry men (비혼 bihon), have children (비출산 bichulsan), date men (비연애 biyeonae), or have sex with men (비섹스 bisekseu). The name of the movement came from all four agreements, starting with the letter B in Korean. The women who have chosen to participate in this movement are doing so as a result of the blatant misogyny that exists in their society.
They are challenging the cultural norms of their country by removing themselves from the dating scene, ignoring the beauty standards and consumerism propagated toward women, and calling out the pay disparity in the Korean job market.
Go Min Hee, a political professor at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, told NPR, "Gender gap in education has disappeared with the declining number of children and growing attention to education.” As of 2003, women’s college enrollment rates in the region have surpassed men’s.
“But the income gap in the post-education labor market hasn't closed," she continued. South Korea has the largest gender pay gap in the developed world, as of 2022, women still made 31% less than their male counterparts.
In the same report, Jeong Han-Wool, head of the Research Institute of Korean People, shared “For a long time, patriarchal norms governed South Korean society. But those social norms dissolved with democratization, and I don't think we have established new norms that can fill the vacuum.”
Han-Wool said the 4B movement was ignited by the Me Too movement here in the U.S., which he said sparked a new wave of young feminists in South Korea.
While others don’t connect it directly to the movement, they doacknowledge that 4B emerged after multiple incidents of high-profile murders of Korean women, a rampant culture of revenge porn, and spy cam sex crimes were at an all-time high.
Additionally, there is blatant discrimination against women in the workplace; married women are often subjected to gender-based violence, and women are expected to take on the majority of household and child-rearing responsibilities.
Tackling Gender-Based Bias
Digital creator Ryan Carriger said, “Through amplifying the voices and the experiences of the movement, it can illuminate the far-reaching nature of gender-based bias and challenge the social structures that reinforce inequality.”
However, some, such as Anna Lee, have said that the Western media is sensationalizing this movement in South Korea. Despite the fact that reports from the country’s Ministry of Education support the quickly diminishing juvenile population, which many argue is a direct result of feminism. As of February 2024, 157 elementary schools throughout the country will have zero first graders. The lowest reported since the ministry began keeping records in 1970.
Likewise, because of the uptick in feminist voices, young men have shared their feelings of “reverse discrimination” and want the government to get rid of the Gender Equality Ministry in large part because it’s making the job market even more competitive.
Yet, this government entity focuses on more than career equity. One of its main purposes is to protect Korean women who are victims of gender-based crimes such as sexual assault and rape. Opponents of the government’s desire to dismantle this ministry believe it is a dangerous idea and will only lead to more harm toward women in the future.
As the online dialogue continues to build around the 4B Movement, many women from across the world are standing in solidarity with the women of South Korea. Some American women online are sharing a similar sentiment that they’ve already committed to the agreements of the 4B Movement in their personal lives without knowing it was associated with any deliberate social activism.
@wtfaleisa Replying to @user9720585462941 ♬ original sound - wtfaleisa
Decentering Men and Toxic Patriarchy
As many women’s studies scholars have found throughout history, to truly gain gender equality, you have to destabilize patriarchal systems and institutions. Activist, feminist, and author bell hooks once wrote, "Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Decentering men is a central aspect of this movement." Judith Butler, a gender studies scholar, has further added that decentering men "does not mean erasing men or their experiences, but rather acknowledging that our social and political structures have been built around a narrow understanding of masculinity."
Yet, in true social media form, some of the discussions that are emerging online are demonizing, shaming, and insulting women who are choosing to distance themselves from men, that are collectively harmful to their overall well-being. Proponents of the movement are providing counterarguments to these videos.
Some people can’t seem to wrap their heads around the fact that there are women who would rather be single, have full autonomy over their bodies, and build a life that they want for themselves. Many naysayers of the 4B Movement are calling these actions misandry.
Carrieger disagrees with the notion that the movement is discriminatory against men and says, “Just as Black individuals have long fought against systemic racism and oppression, women have faced their own battles against gender-based discrimination and inequality.” He continues, “The 4B movement's call to challenge traditional gender roles and advocate for the empowerment of women reflects the struggle for equality that resonates within the Black community.”
Finding Common Ground for Social Justice
Historically, any oppressed group looking to gain equal citizenship in a society is always met with pushback, violence, shame, and blame. We saw it with America's civil rights and women's suffrage movements. We saw it with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and, most recently, with the women’s movement in Iran. This conversation could continue for hours upon hours, and the debates on whether women hate men could rage on for millennia.
The one piece of the conversation that some people are failing to address is that women, not only in Korea but globally, have decided they’d rather be single, child-free, and at peace than have to be subjected to constant trauma, discrimination, and abuse.
It goes without saying that not all men fall in line with patriarchal beliefs or disagree that there are toxic men in the world. However, this conversation is about a collective experience women around the globe share when it comes to their roles in a misogynistic world.
Even women who are in loving relationships and happy to be mothers have shared their understanding of why women would not want to have anything to do with men. Women standing up for themselves and not wanting to feel like second-class citizens isn’t an attack on men, but a call for them to be held accountable for their behavior, both past and present.
And for men to acknowledge that women play just as important a part in society as they do.
I’ll leave you with this quote from activist and scholar Angela Davis: "Decentering men is not about diminishing men or their contributions, but about recognizing that true liberation requires challenging all forms of oppression, including patriarchy."
This quote fully embodies the essence of the 4B Movement and similar movements that aim to decentralize men in our global society.
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Featured image by Delmaine Donson/Getty Images