Actress Kiersey Clemons Accepts Her Mental Health Diagnosis and Stands Up To Racism in Hollywood

Whether it’s wearing things that represent all of the people she loves, or an acting career that has her diving headfirst into her biggest fears, striving to express her true self is how actress Kiersey Clemons has found her inner magic. Despite a successful career in Hollywood, which might appear to render her without a care in the world, Kiersey has been confronted with the embedded layers of racism in Hollywood. Being typecast as the token Black girl with big hair and being overlooked when walking onto the set as the lead because she doesn’t fit the stereotype of the “pretty girl who doesn’t know it,” has necessitated a lot of unearthing within Kiersey. In her own words, “Acting can be validating and make me feel like the bee's knees, or it can make me feel like a trash bag full of shit.” But perhaps Kiersey’s most profound connection to her boundless courage has come about during the past year of quarantine, where she has fallen apart and come back together by accepting that she has bipolar disorder. The liberation that she has found in letting go of shame around her diagnosis and saying it out loud has Kiersey feeling into the most whole, powerful, and yes, magical, version of self!

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