Amandla has been vocal about body image in the past, particularly with hair and its association with identity.
And with that in mind, they made a statement at the BFI London Film Festival for the premiere of The Hate U Give in a Valentino gown that revealed an unshaven pit, having embraced the idea of ditching the razor in the name of empowerment and body confidence, as well as, quite frankly, ditching the chore of body hair removal.
The 19-year-old, who identifies as non-binary, uploaded an image of them rocking the look, with the caption: #drama #armpit.
The body-positive star recently told Glamour: I want to express myself as authentically as I can.
Amandla one of an increasing number of stars embracing the natural look, opting to go with what God gave them, with the likes of Bella Thorne, Gigi Hadid and Lourdes Leon also leaving the Veet at home.
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Francesca Kentish previously explained to Metro.co.uk she gave up shaving to free herself of the shame associated with having body hair.
I remember, when I first started shaving my legs, that I felt ashamed of my body hair which, upon starting my all-girls high school, I learned for the first time was “gross”… she wrote.
But thats the culture of shame and insecurity our society has fostered around womens bodies. As a society, we are so disgusted by hair, that even adverts selling razors show women shaving already perfectly smooth legs.
During promo for the new movie, the switched on 19-year-old Amandla also addressed the topic of colourism and the responsibility over keeping it part of the current conversation.
I never experienced it growing up, the star told Digital Spy. I think its very specific to the times were living in now. In the eyes of white people, I was just black – there was really not that much more nuance to it.
But especially recently, this conversation on colourism has been coming up, and Ive had to recognise and be vocal as a responsibility around being lighter-skinned and bi-racial, and the accessibility that that affords me.
Amandla added: Its good to recognise privilege, but sometimes it does hurt to feel like Im not fully accepted by my own community. Where else am I going to go? I live a black experience. I walk out of my door every day black, and thats how the world sees me.
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