Keke Palmer just graced the cover of Cosmopolitan with her natural hair and it's the best thing you'll see all damn day.
In an interview accompanied by a series of TWA appreciation photos that will give you your entire life, the TV host opened up about managing her mental health, her rising voice as an activist, and the viral moment where she stood eye-to-eye with a National Guard and boldly reminded them that their silence was complicity. She explained:
"So, we're marching, doing a call-and-response, and we get to this point where we're not able to cross because the National Guard is being told to protect the nearby buildings. To me, it's just such a slap in the face. We're the ones that need to be protected, not the damn buildings! The buildings can be rebuilt."
After pleading with one of the soldiers, who refused to join the march but eventually took a knee in solidarity, Keke had this to say:
I love @KekePalmer. She’s out in the streets of LA talking with the National Guard. https://t.co/7iZ2tvubXn— Anthony Dominic (@Anthony Dominic) 1591137553.0
"I thought it wasn't enough. George Floyd died because somebody kneeled on his neck. I'm not looking for you to kneel. I'm not looking for a moment. I'm looking for us to stand together. If now isn't the time to do it, then when is? Because there was a time when standing up to the slave master seemed crazy as hell too."
While Keke may be new the activism game, she's true to it. The 26-year-old star explained that while she's never seen herself as a politician, she's dedicated to using her platform to let the world know that Black lives really matter.
"I'm an entertainer. I was taught at a very young age that because I'm Black, that's not enough. I can't just entertain without thinking about what it means to my community. I know I have a platform, but at the end of the day, I'm not the political person that lives and breathes this day in, day out or an activist that lives and breathes this day in, day out. I don't have all the answers, I just speak to what I believe in. Let's speak our voice. Let's not let up."
As Keke subtly but surely evolves into the millennial civil rights leader we didn't know we needed, she is consistently serving us all of the looks and we are here for it.
Scroll below for 9 times the Strahan, Sara, & Keke star proved that she is the ultimate hair chameleon.
Featured image via Parisa Michelle / Shutterstock.com