Zendaya’s father thinks Black fathers are shunned for having successful daughters, especially in Hollywood.
In an IG post, Kazembe Ajamu, who is the father of Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Zendaya, captioned that “Black fathers are too often shunned for having successful daughters in Hollywood”, citing himself, Richard Williams and Matthew Knowles as examples.
View this post on Instagram
Ajamu’s IG caption was accompanied by a screenshot of an E! News article on Zendaya in which she is quoted as saying, “I have standards I don’t plan on lowering for anybody… Including myself.”
Over the photo, Ajamu added, “Ladies, you not her yo pops @kazembeajamu. They gon have to understand you was and behind this amazing soul. They like the idea but don’t wanna put in that pain aka work.”
Zendaya made history as the youngest woman and second Black woman to win the Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Rue Bennett on the HBO teen drama Euphoria.
The multihyphenate also earned raves for her performance in Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie and is slated to portray Ronnie Spector in an upcoming biopic from a24.
Fans gave their two cents in the comments
“You’re a part of something legendary, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have your daughter, she wouldn’t be my biggest inspiration esp with both of us being the same age. so thank you so much for that,” one IG user said in the comment section, as reports Atlanta Black Star.
“Ladies you not her yo pops…” can someone explain this part?,” another IG user commented.
One user pointed out Ajamu’s comparisons to Matthew Knowles was not a fit.
“Sir, with all respect, you are publicly a much better father than Mathew Knowles,” one Instagram user commented. “ He wasn’t shunned for his daughter being successful but for his own indiscretions “
