“What is to give light must endure burning” is one of Chanté Adams’s favorite sayings. Reflecting on this quote from Austrian philosopher Viktor Frankl, the actress says, “It means that the struggle is worth it. I always have to remind myself that the light is there and it’s going to come. It’s not going to come on my time, but it’s going to come when it should.”
In 2017, just one year out of drama school, Adams, 26, was cast as the lead in Netflix’s Roxanne Roxanne, portraying hip-hop pioneer Roxanne Shanté. From that moment forward, her career has blazed. Historically, Black women have worked for decades in Hollywood before they’re afforded the title “leading lady.” And love stories that center Black women are still a rarity. “We still have some ways to go, but I feel like we’re on the right path,” Adams says. “We’re not allowing ourselves to be put off to the side anymore. I’m not saying the generation before us did so, but I feel like we’re at a place now where we can start demanding what we want, and what we want to see.”
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