‘Dear White People’ star, Antoinette Robertson, breaks down why ‘Coco’ is complex and fierce

Jun 1, 2017

(Antoinette Robertson, star of “Dear White People,” tells theGrioLIVE’s Natasha Alford and Gerren Keith Gaynor why the conversations behind “Dear White People” shouldn’t end at the television screen.)

There’s a few things actress, Antoinette Robertson, wants you to know. The multifaceted actress stopped by theGrioLIVE to share a little bit about her earlier life as a chemistry major, her advice for people of color, and what she thinks the world can learn from her character ‘Coco Connors,’ a fly Economics major who rocks a weave because she thinks it might get her into a sorority.

While Netflix’s “Dear White People” show as a whole has been met by both critics and fans a like, Antoinette’s character “Coco” has received an enormous wave of support from people who can identify and relate to her college experience.

“I love the fact although she’s misunderstood it’s nice to get to see the women behind the force, like that vulnerable little girl whose wounded and that’s why she became that force of a being,” Robertson told theGrio. “I feel like women, especially women of color sometimes, get labeled as ‘the angry black women’ and people don’t understand that there’s pain there. So you should try to be a little bit more understanding of why someone might be the way that they are.”

Robertson- who was once a chemistry major- revealed that landing the role of “Coco” was the perfect avenue to combine her passion for activism.

“It felt like a dream come true,” she says. “I had been struggling with wanting to have my art somehow have my activism within it and somehow this beautiful project comes and it’s like a gift. But then I walked in there and claimed kind of claimed it. ‘No this is mine. I asked for it.’”

And Robertson has done nothing short of that. The actress shared the main message that she wants viewers to take away from “Dear White People” extends beyond the show and applies to life in general.

“Show people what you got,” she says. “We [people of color] have the time right now. It could be domination if we all supported each other.”

“It’s not just if you get on, then only you get on. No. If you win I win, you’re my sister. I feel like as a whole we really just need to collaborate more, there’s no judging, there’s no trying to be better. If I can help you grow, then I got you, let’s figure this out together.”

While the actress has been hard at work filming, making press runs and fighting to have equal representation for women of color, she still had one final message for viewers to walk away with.

“If we walk in our power with the understanding that we can do create and be anything that we want. Then the world will truly see that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

Watch Robertson’s full interview on theGrioLIVE below and catch the trailer for “Dear White People,” which is available on Netflix.

https://youtu.be/oYKgHvPVACE