Gabrielle Union Says "As Long as I Have a Voice, I Will Continue to Speak Up"
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Earlier this year, Time named Gabrielle Union one of their 100 Most Influential People of 2020. But as activist Tarana Burke pointed out in her tribute to Union, the actress and mother "isn’t just 'influencing;' she is intentionally directing her attention, influence and resources to advance an agenda that deliberately celebrates the most marginalized among us."
Throughout a successful career as an actress that has spanned dozens of movies and TV shows—from Bring it On, to Think Like a Man, Being Mary Jane, and L.A.'s Finest, to name only a few—Union has always used her voice and her platform for something greater than blockbusters.
As the founder of her production company, I'll Have Another, she works to produce projects by and for marginalized people. As an actress and public figure, she's led by example, encouraging Black women to fight for their rights in the workplace; in 2013, she sued BET for breach-of-contract regarding her role in Being Mary Jane, and in 2020, she filed a discrimination lawsuit against America's Got Talent, citing racism and prejudice.
And as a citizen, she has been outspoken about everything from the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin to the importance of voting in the 2020 election. She's also been a vocal supporter for rape survivors, breast cancer victims, LGBTQ rights, and more. And for the mother of four children—whom she shares with husband Dwyane Wade—that is all very intentional, indeed.
"To whom much is given, much is required. Me and my husband both take that very seriously," Union told me during an Instagram Live interview in November. "But also, I have relied a lot on the kindness of strangers in my life. As a rape survivor, I needed a lot of things to be whole and healed and safe. I had to ask for a lot of help."
She added: "My husband grew up dealing with the addiction of his parents and dealing with food scarcity, so we’re not really far removed from needing a lot of help. We just want to give back what was given to us. What was poured into us, we want to pour back into other people."
Giving back during a pandemic is particularly challenging, however. In search of a way to be philanthropic this holiday season while socially distancing—and to encourage others to do the same—Union has teamed up with Amazon to "deliver smiles" to charitable organizations. She's spotlighting companies who have been hit especially hard this year to help fulfill their Amazon Smile Charity List of items they are most in need of. Union is working to fulfill the lists for Deborah’s Place, which provides supportive housing and services to women who are homeless, and Women’s Center for Advancement, an organization in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska that helps women—particularly victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and stalking—and their children, stay safe.
"As a family, we were trying to figure out the best way to give back in a safe, COVID-friendly way," Union says. "So if you just want to give, you can log on to Amazon's Delivering Smiles. Or, like a lot of us who have started our holiday buying early, you can do your normal shopping through Amazon Smile, and a portion of the purchase price goes towards the charity of your choosing."
Ahead, you can read our interview in its entirety, where Union opens up about what motivates her to remain vocal. Plus, I had to ask about the latest in the life of her "shady" daughter, Kaavia, and the secrets to that aging-backward skin.
Hi! You are glowing, as usual.
Thank you. It’s that Fenty, girl. It’s that Fenty! How are you?
Hanging in. Just a pandemic, a crazy news cycle. [Laughs] Thanks for joining us. How is your family?
Today, as of this morning, we’re all okay. Only one meltdown...and it wasn’t the toddler. [Laughs] So we’re doing pretty good today. Now ask me tomorrow, and it could be something else but today, we’re okay. We’re okay.
What has the family social distancing situation been like in the last eight months?
Well, we’ve moved both of our moms who have preexisting conditions out of hot spots and to Los Angeles nearby, just to make sure that we were trying to keep an eye on and help as many of our family members as possible who are the most at risk. So our family has expanded a bit during COVID. But you know, we just try to keep within our little pod. Wear a mask, stay safe. We’re watching a lot of Netflix, and streaming, just trying to read a lot, and also working a lot. I’ve not worked this much, ever in my life. I’m just doing it now via Zoom.
Your partnership with Amazon Smile is so great—in fact, we just released Oprah’s Favorite Things, which is all on Amazon, so our readers can do their shopping and give back to charities at the same time! You and your husband Dwyane were recently named two of Time’s most influential people of the year; you've always given back and been outspoken about what you believe in. Where does that need come from?
You know where it comes from? Staying silent for a long time. Realizing that the notion of going along to get along, or let me just keep my head down and maybe they won’t notice me—[when I did that], I wasn’t any safer, I wasn’t in any way protected by my silence. When I realized that silence equals complicity and silence can be violence, I just...I don’t want that. It came from seeing something and not saying anything and watching a lot of ish go down on my watch, and it doesn’t feel good to me.
So now that I’m in a position where speaking up can really make a huge difference, I’m going to keep speaking up. Not only does it feel good to my soul, I know I’m actually making a difference in the lives and opportunities of a lot of people. As long as I have a voice and breath in my body, I will continue to speak up and try to do right by as many marginalized folks as possible.
What do the holidays look like in the Wade household? Do you have traditions? Will they be different this year?
Yeah, we’ve never really been able to have traditions, because my husband when he played in the NBA, he usually played on Christmas. So Christmas might be on the 27th, or the 18th. So we’ve always had to be a little flexible and kind of just fly by the seat of our pants. Which leads me to one of our newest—I guess—traditions.
Instead of singing Christmas carols, my mom introduced us to the original Broadway cast album of Dream Girls, with Jennifer Holliday and Sheryl Lee Ralph. So we listen to that every Christmas Eve and Christmas. Now that Dwyane has been folded into our family, he would like to incorporate the original cast album of Hamilton. So that’s on the table right now. That may be part of our new tradition, all of us singing along. But that’s really all we have—that and a plate of glazed ham.
I have to tell you, our team at O, we are big fans of Kaavia James aka Shady Baby. Do we think she’s going to be impressed by the holidays this year?
You know what, she has no concept of holidays! I don’t know if she’s just not old enough, or if she literally doesn’t care, it’s hard to tell. She is very unbothered by most things. [Laughs] I don’t know. I don’t think she’s old enough to care. She doesn’t like a lot of—you know, around the holidays people might drink a little more and things get a little loud. She’s like, Ooh girl you’re on a 10, and you need to take it down a notch. I don’t know what she’s going to take away from the holidays, as long as she gets to watch Spirit, I think she’s like I don’t care what the rest of you do. All she wants to do is watch Spirit.
Kaavia is life goals. "Spirit" by Beyoncé, is that what she’s watching?
No, it’s an animated show about horses. [Laughs]
Oh. That was my reference. "By Beyoncé, of course!" [Laughs]
She is on her Beyoncé tough. All about single ladies. It was "Boom Boom Pow," now it’s "Single Ladies." She’s gotten this [hand gesture] kind of, but when she hears the beat drop, she’s like racing to the dance floor, even when there’s no dance floor. That’s as far as her Beyoncé has gotten.
We need all the Kaavia dance videos. So you mentioned you’ve been working more during this pandemic. What’s happening in your world?
Because I haven’t been able to actually start filming anything, I’ve been working on all of the projects that we are developing with my production company. We’ve been able to sell projects during the pandemic, we’ve been able to really work on our development and get some of our shows that we’ve sold from A to maybe not quite Z, but further along in a quicker way. One of the things that has gotten me through is working to provide more opportunities for our creatives, who are pretty much all from marginalized communities.
So basically I've been doing the work that I benefitted from, from other people who came before me who were like I don’t want to watch you struggle, I’m going to bust my ass to make sure that I’m providing more opportunities for women of color, and for LGBTQ+ communities and any marginalized voice—I’m trying to center us in our own narratives being created by us. So yeah, that has been very fulfilling and I’ve been nonstop, usually from sometimes 7 or 8 if it’s on the east coast, to 6pm, but nothing feels as good as providing opportunities for other people. And watching somebody be like “yeah!”
Thank you for doing that work. Before I let you go, I do have to ask: Drop the skincare routine! How do you get that glow?
Fenty, because I got to support my girl. And she just keep dropping the freshness. But I have been experimenting throughout quarantine because we’ve got nothing to do except stare at our faces, pick out different things. I’m loving this company called The Things We Do. It’s a skincare line created by a marginalized woman, and it’s everything. It’s so good, so go to their website, go to their Instagram. Check out all their products! I use the glow scrub cleanser, the black currant oil, the do-over, literally I bought the whole thing because I was like my lower face is falling off. I love that company, no ad, that’s just who I like. The creator of that line is Vanessa Lee, you can find her on Instagram.
Thank you Gabrielle so much!
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