Queen Latifah believes ‘right now, we have an opportunity to change’

Rapper, actress and entrepreneur Queen Latifah celebrates the second year of the “Queen Collective,” a short film mentoring and development program. “I think diversity is a challenge because we need to be in the room and we need to have our voices heard,” she tells Yahoo Entertainment. “The Queen Collective is an opportunity for me to help people make change.” This year, three diverse women storytellers were selected. Their documentaries “Gloves Off” and “Tangled Roots” will premiere on BET Networks Saturday, June 13. Latifah also acknowledges that “this has been a tough year.” She’s referring to the coronavirus pandemic and the demonstrations over police brutality and injustice against African Americans. “Right now, we have an opportunity to change a lot of things,” she says. To push forward change, Latifah encourages people to vote and if you haven't, register to vote. “We have to take this energy that it seems many people in our country are feeling and be smart about it,” she explains. The actress urges the whole community to get involved. “Our white brothers and sisters have to evolve,” Latifah says. “We need everyone to get involved with this.”