Alycia Pascual-Peña is the Afro-Latinx Activist Hollywood Needs

Alycia Pascual-Peña is an Afro-Latina, Dominican actress born in The Bronx, New York. She introduced her star power to the world last year in the “Saved By the Bell” reboot with her character, Aisha Garcia.

Now, Alycia continues to make waves in the Netflix film, Moxie as a 16-year-old character named Lucy. Released in early March, the film follows a group of high school friends as they call out the sexism in their school in a self-published magazine.

In an interview with LATV’s Cultura Shock, Peña shared how the role was the perfect opportunity for her to share her passion for social justice. Peña’s been an activist her entire life, from making petitions in the 5th grade to participating in women’s marches; crediting her mother’s “sit-ins” during college for inspiration. She also noted that she wants to continue to see Afro-Latinos representation in the film industry. During her interview, Peña said, 

“I’m grateful to now be taking strides and representing my community and showing people that I am so proud of being both Latina and Black and being a part of the Latinx community.” 

Despite being so early into her career, Alycia has already shown that she is not afraid to use her voice to stand up for what she believes in. Make sure to check out Alycia Pascual-Peña’s interview on Cultura Shock.