Lupita Nyong’o
In honor of Black History Month, every day The Cardinal will feature a prominent and historical Black American, living or dead, who has worked toward change, advancement, and/or world peace. Some of them are heroes, and some are unsung heroes, who deserve recognition, and have made a contribution to society.
February 24, 2021
Lupita Amondi Nyong’o was born on March 1, 1983 and is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. The daughter of Kenyan politician Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o and Dorothy Ogada Buyu, Nyong’o was born in Mexico City, where her father was teaching, and was raised in Kenya from age one. She attended college in the United States, earning a bachelor’s degree in film and theatre studies from Hampshire College.
Nyong’o began her career in Hollywood as a production assistant. In 2008, she made her acting debut with the short film East River and subsequently returned to Kenya to star in the television series Shuga. Also in 2009, she wrote, produced and directed the documentary In My Genes. She then pursued a master’s degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama. Soon after her graduation, she had her first feature film role as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s biographical period drama 12 Years a Slave, for which she received critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She became the first Kenyan and Mexican actress to win an Academy Award.
Nyong’o made her Broadway debut as a teenage orphan in the play Eclipsed, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She went on to perform a motion capture role as Maz Kanata in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and a lead voice role as Raksha in The Jungle Book in 2016. Nyong’o’s career progressed with her role as Nakia in the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Black Panther, and her starring role in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed 2019 horror film Us.
Aside from acting, Nyong’o supports historic preservation. She is vocal about preventing sexual harassment, working for women’s and animal rights. In 2014, she was named the most beautiful woman by People. Nyong’o has also written a children’s book named Sulwe, which became a number-one New York Times Best-Seller. Also in 2019, Nyong’o narrated the Discovery Channel docu-series Serengeti, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Narrator. Nyong’o was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019. Nyong’o was named among Africa’s “50 Most Powerful Women” by Forbes in 2020.
