10 Rising Stars: OZY’s 100

www.ozy.com [OZY]( OZY A Modern Media Company Share This Sh*t January 03, 2023 Share This Sh*t [The drop]( 10 RISING STARS: OZY’S 100 We’re proud to have caught these 10 stars on their way up. Fatmata Binta Binta, a Sierra Leonean chef, is an evangelist of the cuisine culture of the Fulani, one of West Africa’s major ethnic groups. And she’s showcasing West African food in a whole new way: on the mat. She hosts 20 to 80 guests for a three-course feast at her signature event — held in the past in Accra, Ghana; Washington, D.C.; Berlin and beyond — complete with music and commentary about her ethnic Fulani culture. Binta’s nomadic restaurant is redefining the dining experience, and its mobility is the key to its success. [Read More on OZY]( Ali Malik The son of a Pakistani British mother from London and a father from Pakistan, Ali Malik’s first comedic turn unfolded in that most nonjudgmental of spaces: the shower. A first-generation American, his experiences have resonated with many others whose parents spent much of their time working to create a secure future for their children. Malik’s upbringing not only features in his material but also contributed to how he discovered his love for comedy in the first place. [Read More on OZY]( Justin “Yaddiya” Johnson Justin “Yaddiya” Johnson grew up performing go-go, an offshoot of funk born out of Black neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., and characterized by the use of Caribbean drums in covers of popular music. In 2019, after organizing a musical protest alongside the organization Save Chocolate City, Johnson launched LongLiveGoGo as a means to protect the music and the original culture of the neighborhoods. It’s now evolved into a campaign against police brutality. [Read More on OZY]( Oge Egbuonu Working in Los Angeles as a restorative yoga instructor, “Oge the Yogi” met Ged Doherty, a Hollywood producer and co-founder of Raindog Films. Believing Egbuonu had special talent, Doherty persuaded her to drop everything and dive into the film industry. The learning curve was steep, but Egbuonu embraced the challenges. Now she has made a name for herself, creating and directing the powerful documentary (In)Visible Portraits, which was picked up by the Oprah Winfrey Network. [Watch Now on OZY]( Dometi Pongo Amid plummeting media trust, the time has arrived for Dometi Pongo, host of the MTV series True Life Crime and MTV News’ Need to Know, a Twitter and Instagram TV show covering pop culture. Pongo veers away from what most outlets are covering, doubling down on stories of police violence and racial injustice that quickly fall off the radar of other journalists — and effectively becoming an activist in his own right. [Read More on OZY]( Amanda Gorman She wowed the world with her poetry at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. But we first introduced you to Amanda Gorman back in 2017 — when she was just 19 and an OZY Genius Award winner. Her project was called Generation Empathy, and the idea involved creating a virtual reality museum displaying digital portraits of a select handful of young activists. “We have these phenomenal change-makers who have these really incredible microphones to talk about society’s problems,” Gorman told us. “What I want to do is highlight the lesser-known ones who are putting themselves on the line and taking risks for what they believe in.” [Read More on OZY]( Merawi Gerima You return to your childhood neighborhood, only nothing is the same. What do you do? For Merawi Gerima, the answer is easy: You make a movie about it. The mostly autobiographical Residue follows Jay, a student who returns home from film school intending to write a script about his childhood, but finds himself struggling to reconnect with the place as it succumbs to white gentrification. [Watch Now on The Carlos Watson Show]( NOW STREAMING FROM OZY STUDIO Isabel Sandoval The talented Isabel Sandoval sure can wear a lot of hats: writing, directing, producing, editing and starring in her 2019 Netflix film Lingua Franca. The story centers on Olivia, an undocumented trans Filipina caregiver in New York City, who becomes romantically involved with a man while pursuing a marriage-based green card. A trans Filipina immigrant herself, Sandoval insists the film is not autobiographical, but it does come from a place of authenticity, and she shares many of the tensions, paranoid fears and emotions of her protagonist. [Watch Now on The Carlos Watson Show]( Michaela Coel The British daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, Michaela Coel broke through with her sitcom Chewing Gum, a coming-of-age tale about a young Black woman finding her voice and sexuality in “hilariously filthy” fashion, as The Guardian put it. And her 12-episode HBO series, I May Destroy You, quickly became one of the must-see shows of 2020. Playing the protagonist, Arabella, Coel tackles the trauma of being sexually assaulted — a battle she fought herself after being drugged and assaulted in 2016. [Read More on OZY]( Joyelle Nicole Johnson Though many mispronounce her “French-sounding” first name, Joyelle Nicole Johnson is rapidly rising in the comedy charts. She also stars on HBO Max’s Search Party. Johnson’s greatest strength lies in her ability to use humor to address thorny topics like female reproductive rights and vaccine skepticism, especially among Black Americans. [Read More on OZY]( COMMUNITY CORNER Which rising young star do you have your eye on? 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