(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
“Grown-ish” star Yara Shahidi continues to make her mark in Hollywood after landing a producing role to bring Cole Brown’s debut book “Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White Word” to television.
The book, released in 2020, is Brown’s memoir of the life of a Philadelphia kid who matured in the city’s predominantly white private schools and neighborhoods.
It’s been called a must-read by stars such as Queen Latifah and Anthony Anderson, and Diddy wrote a review of the book as it hit home for him.
Yara and her mother, Keri Shahidi, will develop the series and executive produce via their 7th Sun Productions, as part of their overall deal with the studio, a part of Disney Television Studios.
“Every time we picked up Greyboy, Cole’s words have only become more resonant,” said the Shahidis, according to Rolling Out. “His essays beautifully – and at times – painfully illuminate the much larger conversations around being ‘tokenized’ while navigating ever-changing white spaces. We are excited to partner with Cole and share the brilliance of Greyboy with a larger audience.”
Brown will also serve as one of the executive producers on the series.
“From our first conversation, it was obvious that Yara, Keri and the 7th Sun team understood this story intimately and had a vision for it that aligned with my own,” Brown said, according to Rolling Out. “I’m thrilled to be working with them to bring “Greyboy” to life for TV.”