Zendaya opens up about the roots of her name — and her family tree — in a new PSA to commemorate June’s Immigrant Heritage Month. By sharing her own background, the singer hopes to inspire other young people to “embrace where they come from,” as she told Us Weekly.
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“My mother’s proud of where she’s from, and her history, and her past, and same with my dad,” says Zendaya. “I have roots in Africa. Like, I am from Africa as well as from Germany, and I am very proud of that.
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“I have my African first name, I have a middle name that is [my mom’s] middle name, which is French, but we did it African spelling, so it’s literally me in a name,” she adds in the video.