NicKayla Tucker, is a talented, driven and compassionate 11-year-old actress, singer and musician, who loves to use her talents and abilities to touch the lives of others. She’s most well known for appearing in the Hurricane Katrina episode of ‘Law & Order SVU’ as ‘Nikki’ the younger sister of Keke Palmer’s character ‘Tasha Wright’, as well as appearing in numerous commercials. NicKayla has been singing since the age of two and is a 3-time-winner at the Apollo. In addition to performing, she is active in charity work, and each year does her own talent show to raise funds for the homeless.

This year the energetic star is involved in several other community projects including helping out in the Obama 2008 presidential campaign. NicKayla took the time to tell us why she loves to help others and what she is working on right now. Here is what she had to say:

Young Black Starz: In your everyday life, how do you embrace being a young African American girl? What makes you proud to be who you are?

NicKayla Tucker: I am proud to be who I am because I feel that, like most people, I do care about people and I do love God. As a young Black girl, I think about how I love my hair, my co-co skin and my rhythm. I definitely feel a strong spiritual pull toward Africa and the African people. I felt this very strong pull before I got the role of Young Nala in The Lion King but now I feel it even more since I’ve been exposed to African people, culture, languages, and songs. I feel that this Bible verse sums up what I feel as a young African-American girl.

‚ÄúFor we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
— Ephesians 2:10

YBS:Are there any African American figures who have inspired you in any way? If so, how?

NT: Rosa Parks inspires me because I think that she was probably a very outspoken person like I am. I also think that she could’ve gotten up out of that bus seat and stayed quiet but she didn’t and she spoke her mind. I speak my mind about things a lot that I think are unfair and I believe that she just played a huge role in where I am right now.

YBS: Is there anything special that you plan to do this month in honor of Black History?

NT: This month I rallied for Sen. Barack Obama in Times Square. I am a strong supporter of Sen. Obama (even though I cannot vote) because I think he would make a great president of The United States because we definitely need change. Some people are saying that America isn’t ready for change yet, but one thing that I have come to realize is that America is not going to get ready for change and we can’t get them ready for change, change needs to happen and America is just going to have to adjust. I do respect Sen. Hillary Clinton but I personally do not believe that Iraq should have been invaded so why should I support someone who voted for it. I think that Sen. Obama would be an excellent change for America and he should be elected into office.

YBS: In what ways do you want your work and talents to reach out to others?

NT: I know that my talent is a gift from God, and that He intended for me to use my talent to bring joy to people’s lives. One thing that I really like doing is singing to senior citizens because I love to see the joy in their eyes.

YBS: What projects are you working on at the moment that you think our members would like to hear about?

NT: I am currently raising funds for homeless children, and I have been doing this once a year every year for 3 years. I feel that it is very important to give to people who are less fortunate than myself because I just think about all the blessings that God has given me, and every once in a while I have to say “Hey some people really don’t have any of these things.” I really care about other people and feel that they should have some material things too, because everyone deserves something good, and I feel great taking the time to think about other people.

To find out more about NicKayla, check out her profile HERE.

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