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Pop Culture

6-year-old girl absolutely slays as a tiny Viola Davis, Sha'Carri Richardson and more

little girl dresses up as viola davia
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Rosie White, as Viola Davis, as Annalise Keating.

One mommy-daughter duo is winning hearts by taking dress-up to a whole new level.

Six-year-old Rosie White is going viral and making headlines for sharing the inspiring stories of Black entertainers, leaders and history makers—using spot-on costumes made by her mother Kenya White, along with her own special dash of Black girl magic.

You might have recently seen Rosie (@go_rosie_grow) boldly channeling multiaward-winning actress Viola Davis, complete with that meme-worthy “grabbing of the purse stare down” we all know and love from “How to Get Away With Murder.”

I mean, where does Davis end and White begin?! Someone give this child an Emmy!

Even Davis saw the video and reposted it. So I’m sure that’s award enough for now.

As Kenya recalls in a Scary Mommy interview, the idea behind this treasure trove of uncanny impressions came when Rosie was just 3 years old. After her daughter was given a printout about Rosa Parks in preschool, Kenya discovered that little Rosie completely memorized all of the information and could recite back what she had just read.

Inspired, Kenya grabbed a makeshift Rosa Parks costume and grabbed her phone, telling her daughter to “do it again!” And from there, a blend of history, creativity and pure joy ensued.

Since then, Rosie has created hundreds (yes, hundreds) of videos featuring prominent Black figures, and received lots of love for her fun personality and God-given talent. Scary Mommy reported that Whoopi Goldberg sent a box of books and Erykah Badu started following her.

Some of my personal favorites are when Rosie pretends to be male figures. Cause, well … little kids in fake mustaches. That’s a level of adorable that can’t be beat.

Her pop star and diva ones are quite amazing too.

*standing ovation*

For Black History Month, Rosie and Kenya are doubling down and releasing a video every Monday and Thursday. Thursdays honor Black inventors, like Sarah Boone, who improved the ironing board, George Crum, creator of the potato chip, Garret Morgan, inventor of the traffic light.

Seriously, if this child doesn’t become an actress, I hope she becomes a history teacher because I am learning so much. And having fun while doing so.

A lot of inspiration also comes from current events, like track star Sha’Carri Richardson following her unfair disqualification from the Olympic Games.

Her tiny tattoos! I can't even...

And though occasionally Rosie will delve into more serious stories, like Breonna Taylor, Kenya says that the tone is consciously celebratory.

“When I was six years old I learned about the negativity of Black history,” Kenya told Scary Mommy. “I didn’t want to teach her such darkness about Black history. Right now it’s all positivity.”

Positivity, yes. But also inspiration. Especially to young Black girls. Kenya told Good Morning America, the message behind these videos is that “you can do anything you want. You can be Kamala Harris, you can be Michelle Obama, you can be beyond those ladies. Whatever your heart desires, whatever you want to do, whether you're an artist or dancer, into politics, just be the best you you can be."

That includes GMA co-anchor Robin Robertson, who now has a “mini-me,” thanks to Rosie.

Next month is Women’s History Month, and we are all very excited to see what Rosie and Kenya come up with. Perhaps Biden’s Supreme Court nominee? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, sifting through these videos is more than enough to make you, to quote The Lovin' Spoonful, “believe in magic in a young girl’s heart.”

Way to go Rosie. Following your bliss reminds us all to do the same.

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KFC tackles food insecurity this holiday season with its Sharemobile food truck

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The last thing children should have to worry about is where their next meal will come from. But the unfortunate reality is food insecurity is all too common in this country.

In an effort to help combat this pressing issue, KFC is teaming up with Blessings in a Backpack to provide nearly 70,000 meals to families in need and spread holiday cheer along the way.

The KFC Sharemobile, a holiday-edition charitable food truck, will be making stops at schools in Chicago, Orlando, and Houston in December to share KFC family meals and special gifts for a few select families to address specific needs identified by their respective schools.

These cities were chosen based on the high level of food insecurity present in their communities and hardships they’ve faced, such as a devastating hurricane season in Florida and an unprecedented winter storm in Houston. In 2021, five million children across the US lived in food-insecure households, according to the USDA.

“Sharing a meal with family or friends is a special part of the holidays,” said Nick Chavez, CMO of KFC U.S. “Alongside our franchisees, we wanted to make that possible for even more families this holiday season.”

KFC will also be making a donation to Blessings in a Backpack, a nonprofit that works to provide weekend meals to school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry.

“The generous donations from KFC could not have come at a better time, as these communities have been particularly hard-hit this year with rising food costs, inflation and various natural disasters,” Erin Kerr, the CEO of Blessings in a Backpack, told Upworthy. “Because of KFC’s support, we’re able to spread holiday cheer by donating meals for hunger-free weekends and meet each community’s needs,” Kerr said.

This isn’t the first time KFC has worked with Blessings in a Backpack. The fried chicken chain has partnered with the nonprofit for the last six years, donating nearly $1 million dollars. KFC employees also volunteer weekly to package and provide meals to students in Louisville, Kentucky who need food over the weekend.

KFC franchisees are also bringing the Sharemobile concept to life in markets across the country through local food donations and other holiday giveback moments. Ampex Brands, a KFC franchisee based in Dallas, recently held its annual Day of Giving event and donated 11,000 meals to school children in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

If you’d like to get involved, you can make a donation to help feed students in need at kfc.com/kfcsharemobile. Every bit helps, but a donation of $150 helps feed a student on the weekends for an entire 38-week school year, and a donation as low as $4 will feed a child for a whole weekend.

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Young girl who had the cops called on her for studying lanternflies wins a major award

“We were thrilled that she was doing that.”

Caldwell Police via Gregory Mascera

Body cam footage of the police approaching 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson and her mother.

On October 22, 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson was excited to go out into her Caldwell, New Jersey, neighborhood to see if a mixture she put together would be effective at killing spotted lanternflies. She had learned about the dangers that the lanternflies pose to the local tree population during the summer and created an insecticide that she learned about on TikTok.

Spotted lanternflies are an invasive species dangerous to trees because they feed on their sap.

“That’s her thing,” Wilson’s mother, Monique Joseph, told CNN. “She’s going to kill the lanternflies, especially if they’re on a tree. That’s what she’s going to do.”

While Wilson was peacefully working on her sustainability experiment, her neighbor, Gordon Lawshe, called the police on her. “There’s a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me, though,” he said, according to CNN.

Lawshe told the dispatcher she was a “real tiny woman” and wearing a “hood.”

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A little bit of tech brings this video of a real snowball fight from the 1800s to life

People thought this mega viral clip was fake. But it really is from 1897.

History in Pictures/Twitter

“Bataille de neige,” aka “Snow Fight," is a silent short film shot in 1897.

Whether you live in perpetually sunny California or frost-covered Alaska, a snowball fight is a universally recognized image of winter fun. It’s an activity that appeals to both our inner strategist and inner child. There’s the instant gratification of seeing your projectile instantly exploding into a powdery cloud upon impact. Then there’s the more long-term thrill of trying to covertly hit a target without getting hit yourself. And let’s be honest—it’s all the more satisfying if the target is an unsuspecting victim.

A video posted to Twitter by “History in Pictures” shows a group of men and women engaging in “the first ever recorded snowball fight,” which dates all the way back to 1897. At one point, even a cyclist riding down the snow-covered street gets pelted and thrown off his bike.
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16 of the Gen X time capsules that make zero sense to any other generation

Who remembers Columbia House collect notices?

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The car DJ is a sacred job.

Let’s hear it for the lost generation—the slackers and middle children who brought us apathy personified and grunge music. Sure, Gen Xers might not be as loud as the boomers, millennials or even the Gen Zers of this world, but that’s only because, if we’re honest, they’re too busy taking care of things themselves to have time to complain.

And you know, for being the forgotten generation, the world can’t seem to stop talking about it. From Gen X pop culture classics re-emerging into the mainstream, to making headline-worthy spikes in wealth over the past couple of years, this group is (finally) in the spotlight.

Recently u/Ruffffian asked the Reddit community to share what they consider to be “THE most Gen X” thing. As a certified millennial, I have absolutely no idea what half of them are (seriously, what is a “Garbage Pail Kid” and why are they terrifying?). But I guess that’s why only you latchkey kids can proudly claim them.

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The foolproof guide to making friends as an adult.

Making friends is hard. These five tips from an expert can help.

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Making friends as an adult is more complicated than you think.

This article originally appeared on 07.05.18


Making friends as an adult is definitely not like making friends as a kid.

Remember how easy it was to make a new friend when you were young? Five minutes sharing a slide and suddenly you're bonded for life.

But as we grow older, making friends can become much harder. So hard, in fact, that some people equate having a large group of close friends to a miracle.

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