Jahkara Smith (born September 5, 1996) is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

and actress. She is best known for the YouTube channel ''Sailor J'', where she published parody make-up tutorial videos. She came to further recognition for her starring role as Margaret "Maggie" Leigh in the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

supernatural horror drama series '' NOS4A2'' (2019–2020). She also appeared in the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

horror anthology series '' Into the Dark'' (2019).

Early life

Smith was born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, on September 5, 1996.

Career

YouTube

Smith began posting YouTube videos in 2017 on her channel ''Sailor J'' while working at a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

base. Her first videos were parodies of

make-up Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created syn ...

tutorial videos which include

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

, having been inspired by sexist comments she read on those videos. They quickly went viral thanks, in part, to celebrities such as Sia sharing them. Within the first month of her YouTube channel, Smith was receiving around 10,000 new subscribers per day on YouTube and had totalled 6 million views on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. By March 2018, her YouTube videos had received over 10 million views. Her tutorial videos have included commentary on subjects ranging from Native American-inspired make-up to the phrase "

thoughts and prayers "Thoughts and prayers" is a phrase commonly used by politicians, public figures, and celebrities, particularly in the United States, as a condolence after a deadly event such as a natural disaster or mass shooting. The phrase "thoughts and pr ...

". In addition to make-up tutorial videos, Smith has also published videos on subjects including ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

Hogwarts Houses Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for young wizards. It is the primary setting for the first six novels in the ''Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling, and also serves as a major setting i ...

and

Zodiac signs In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. T ...

. Audio and video clips from the Sailor J channel later went viral on TikTok, which Smith did not support. In July 2020, Smith confirmed the deletion of her YouTube channel.

Acting

In 2018, Smith signed on to star as Margaret "Maggie" Leigh in the

supernatural horror drama series '' NOS4A2''. The series premiered in 2019. Also in 2019, Smith portrayed Shay in the

horror anthology series '' Into the Dark'', starring in the episode titled " Pure".

Personal life

Smith joined the

at the age of 18. Shortly before she planned to leave home, the

shooting of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson, a white male Fergu ...

took place. Smith cites the resulting protests and

curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...

s as eye-opening for her.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jahkara Living people 1996 births YouTubers from St. Louis 21st-century American actresses