With the Tony Awards having just taken place this past Sunday at Radio City Music Hall, one Harlem daughter has made theater history again: actress Kara Young won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her powerful performance in Purpose.
As Kara Young moves through Harlem with purpose, she evokes the timeless, syncopated jazz anthem, “Take the A Train,” from a bygone era. Unlike the uptown train that Duke Ellington made famous, the Tony Award-winning actress takes the 2, 3, B, or C trains for her daily commute to Broadway. Young moves graciously through the streets that shaped her, greeting the same neighbors, grabbing a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee for a member of the community, and buying a “loosey” as a kind gesture. This is her Harlem: the west side where she was born and raised, and the neighborhood her character Aziza Houston in Branden Jacobs Jenkins’ “Purpose” is also native to.
“I take the train every day. I’m in these streets,” Young said, her voice carrying the pride of someone who has never forgotten where she comes from. “I was born and raised in Harlem. I’m still here, and I walk down the same streets every single day.”
Cynthia Erivo will host the Tony Awards ceremony this Sunday, recognizing excellence in Broadway productions from the 2024-2025 season. Young will make an unprecedented mark on theater history. She is the first Black performer, and only the second performer ever, to receive Tony nominations in four consecutive years. From her 2022 nomination for “Clyde’s,” 2023 nomination for “Cost of Living,” 2024 Tony win for “Purlie Victorious,” and her 2025 nomination for “Purpose,” Young has proven herself an undeniable force — a testament to the talent she refuses to contain.
But her journey from the west side of Harlem to the Helen Hayes Theatre is more than individual triumph — it’s a story of purpose that echoes through generations, connecting the civil rights legacy her character Aziza reveres to the contemporary struggles for Black recognition and humanity.
Young’s family came from Belize, embodying the quintessential American dream as they sought better opportunities for their children. Her father, Klay Young, built a distinguished career in hospitality spanning more than 30 years (Young admits this is why she’s a good tipper). As the family adapted to life in New York City, Young’s education spanned across Manhattan; she attended elementary and high school in Spanish Harlem while still living on Harlem’s west side.
Marc J. Franklin photos
Adding another crucial layer to Young’s foundation is her family’s matriarchs, particularly her great-grandmother Hazel Baptiste, whom she affectionately called “granny.” This remarkable woman lived independently until 105, even seeing her incredibly talented granddaughter perform in “Purlie Victorious” just two weeks before passing. “She was sharp. She never missed a beat,” Young said. “Her sacrifice, like all the women in my life, was monumental.” These caretakers, including nannies and domestic workers, built families and communities. That legacy lives on in Young’s role as Aziza Houston, a social worker dedicated to centering Black life.
It was during her time in “Purlie Victorious” that Young aligned her artistry with the Black theater legacy. She transformed her dressing room into a vibrant shrine to Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, adorning it with beautiful fabrics from the Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market on 116th Street and pictures of the legendary couple, some of which were so rare the couple’s daughter, Dr. Hasna Muhammad, had never seen them. “I took the time to do that,” she quipped, recalling the inspiration from Leslie Odom Jr.’s “decked out” dressing room. She added, “I was collecting a lot of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee memorabilia of pivotal times in their lives, and I would listen to Ossie recite a poem, or Ruby recite a poem on one of those LPs.”
“Purpose,” which recently won the Pulitzer Prize, centers on the influential Jasper family, pillars of Black American politics filled with civil rights leaders, pastors, and politicians. When the youngest son, Nazareth ‘Naz’ Jasper, returns home to Chicago with an uninvited friend, Aziza Houston, they confront the family with a reckoning involving collective identity, faith, and the heavy legacies of Black radicalism and political power.
Like Young, Aziza Houston carries the weight and wisdom of strong women who sacrificed for future generations. Aziza, however, also embodies a specific moment in Black American consciousness: the period following the Black Lives Matter protests, when valuing Black life was a political statement.
“Aziza’s purpose in life is to bring life into the world because she has to show how much life matters to her,” Young explained. “Through all the Black Lives Matter protests and rallies and marches and a cry, a cry to the world to see us, to recognize that we are human, to recognize our humanity, I have to bring life into the world, and I have to bring Black life into the world.”
Young developed an extensive backstory for Aziza, drawing from Jacobs Jenkins’ rich dramaturgy. This character development process reflects her broader approach to theater. She shares her character-building strategy: “In my head, I’ll still be building.” She continued,“I’m still thinking about Letitia [‘Clyde’s’]. I’m still thinking about Jess in ‘Cost of Living.’ I’m still thinking about Lutiebelle [‘Purlie Victorious’].” From a single line in the script, Aziza tells Solomon Jasper, “Sir, you don’t get it. I have actual childhood memories of sitting on my daddy’s shoulders, watching you talk at some rally, maybe. We was always at some rally,” Young said, using her Harlem upbringing as a lens through which to construct a whole world for her character.
Jacobs Jenkins’ script resonates deeply with Young, who describes his writing as “meticulous” and “surgical-like.” She noted the playwright creates “threads that connect the veins to make a heart pump.” Working with two-time Tony winner Phylicia Rashad as director has deepened Young’s understanding of how theater serves community. Young reveres Rashad immensely and said, “I praise her gift. And she’s so anointed as an actor.”
“The conversation that is really brought up [is about] the intergenerational ideologies that actually can be in relation to each other if we just seek out to understand,” Young explained. She finds particular beauty in the Aziza and Solomon dynamic, noting the reverence for the legacy that playwright Jacobs Jenkins laid as a foundation for Black people to be free. Aziza said, “I live free in a world you helped to make. So you’re a huge deal, right? All y’all are actually, which means that the legacy that you leave behind is also — y’all are all a big deal.”
This profound legacy is also vividly expressed throughout the Jasper home, meticulously designed by Todd Rosenthal. The set is an exquisitely curated museum of Black pride, adorned with historical photos, rich African textiles, and striking sculptural pieces like elegant West African bronzes (reminiscent of the renowned Benin Bronzes). Ellis Wilson’s “Funeral Procession” and a prominent Martin Luther King Jr. painting preside over the space.
For Young, this design creates a moment that pays “homage to the kids of Malcolm X, to the homage of the children of Dr. Martin Luther King. I am paying respect to the children of these legacies in that moment.” The conversation between Aziza and Solomon becomes a recognition of how each generation builds upon the sacrifices of those who came before.
In one of the play’s most powerful scenes, Solomon tells Aziza he didn’t believe everything she said, “but she made me think, particularly when she spoke of the spectrum of sexuality.” She finds deep meaning in serving as a “catalyst of thought in the entire space,” noting how Jacobs Jenkins creates space for characters to challenge and transform each other.
The “Purpose” cast, mostly veterans from the original Steppenwolf Theatre production in Chicago, welcomed Young and LaTanya Richardson Jackson as the “newbies” with open arms and warmth. They forged a true artistic family, praying daily before performances and cultivating a shared understanding of theater as a sacred space. Young emphasizes the collective spirit of the company, stating, “A recognition for one person is a recognition for the entire company.”
Young’s current Tony nomination feels uniquely different because she’s actively performing eight shows a week throughout awards season. “This is the first time that I have been in production while also doing the Tony season,” she explained, referencing the constant demands of galas, events, and press amidst her nightly performances.
Despite the packed schedule, each night brings discoveries on stage. “The show is always so alive and so electric,” she said, adding that every audience is different. This dynamic means “no show is the same in the sense of what people are going to respond to. Sometimes, there’s silence in moments where the night before there was laughter.”
As the 2025 Tony Awards countdown approaches, Young continues her daily routine, taking the subway and immersing herself in the neighborhood. She keeps her Tony Award at her parents’ house and doesn’t consider herself “famous,” a groundedness that allows her to seamlessly serve as both an artist and community member. She carries forward the legacy of those who came before, reflecting on a profound inheritance from her great-grandmother Hazel and other matriarchs who shaped her: “I feel so honored to have been able to witness what it means to get older. It’s a deep, deep blessing.”
In “Purpose,” Young has found her perfect artistic vehicle. The play honors the civil rights generation while demanding space for contemporary Black voices. It features a character who shares her Harlem roots and embodies the profound significance of Black life in the modern world. As a nominee continuing her unprecedented streak for a second Tony Award this Sunday, Young has already achieved something profound: she has found her purpose and, in doing so, helped a community find its voice on Broadway’s biggest stages.
Young’s journey from Harlem’s west side to the Helen Hayes Theatre proves American theater’s highest calling: a space where past and present collide, love demands recognition, and purpose becomes resistance.