#Surf Ninjas & Ninja Turtles Actor Ernie Reyes Jr. Faces A New Fight: A Kidney Transplant

This seems like a topic I keep talking about. Know why? Because representation and diversity in media will forever and always be extremely important. Reyes knows this, too. While speaking to Yahoo Entertainment about the 30 year anniversary of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze,” the actor was asked about the terrible acts of racism that have occurred since the COVID-19 pandemic began. He recognized that things need to change all over the place, including in Hollywood and pop culture.

“I don’t like to drown in the darkness of things, because that’s very easy to do. Instead, I think, ‘How can you shine light into moments like this and create change?’ Because there’s a tremendous amount of changed needed, and so we need heroes: We need people that step up and communicate a message of positivity and light, and represent our culture well.

To think that thirty years ago, I was making ‘Sidekicks’ and now Disney is doing ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ and ‘Shang-Chi!’ I know that we played an instrumental part to get to this place, and I’ve developed things, too, that hopefully fit into that world. We work hard to when we get the opportunities to represent our culture well so that people understand. It’s an important time, and I definitely know that the story’s not over; my mindset is always that the best is yet to come. I’m just very grateful to be alive and to be here.”

Obviously, everyone is struggling to some extent due to the general state of the world right now. But if you’re willing and able to make a donation to this trailblazer’s recovery, it would be great if you could head to the fundraising page to do so. Or as a thank you for his commitment to diversity and representation over the years, please share some links so that other people may donate. With any luck, Ernie Reyes Jr. will be around long enough for a few more generations to thank him for his legendary contributions to the fight for representation in film and television.