Viola Davis is one of the best actors of this generation and has won multiple awards in acting, like Oscar, Emmy, and Tony. In the course of playing Annalise, I understood that I was no longer and never was that ugly Black nigga. How to Get Away with Murder was where my radical transformation took place. Because you’re coming up against a four-hundred-year-old narrative.” And that’s why I’m also aware of why I need to be emotionally healthy. So that’s why I’m very aware of what my presence means.

There are people out there who desire us.

“Annalise Keating released in me the obstacles blocking me from realizing my worth and power as a woman.” I love how she explained what Shonda Rhimes did for her in creating HTGAWM role for her and the healing that came from that. The colorism she experienced in the acting world and how they tried to “mold and shape” her into the perfect “white” actor. Define you in a way that’s based more in other people’s tucked-up perceptions than truth.” They have the power of giving you joy and perspective in hard times. What she went through for being dark skinned, what her mom went through as a child.absolutely horrific. I’ve never witness my father beat my mom within an inch of her life and I’ve never experienced racism on the level that Viola has for being too dark. I’ve never had to fight with huge rats over my bed & pillow. I’ve never had to lie in my own urine and go to school the next day reeking. I can honestly say that I’ve never experienced. The things she endured as a kid, teen, woman-period. The immense respect and admiration I have for her is deep. I loved Viola Davis before, but now I’m IN love with her. This has got to be my favorite read of the year. My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you. you.įinding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be. So I wrote this for anyone running through life untethered, desperate and clawing their way through murky memories, trying to get to some form of self-love. We are forced to reinvent them to fit into a crazy, competitive, judgmental world. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.Īs I wrote Finding Me, my eyes were open to the truth of how our stories are often not given close examination.

This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.

Finding Me by Viola Davis