...old friend! It's been a minute since I updated you all. I would feel guilty about missing last month's post, but considering the events spurred by the George Floyd protests, I'm claiming space and time for my own sanity. I've written about this before, but I'm a master at suppression. I suppress feelings to make it through life. As a Black person living in the U.S., I've learned the value of suppression heck to even make it through the day. All that to say, George Floyd's death was one of the few times I really allowed myself to feel. And it cost me. For the first time in a really long time, I experienced the physical manifestations of grief. My chest hurt. I would wake up in the middle of the night with actual chest pain. It didn't help that I was going through finals week, but that's another story. Even more tangibly though, were my blood pressure (bp) readings. My diastolic was at 100 on multiple occasions. A diastolic bp is the force of blood against your vessels when your heart is at rest. I.e in between heart beats. For my non medical folk, a normal diastolic is 80. A diastolic of 100 when your heart is at rest isn't good. All that to say, I had to disconnect to be ok. I'm still trying to find a happy medium of staying informed but not being enveloped by injustice. It's a work in progress.

​Now, as absolute crap as the world has been, I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge its creation of silver linings.. For those who don't know, I shot an episode of NCIS a few years back- my mom still tells people I was on N-CSI (?? 🤦🏾‍♀️). The Casting Director for NCIS is Jason Kennedy. Jason I know has always championed BIPOC actors, and given the events of this summer he started an instagram campaign to #promoteblackactors. He featured me on his page and as a result of that I've gotten a new agent and a new manager. I'd taken a break from the industry, and at the top of the year had asked my old team to take me completely off roster. I made this decision because as some of you know, I'm back in school and it got absolutely crazy trying to juggle the two. So why the heck did I decide to dive back in with a new team? Alas, Covid.

​For one, I'm graduating in December (!). A fair chunk of my program is now online, so I have a hair more flexibility with school. For two, 99% of auditions are now self tapes, meaning I don't have to drive anywhere or miss any classes to audition. Well Omono, what if you book? What then? My philosophy: we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

The bridge doesn't look so daunting though, because I absolutely love my team. Again, given the events of the summer and the civil rights movement that has since been reborn, I've been emboldened to be completely myself. The meetings I had with managers and agents were some of the most honest conversations I've ever had. I presented the most transparent version of Omono and it was extremely reinforcing to stand in my bare truth and to be accepted for it. I'm speaking in parables now, but long story short I'm signed with DBA Talent Management and Beth Stein & Associates. If you know me, you know I hate hyping things up especially if I don't believe it. I can't fake it for the gram. I'm not faking it when I say I absolutely adore my team. It makes me move with different energy (not that I'm moving anywhere, we're still mostly in quarantine 😭). But in all seriousness, I am so excited for what my future looks like. It's been a minute since I've been here so I'm enjoying this feeling.

If you're not already, follow me on instagram. One, because self promotion durh! And two, because I really do update the gram more. Especially my stories. Keep up with me there if you haven't been already! Oh and I updated my acting website because I was feeling like a hot cake, so go check that out as well.

Almost (if not exclusively) everyone who reads this is family or a friend. I want you all to know that I appreciate you and I see you riding with me. Your support is not lost on me and I can't wait to make you all proud ​🧡

Words from an instagram post earlier this month: 

Excerpt from CNN supervising producer Stephanie Busari's article "What speaking to my daughter about George Floyd taught me about my race privilege as an African".  Click here to read. 

Below is a letter written to the faculty and staff of my nursing program

Dear faculty and staff. I want to thank you all for the efforts you have made to push us through this semester. As I attempt to study for my last final, I can’t help but to be encompassed by the current state of the world. I am unfortunately no longer referencing the corona virus, but rather racism and police brutality. I am one of the few black students in our program, and while I excellently endure the stressors of both nursing school and living while black, I feel conflicted in enduring the stressor of your silence. As a black woman, but more so as a black immigrant, I have learned very quickly how to navigate and conduct myself in white spaces. One of the lessons I’ve picked up on is that the majority tends to align themselves with the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King. In his honor and in his name, I ask where you would have stood during the civil rights movement of the 50’s and 60's? I pose that question not to attack, but rather to prompt the question of where you stand during these civil rights movements of 2020?
 
I have entertained the idea that you may want to shy away from this for fear of it being political. For that possibility I rebut and ask, what is political about speaking up for human life? Unless that discomfort only brews when speaking up for black life. Our nursing program prides itself on being a family. It is a message I have heard since my mandatory orientation. If that message is true, then I ask my family to publicly speak out and condemn the militant and racist police practices that have led to the most recent death of George Floyd. The United States has a painfully long history of systematic oppression and police brutality unleashed on minority communities. It is this type of oppression that makes women like Amy Cooper feel comfortable enough to make false claims against Christian Cooper. Fortunately, Christian Cooper is alive thanks to the power of technology and social media. Emmett Till is not. It is a linked history and one can no longer stay silent and claim naïveté. The reality is too pervasive, and muteness cannot be interpreted as unknowing.
 
My Fall 2020 cohort is phenotypically comprised of mainly white students. Using that and the faces of past graduating classes hung up in the computer room, I would venture to say the whole program is currently comprised of mainly white students. Regardless, I feel confident that you all see me as a valid member of our community. And so, though I have learned how to conduct myself in white spaces, I have also learned from America that my “conduct” does not protect me from the very real possibility of injustice and/or death. With that, I ask you to use your voices now to speak up and not in the unfortunate circumstance that #justiceforomono becomes a trending hashtag.
 
Thank you all for allowing me the space to feel comfortable enough to bring this up in, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter
 
Sincerely,
 
Omono,

With the support of redacted names for privacy

#blacklivesmatter

I encourage all of you to start using your voice. And not just black people, ALL people. I will no longer be silent for fear of repercussions. I will no longer let fear dictate my conduct. My reach may be small, but it extends past me. I will no longer fold my arms in an attempt to blend in, I will extend my arms out to you until you feel my pain. I am no longer afraid. You are either with us, or against us. #prosecutekillercops #defundpolice

​I’ll start this off by acknowledging the fact that I missed a March post. As much as I’d like to berate myself for this, I genuinely don’t have the energy to. Plus I think we can all afford a moment of grace given the Covid-19 climate.
 
If there’s anything Corona has shown me, it’s that I dwell in the calm before a storm. I didn’t think the virus would hit as hard as it has or have the global repercussions we’re seeing. Part of that is my personality: I’ve worked really hard to not allow fear to be my default reaction. To the point where most of the time I genuinely think things will work out and be fine. This I think is a fantastic trait of mine. I don’t sit in a state of panic, nor do I float in a constant stream of anxiety. Now, take my words with a grain of salt. Our new reality hasn’t affected my general life too drastically, so I’m very well aware of the luxury I have to self-praise.
 
The other reason I was slow to grasp the scale is because of the people around me. For those who don’t know, I’m in nursing school. I’m set to graduate this December and I’m praying to God the devil ‘rona doesn’t delay those plans. Part of nursing school is doing rotations at hospitals- we call these clinicals. Of course, by being in the hospital I had heard more about the virus way before it became a constant cycle in the news. And even then, nobody was fearful. Of course, precautions were taken, but I never felt concerned about it upending our lives like this. We would even joke that we wouldn’t worry about the virus until the ER nurses started to. Then they did. All our hospitals have since kicked us students out so we’re not able to complete our clinical hours. This is the biggest hurdle to possibly delaying our graduation, but again I’m optimistic things will work out.

​​Again, I can have this gleaming optimist because although my day to day schedule has changed, I’m still able to go to school (online) and have always had the option of working from home (I work for a software company). Make no mistake, I’m not completely without worry. Within say 3 degrees of separation, I now know three people who have passed since lockdown. Two I don’t believe were from the virus, but one is a confirmed yes. As covid-19 continues to close in on us, we’ll unfortunately be hearing more and more of these stories. My sister comments that it’s been interesting to watch me progress from lackadaisical to now wiping down incoming mail.  I also worry about the profession I’m training in and the absolute disregard for the safety of healthcare workers in this country. This is terrifying. This is the British sending soldiers to WWI with cloth caps instead of helmets. It’s telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps when you only gave them flipflops. It’s recruiting only the color blind to act as pilots. It makes absolutely no sense, it’s absurd, outright neglectful, but most of all it’s terrifying.

​As a black person, I should have absolutely no faith in this government. As an immigrant, maybe foolishly I do. Be that as it may, my wide eyed and bushy tailed glow is very rapidly dimming. As the virus spreads, we’re now getting stats on the people most affected. It’s black people. This sadly isn’t surprising. We live in a white America. An America where wealth is disproportionately distributed in favor of white people. With wealth comes things like having a second home to run to when your city becomes a Covid-19 hotspot. It comes with the perks of not relying on public transportation to get from point A to point B. It comes with being able to afford a post-mate’s delivery for your groceries. It comes with not needing to be a post-mate delivery driver during a pandemic.
 
My biggest pet peeve is when people don’t critically think, so for those who are gathering their rebuttals, use your critical thinking here. Of course there are minorities who can afford such, but statistically these numbers are disproportionately skewed in favor of white people. Another of my pet peeves is when people use minorities and black people interchangeably, so henceforth I’m speaking only of black people. The way this country is set up, black people are suffering and will continue to suffer the effects of the Corona virus more than our white counterparts. Racism has led to wealth, educational and stress disparities which ultimately affect socioeconomics and genetics. I’m highlighting stress and genetics because of hypertension, which black people are more likely to suffer from compared to white people. Racism is stressful. I don’t think I need to delve into the why’s, but the fact that black men are toggling with the decision of whether or not to wear facemasks lest they appear a threat proves my point. This video shows two black men being escorted out of a Walmart for wearing facemasks. Yup.
 
I’ve just had an epiphany as I write this. Perhaps my optimism is a coping mechanism. As I write this I am getting more and more stressed. I’m getting angry, infuriated, and honestly I feel hopeless. I feel all this even with the privileges I have, so I can’t imagine how others less fortunate feel. It’s exhausting. And so, I will hold on to the philosophy that things will work themselves out. Because if I allow myself to dwell on the fact that because of who I am there are many more hurdles stacked against me, then I risk chronic depression. Yes, for some people these thoughts will spark motivation and drive. That is admirable. I however am not wired this way. And so I make dance videos and I create Instagram characters. Because though I hold awareness, optimism, distractions and my joy are the shields I can comfortably carry.