One faithful FG2BH reader sent me this interesting tidbit about the ethnicity of actress Golden Brooks of "Girlfriends" fame:
[AOL Black Voices]There's more to Golden Brooks than meets the eye. For starters, the San Francisco native's strong acting prowess is evident with her portrayal of Maya Wilkes -- the ghetto-centric, loud-mouthed soul sister who shakes up the scene every week in the groundbreaking TV sitcom 'Girlfriends.' Brooks, who has played the role since its inception eight years ago, is nothing like her screen persona, however.
Reared in Lagos, Nigeria, the thirty-something (more on age below) thespian holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology with a minor in Theater from the University of California at Berkeley.
A classically trained dancer who is also a classically trained actress has performed all over the world and has taken on a broad variety of roles from Chekov to Shakespeare. She holds a Master's Degree* in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College but maintains she did NOT attend the ritzy women's college during they heyday of other famous black sitcom actresses Robin Givens or Holly Robinson Peete. "Chile, you know she's ten years older than me?," Brooks deadpans about Givens. "Yeah, she's older than me. But I went there way, way, way after her." Well since she brought up the subject of age, I dare to ask what's hers. "I'm 30," she states defiantly and then elaborates, "My IMDB is all wrong. I'm in the process of getting that changed. I had an old publicist a long time ago put that in the wrong year, but I'm 30 and I'll be turning 31 in December." Well since we're in a joke-y mood, I join in on the fun and blurt out "The last time you saw 30, you were standing on 130th Street." Unfazed, Brooks said "Thank you," then broke out into laughter and proclaimed, "That's hilarious." "It's hard to say that in Hollywood," she continued the chatter. "Anything with a three in front of it, you're like 'hmmmmmmmmmm.'
Apparently Golden was raised in Nigeria. Apparently she has a Master's Degree like I do. So does this mean Golden's Naija (Nigerian)? Golden did emphasis on how her IMDB profile is all wrong:
-click on the image to visit Golden's official IMDB page-
Her cat is named Saeku. I'm Igbo so that doesn't sound nor look familar to me. Naija or not Golden Brooks is a talented actress. She's currently filming "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" for 2008 release. Read up on Golden's interview with Black Voices here.
In an interview with MenMagazineOnline, Golden had this to say about "Girlfriends":
I hated it. Why do people have to compare something to something else white? Like Girlfriends being called a black Sex in the City because - why - we're four professional women talking about our woes of finding a man and maintaining our careers? We can stand on our own without the comparisons. No one compares The West Wing to a black anything … I'm very passionate about this and protective of my people.
