In celebration of my longtime friend and sister Milauna Jemai's birthday, I took her for lunch at Urth Cafe in West Hollywood. Its a shi shi poo poo cafe that has salads, long leaf teas, yummy desserts (I had a love affair I had with the Orange Blossom pound cake...it just gets me y'know?) and sandwiches and all that good stuff. We met at the crowded cafe and enjoyed the sunshine as we chattered away about our usual topics: who posted goofy pics on Facebook, the respective boyfriends, weaves & lace fronts, high school classmate updates, parking meter extortion in LA, and the thing of all things to talk about: being a blactress in LA.
Dahdan daaaannnnnnn!
Now you should know, that Ms. Jemai is an accomplished actor. Milauna is Chi-Town grown and carries that midwestern spirit with her everywhere she goes. We met when we were 15 years old at Curie High School a performing arts school on Chicago's south-west side. She was a transfer student our sophomore year. All the boys drooled over her, and the girls rolled their eyes with envy. We both had honors classes and were drama majors so became friends fast. What I admired about her then (and now) was that Milauna was the one girl in the crowd who would yell "Uhnn the emperor is naked!"
She's smart, sassy, and can be a though when necessary. She's the only girl I know that can rock French braided hair, a pair of high top sneakers with jeans and still look chic. Although I usually scoff at adult women who look like 15 year olds, she pulls it off unlike any other.
She has a smile as wide as the joker, and skin like her ancestress Cleopatra. If this sounds like a sappy homolesbonic love letter, well it is. I love this woman and if it were legal in California I'd marry her, cuz she's going to be a star. And I wouldn't have to work for the rest of my days.
Now if you imbd her (don't you love that this website has become a verb?) you won't see a long list of credits. I'm not making light of the projects that she's already done, but as of yet she is not a household name. But she will be.
Girlfriend can act her face off and she's been hustling the 40mile zone for years. Whilst we enjoyed our shii shii poo poo lunch in WeHo we shed tears of joy after professing our love and adoration for one another. She selflessly assured me that I would be okay, and not be discouraged. You see Mickey has been supporting my acting career since we were pups. She's the only one I can call up and lament about my frustrations in Hollywood---or any thing for that matter. I've been in LA for 5 years now, and still have no theatrical agent. This has always baffled Milauna. Shit, me too. But slow and steady wins the race and deep down in my heart, I know that I will be okay.
Before digging into our meals, we prayed over our food and continued our girlfriend chatter. She took me by the hand and looked into my soul;
"I can't imagine success without you D..."
And I cannot imagine it without her either.
So be on the lookout for two of the baddest blactresses of all time.
Milauna Jemai & J. Nicole Brooks
Upstanding Negroes.
Ciao for now kiddies.
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