The Dithering of a District Diva

The award-nominated series “The Prototype” was inspired by Brooklyn Bloggess Jamilah Lemieux’s “Happy Black Girl Day!” This once-a-month holiday allows us to take a break from the constant media assault on Black women and to celebrate the sisterhood with showers of positivity. The way I choose to celebrate HBGD is by highlighting an extraordinary and prototypical Black woman.

The December 2011 Prototype: Gabrielle Union, Actress-Activist-Producer

On November 17, 2011, Verizon Wireless hosted an intimate and exclusive interview with Gabrielle Union (by B.E.T. personality Alesha Renee) for bloggers and other DC divas to attend.  Bump what some blogs say — Ms. Gabby is as humble, as sisterly, and as eager to give back as they come. And it’s no wonder:  this blockbuster beauty was raised in Omaha, Nebraska, surrounded by one of the area’s biggest Black families who instilled in her the importance of community, sharing love, and giving back.   But it wasn’t until she had a horrifying, life-threatening experience while in college at UCLA that she felt a greater sense of urgency about giving back:

When I became a sexual assault victim [at gunpoint, while at work at the age of 19] my life was turned upside down. And it took a lot of women surrounding and supporting me to get me to be whole again.  Because of them, I went from victim to survivor.  How could I not help other women do the same?  So I started working with the UCLA Crisis Center for victims.  

Gabrielle is now serving as an adviser on President Obama’s National Committee for Violence Against Women.  And her loyalty to her sisters runs deep:

 One of my girlfriends was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32.  She was under-insured and in dire straits, so all of our friends from high school rallied around her and helped her with whatever she needed.  That’s why sisterhood is so important; It takes a network of women to get you through, no matter what the cause is. 

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, raped, or abused, please visit the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network online

She credits stars like Jenifer Lewis, Tichina Arnold, Tischa Campbell, and Vivica Fox for nurturing and supporting her and her girls, Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, Essence Atkins, and Robin Lee in their careers.  Now she is paying it forward by mentoring the next generation of stars, like Kyla Pratt and Naturi Naughton.  And when she doesn’t have her girls around (or her man, Dwayne Wade), and she’s feeling lonely, Gabby confesses that she uses Twitter to feel a sense of connectivity and community. (Follow her @itsgabrielleu)

Watch her share with us the importance of sisterhood and her tips for success:

DCDistrictDiva.com reader CRose wanted us to ask Gabby, “What is it like to be a brown skinned woman in Hollywood?” Watch Gabby answer the question below:

Though she admits that jobs in Hollywood are hard to come by for Black women of any shade, Gabby has been fortunate to be a working actress since her first audition for Saved by the Bell: The New Class. And she has enviably starred alongside some of our favorite leading men.  She dishes on what it’s like to work with these Hollywood hunks:

Will Smith is fine and crazy! And he’s just so nice and welcoming and down to earth. He makes everyone feel important and special. Martin Lawrence really treated me like his actual sister [during the filming of Bad Boys II].
Idris Elba is a mans man. He lives in a t-shirt with a big ole stain on it and jeans. And that accent!
Jamie [Foxx] is so funny.
Morris Chestnut is “drop a baby” fine. (One day when we were shooting a street scene, a woman saw him, forget she had opened the door to get her baby out of the car — she forgot she had a baby– and starts taking off, running down the street after him and the poor baby fell out of the car!”)

The gorgeous diva is also just as well known for her flawless skin as she is for her film roles and philanthropy.  The Neutrogena spokesmodel spilled all of her beauty secrets with us:

I’ve completely cut out juice and soda. I drink only water, a gallon a day. I try to get 8 hours of sleep and I exercise, not because I like it, but because there are so many diseases in my family. I force myself to sleep and work out and not eat at Red Lobster too much. I use Neutrogena anti-aging moisturizers, salicylic acid cleansers and I always wear sunblock. 

DCDistrictDiva.com reader Raegan wanted us to ask Gabby “What is her recipe for her resilience?” To that, she shared with us the story of her first dog, Snuggles.  When she was a little girl, Snuggles had been left out in the cold one winter and had died. It was a week before she’d noticed he wasn’t around. When her sister told her Snuggles was dead, Gabrielle began to bawl.  Her sister, however — wise beyond her years — turned to Gabby and said, “Snuggles is DEAD. Now what?!” Her sister’s words stuck with her for the rest of her life and she uses that metaphor whenever things don’t turn out like she wants:

I allow myself crying, venting, and bitching time. But once you get [the movie] Beaches or Love Jones, or whatever your movie is, and you pig out at Red Lobster and you roll around on the floor (you have to get on the floor and call your friends! What’s a good pity party without witnesses?!), then you have to get UP. No matter what the issue is, after you’ve had your own private mourning time, you get up, you cannot stay down there.  Snuggles is DEAD. Now what?! You have to pick yourself up and move on with life. 

Gabby will be lighting up the silver screen next year in Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, and Tyler Perry’s The Marriage Counselor, co-starring reality star Kim Kardashian, who Gabby describes as: sweet, harmless, not an actress, but neither was I when I first started.

Her keys to success are: fall back on an education or a trade and always be early. Time is valuable. To be on time is to be late. 

Her greatest accomplishment is: graduating from UCLA.

The celebrity that makes her star struck is: Janet Jackson.

The movie of hers she wishes more people had seen is: Cadillac Records.

The movie of hers she wishes less people had seen is: Cradle 2 the Grave. 

A quirky fact about her is: I time myself doing chores and try to beat my times. My time is very valuable. I plan every minute of my day and list everything. I refuse to check-mark a task as complete until it’s actually complete.

What she wants more than anything is:

For my parents to retire for real.  One day I want to be a mom (Only one child. Right now, my eggs are like *cough cough*). I want to produce. I want to get something I’ve optioned onto the screen. I have a production company, Stew U, with award-winning director Nzinga Stewart. I want to be able to get in the door and audition for these roles before being automatically crossed out. I just want to be given an opportunity to fail.

When all is said and done, she hopes her legacy will be that she “improved the lives of women and those who have been assaulted.”

Gabrielle Union is: The Prototype.

DCDistrictDiva & Gabrielle Union at Verizon's SMARTholic Event in DC

Special thanks to Verizon Wireless and Alesha Renee for this awesome event!

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