Persia White

Mecca
Mecca
Studio album by Persia White
Released	October 31, 2009
Recorded	2005–2009
Genre	Alternative; industrial; trip hop;
Length	36:30
Label	Hybrid Music
Singles from Mecca
	"Wanting"; Released: October 7, 2009;

Persia White
Persia White
	Left to right: Mara Brock Akil with White, Golden Brooks, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Jill Marie Jones in 2013
Born	Persia White; October 25, 1972 (age 51); Nassau, Bahamas
Nationality	American
Occupations	Actress; singer; musician;
Years active	1994–present
Known for	Lynn Searcy in Girlfriends
Spouses	Saul Williams; (m. 2008; div. 2009); Joseph Morgan; (m. 2014);
Children	1
	Musical career
Genres	Alternative; dark wave; industrial; trip hop;
Instruments	Vocals; guitar;
Labels	Hybrid Music;
Website	persia-white.com

Persia White (born October 25, 1972) is a Bahamian-born American actress, singer and musician. White is known for her role as Denise Williams on the short-lived television series Breaker High and as Lynn Searcy on the UPN/CW sitcom Girlfriends.^[1] White is also a member of the band XEO3, and a solo singer who released her debut album Mecca in 2009. She is also known for her role as Abby Bennett Wilson in The Vampire Diaries (2012-2017).^[2]

Early life

White was born in Nassau, Bahamas and was one of four children to an Irish-American mother and a Bahamian father, thus making her a Bahamian actress.^[3] Her early years were spent in the Bahamas. White's father was paralyzed in a car accident when she was three, and he later moved to Miami to seek better medical care. White's mother moved with her children to South Florida two years later but did not reunite with White's father.^[4] White later joined the Miami Coconut Grove Children's Theater. As a teen, she studied dance, acting, singing, and painting. After high school, White signed with the Ford Agency and obtained her Screen Actors Guild card. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.^[5]

Career

White has appeared in various independent films, including Red Letters (opposite Peter Coyote) and the cult horror Blood Dolls. She starred in the made-for-TV movies Operation Sandman, opposite Ron Perlman, and Suddenly, opposite Kirstie Alley. Her television work includes appearances on Angel, NYPD Blue, The Steve Harvey Show, Brooklyn South, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as regular roles on Breaker High with co-star Ryan Gosling, Sister Sister as Anya and Girlfriends as Lynn. In 2008, White appeared in The Fall of Night in the role of Dawn. She can also be seen in Chrisette Michele's video for "Be OK".

In addition to acting, White also co-produced the award-winning documentary Earthlings, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.^[6] In July 2011, White won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in the American Black Film Festival for her work in Dysfunctional Friends.^[7] She also appeared as Bonnie's mother on The Vampire Diaries in a semi-recurring role.

In 2019, she reunited with her Girlfriends co-stars Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones, and Golden Brooks in an episode of the ABC comedy series Black-ish.^[8]

Personal life

White is a vegan, a human and animal rights advocate, and environmentalist. She was honored by PETA as a 2005 Humanitarian of the Year.^[9] She is a board member for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.^[10]

White has a daughter, Mecca Morgan White, born c. 1995.^[11]

On February 29, 2008, White became engaged to singer Saul Williams, her boyfriend of five years, and married in 2008. They met in 2003 when he made a guest appearance on the TV show Girlfriends.^[12]^[13] On January 17, 2009, White announced via her Myspace blog that she and Williams were no longer together.^[14]

After three years of dating, White married fellow Vampire Diaries actor Joseph Morgan in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on July 5, 2014, after which, he adopted her daughter and they had her legal name changed to Mecca Morgan White.^[15]^[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Last Action Hero	Herself
1994	Blue Chips	-
1996	Suddenly	Trina	TV movie
1999	Blood Dolls	Black Baby
2000	Operation Sandman	Private Winslow	TV movie
	Red Letters	Vanessa Cody
	Stalled	Leanne
2007	The Fall of Night	Dawn
2007	Everyday Joe	Gina	Short
2009	Spoken Word	Shea
2010	Kiss the Bride	Trina	Video
2012	Dysfunctional Friends	Trenyce
	The Marriage Chronicles	Marcia Anson
	Guardian of Eden	Clarke
	Black November	Tracey
	No Mo Games	Morgan
	Mafia	Mel
2013	Revelation	-	Short
2014	Desiree	Jack
2016	Wichita	Raven
2017	Cargo	Berneice
	Candid	-	Short
	Miss Me This Christmas	Millicent Williams
	You Can't Fight Christmas	Millicent Williams
	Carousel	Nicole	Short
2018	Juice Truck	Pat	Short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	The Client	Black Female Student	Episode: "The Burning of Atlanta"
1996	NYPD Blue	Margie	Episode: "These Old Bones"
	Malibu Shores	Listener	Episode: "Hotline"
	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	Heather	Episode: "Little Hero"
	Goode Behavior	Trish	Episode: "Goode Grades"
1997	Weird Science	Kim	Episode: "Gary Had a Little Cram"
	The Burning Zone	Jenny	Episode: "Critical Mass"
	Sister, Sister	Anya	Episode: "Three the Heart Way"
	The Parent 'Hood	Alexia	Episode: "Tango & Cash"
	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Aura	Episode: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
	Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction	Molly	Episode: "On the Road"
1997–98	Breaker High	Denise Williams	Main Cast
1998	Brooklyn South	Cinnamon	Episode: "Cinnamon Buns"
1998	Malcolm & Eddie	Sharon	Episode: "Bowl-a-Drama"
1999	The Steve Harvey Show	Monique	Episode: "All That Jazz"
	Clueless	Veronica	Episode: "My Best Friend's Boyfriend"
	Another World	Kineisha 'K.C.' Burrell	Regular Cast
2000–08	Girlfriends	Lynn Searcy	Main Cast
2001	The Test	Herself/Panelist	Episode: "The Liar Test"
2001	Angel	Agnes "Aggie" Belfleur	Episode: "Over the Rainbow"
2004	NAACP Image Awards	Herself/Co-Host	Main Co-Host
2005	Infanity	Herself	Episode: "Girlfriends"
2005	Unscripted	Flirty Girl	Episode: "Episode #1.8"
2008	Battleground Earth	Herself	Episode: "Something's Fishy"
2012–17	The Vampire Diaries	Abby Bennett Wilson	Recurring Cast: Season 3, Guest: Season 4 & 8
2019	Black-ish	Lila	Episode: "Feminisn't"
2020	Will & Grace	Katie Palmer-Payne	Episode: "Of Mouse and Men"

Documentary

Year	Title	Role
2005	Earthlings	Co-Narrator
2015	Unity	Narrator

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Win/Nomination
2008	ALMA Award	Outstanding Female Performance in a Comedy Television Series	Girlfriends	Nomination
2023	Vienna Independent Film Festival	Best Music Video	Vampire^[17]	Winner

Music

Mecca is Persia White's debut album. It was released digitally on October 31, 2009, and on CD on December 8, 2009. The title comes from the name of White's daughter. The final three songs on the album were all featured in several episodes of Girlfriends.

"Wanting" – 3:58
"Perfect" – 3:15
"Receive" (featuring Saul Williams) – 4:15
"Pressed Against Gods Thoughts" – 2:02
"Haunt" – 3:02
"2 Sea" – 1:23
"Danger" (featuring Saul Williams) – 3:25
"Salvation" – 4:57
"Tease" (featuring Tricky) – 3:22
"Choices" (Girlfriends season 6 finale song) – 2:47
"Past Mistakes" (featuring Tricky) – 4:10

References

^ Crissy Calhoun (2014). Love You to Death – Season 3: The Unofficial Companion to the Vampire Diaries. ECW Press. ISBN 9781770903234. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
^ "Persia White | Actress, Writer, Director". IMDb. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^ "Persia White". Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
^ Turner, Miki (February 23, 2004). "Persia's Edge". Sun-Sentinel. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
^ Turner, Miki (February 23, 2004). "Persia's Edge". Sun-Sentinel. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
^ "Earthlings: Cast and Crew". earthlings.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
^ "ABFF Announced 2011 Winners". abff.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
^ "The 'Girlfriends' cast reunites on 'black-ish' — and EW has a first look at them back together". EW.com. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^ "Persia White: Biography". cwtv.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
^ "SSCS Board of Directors: Persia White". seashepherd.org. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
^ Girl, L.A. (July 24, 2014). "Top 10 things about Persia White Vampires Diaries actor Joseph Morgan's Wife". Daily Entertainment News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2016. White, who will turn 42 this year, is the mother of an 19-year-old daughter...
^ "Feeding sheep : photo image" (JPG). I2.tinypic.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
^ "Persia White attending the 19th Annual Genesis Awards – Arrivals and VIP Reception held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA on 3/19/2005 | SGG-059590". Prphotos.com. March 19, 2005. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
^ "Love Life and Friendship". blogs.myspace.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
^ "Joseph Morgan Marries Persia White in Jamaica". Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^ "Who Is Joseph Morgan's Wife? All About Persia White". Peoplemag. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^ "VIFF". September 6, 2023. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.