We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lorinda Hawkins Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lorinda Hawkins, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents asked me what I wanted to do and supported me in those decisions. When I would model as a child for print magazines, the natural progression would be pageants. Instead of making the decision for me, I was asked if that’s what I wanted to do. I declined. Instead, I went on to act in plays. My parents noticed I had an interest in piano. They paid for me to have piano lessons. They understood I liked to dance, they paid for me to have tap dance lessons. I remember the ice skating lessons as well. I’m fortunate that I grew up in an upper middle class family that could afford to invest in my interests. My parents also liked to travel. They first thought I was too young to travel with them. As a result, I would have to stay over relatives’ houses until they came back from their travels. When one summer I broke my arm and couldn’t play while they were gone, this made them second guess not taking me with them. After that, my parents would take me with them to Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Morocco. Traveling outside of the country is the best education. My mother taught ESL in East L.A. She spoke some Spanish. From a very young age my parents instilled in me the importance of different cultures and an enjoyment in learning from different experiences.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I learned tumbling and gymnastics from the Girls’ Club. I was so thankful for my parents for giving me that opportunity. I loved it. My elementary school teacher told my class that there were auditions for a Francis Ford Coppola movie. They were looking for children who could do tumbling. He said it was very important that we didn’t act like we knew him when we would see him at the auditions. Well, I could take direction very well. When I saw him at the auditions, he greeted me and I didn’t answer. The next time I would hear of the movie and the results of the audition, would be the time I was made aware that I was different. My fellow classmates and I asked Mr. Jones if he knew who was picked. He proceeded to tell us certain points. He was really gentle with the facts he was giving the other children but with me, “You didn’t make it because you’re Black.” There was no gentile manner present in the way he delivered that fact. Yes, I was the only Black child that was present with my friends at the audition. At that young age, I could detect the maliciousness in his delivery and searched my behavior to see if there was something I had done to make him so heartless with me. The only thing I could think of was that I followed his directions and acted like I didn’t know him at the audition. He told me this in front of the other students. I felt less than and humiliated like being Black was something I shouldn’t have taken with me to the audition. I say all of this to say, it is a wonder that I have managed to press through this and other obstacles to pursue my passion of being in the entertainment industry. The microagressions and macroagressions I have experienced and continue to experience drive me to give voice to the voiceless.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Changing myself to please other people is a lesson I had to unlearn. Trying to please people with how I wore my hair and the way I spoke had been the way I navigated the world. I had to realize that all of the things that make me who I am are my super powers and when I water them down, I disappear and so does my purpose. I’m a believer and I believe that God was gently showing me this. Slowly but surely, I felt led to face the things I feared. I was made to feel like the length and texture of my hair determined my beauty all of my life. I never had known what I looked like without a chemical straightener in my hair. I was afraid of what life would be like without it. It was when I was pregnant with my son that I started to wonder how the chemicals I put in my hair would affect him. I also realized that my hair was not a good place to put my self-esteem. I cut off all of my hair and went completely natural and never went back. I loved it and felt so free. With every fear I was able to overcome, I was able to recover a part of my identity.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society can support artists and creatives best by understanding their value. We are healers, truth tellers, record keepers. It is my firm belief that there wouldn’t be as many problems with our youth and world if we would stop cutting funding for arts programs. Society should pay artists a living wage. Starving artists shouldn’t be a thing. Art is cathartic and the ability to express oneself in creative ways is invaluable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lorindahawkinssmith.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorindahawk_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorindahawkinssmith/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorinda-hawkins-smith-7125203b/
• Twitter: @LorindaHawkins1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/LorindaHawkinsSmith
• Yelp: Lorinda H.

Image Credits
Michael Bezman, Christopher Jay Ewing, Noah Daniel