Finding Me: The Grammy-winning memoir

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Though Viola may have faced more obstacles than some other actors, she admits her struggles were universal.

The term Jim Crow originated from a minstrel show in 1828 which was projecting African Americans negatively. An honest, unflinching, and utterly brilliant account of how one of the best actors of our time became who she is today. So finding out she would be gifting us with a deep memoir of her childhood to her present day life was amazing. Every painful memory, every mentor, every friend and foe serves as a chisel, a leap pad that has shaped “ME!For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be.

In addition to being a story about Viola's personal journey, this memoir can serve as a primer for aspiring actors, because it provides information about what to expect and how to maneuver in show business.Trying to fully understand her ‘entire’ life story and ‘how’ she survived unfathomable traumatic conditions—for years—as a child —is staggering…. Toward the end of the book, the intersection of her writing about her career and her writing about the evolution of her family dynamic sometimes merged in a way that didn’t always work for me. She is not trying to make you feel sorry for her; she is merely baring her soul and allowing you, as the reader, into her introspection of how she became the spectacular woman she is today. She provides the bleak statistics surrounding the film industry and how few actors and actresses are actually able to make it in this space.

The racial segregation and black codes caused by these laws made it difficult for African Americans to access public transportation, schools, cast votes, and even gain economic independence. It is startlingly honest and, at times, a jaw-dropping read, charting her rise from poverty and abuse to becoming the first African-American to win the triple crown of an Oscar, Emmy and Tony for acting. In the past, we've been used as chattel, fodder for inhumane experimentation, and it has evolved into invisibility. I was fighting an ideology about what an actor was, and it was all born in the depth of white superiority. Viola is as unwavering with the recollection of her own pain and trauma as she is wholehearted with the reminiscence of her hope and healing.Biography: Viola Davis is an internationally acclaimed actress and producer, known for her exceptional performances in television shows such as How to Get Away with Murder and movies such as Fences and The Help. This must be one of the most straightforward and brutally honest memoirs I have had the pleasure of reading. Objectively speaking, Finding Me is a powerful story; it's not an easy one to read, as it's one born in pain and violence. Finding Me is a raw and honest memior about growing up in abject poverty with an abusive and alcoholic father.

For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be…you.

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