Mollena Williams-Haas (born 1969), formerly Mollena Williams, is an American writer,

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

educator, actress, and former

International Ms. Leather International Ms. Leather (IMsL) is a leather subculture fetish convention for women, held annually in California. Since 1999, the convention has also included a Ms. Bootblack (IMsBB) contest. After Ms. Leather events had been held in San Francisc ...

(2010).

Early life and education

She was born Mollena Lee Williams on June 20, 1969, at

New York Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (previously known as New York Hospital or Old New York Hospital or City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is part of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the teaching hospital for Cornell University. ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Her parents, Marion and James Williams, met in 1968 while using Project TACT, one of the first dating services established in the United States. In 1973, her father took her to see the

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'' over her mother's objections. At the close of the show, she told her parents that she wanted to be an actor. Within three years, she obtained a professional talent agent and began a performance career.

Career

One of Williams-Haas' first performances was singing backup to

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

on the song " Believe In Yourself (reprise) " on the soundtrack of ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown (writer), William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's childr ...

'', a 1978 movie, in her childhood. In 1992, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where she appeared in several independent films, including '' Skin and Bone''. She co-starred in the independent cult movie ''America's Deadliest Home Video'', developing the script in collaboration with

Jack Perez Jack Perez is an American film and television director, screenwriter and film professor. He directed the comedy-thriller '' Some Guy Who Kills People'' executive produced by John Landis. He also directed '' Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus'', wh ...

. The movie is considered one of the grandfathers of "found footage" movies, predating ''

Man Bites Dog The phrase man bites dog is a shortened version of an aphorism in journalism that describes how an unusual, infrequent event (such as a man biting a dog) is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar cons ...

'' and ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...

''. Her performance in it has been described as "brilliant." While in Los Angeles, Williams also began exploring

. She subscribed to newsletter of the

Society of Janus The Society of Janus is the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society) and is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group. The Society of Janus is nonprofit, volunteer run and is ...

and explored

kink Kink or KINK may refer to: Common uses * Kink (sexuality), a colloquial term for non-normative sexual behavior * Kink, a curvature, bend, or twist Geography * Kink, Iran, a village in Iran * The Kink, a man-made geographic feature in remote east ...

and fetish in what was then a newly burgeoning world of online chat forums. She has been involved with the

leather subculture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that pa ...

and BDSM since 1996. In 2009, she was named Ms. San Francisco Leather. In 2010, she was named

. She contributed the essay "BDSM and Race Play", which was published in

Rachel Kramer Bussel Rachel Kramer Bussel (born 1975) is an author, columnist, and editor, specializing in erotica. She previously studied at the New York University School of Law and earned her bachelor's degree in political science and women's studies from the U ...

’s book, ''Best Sex Writing 2010''. In 2011, she published ''The Toybag Guide to Playing With Taboo''. Her short film ''IMPACT'', which involves her participating in BDSM scenes, was released in 2012. Also in 2012, Williams-Haas was awarded the Jack McGeorge Excellence in Education Award by

Black Rose Black Rose or Black Roses may refer to: Books * Black Rose (.hack), a fictional character from the .hack media franchise * Black Rose (magazine), ''Black Rose'' (magazine), an anarchist magazine published in Boston during the 1970s and 1980s * Bla ...

, a BDSM organization. She won the

National Leather Association International National Leather Association International (NLA-I) is a BDSM organization, based in the United States with chapters in various cities in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1986 as the "National Leather Association" (NLA), as a nationa ...

’s Cynthia Slater Non-Fiction Article Award in both 2012 and 2013 for "Tables Briefly Turned" and "On Collars And Closure and Owning Myself", respectively. Also in 2013, she shared the National Leather Association International’s Geoff Mains nonfiction book award with

Lee Harrington Lee Harrington (born 28 November 1979) is a sexuality and spirituality educator, author, and artist, currently based in Denver, Colorado. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, he began transitioning from female to male in 2007. Author and educator L ...

for ''Playing Well With Others: Your Field Guide to Discovering, Exploring and Navigating the Kink, Leather and BDSM Communities'', which they co-authored. In 2014, she was a guest on Season 1, Episode 6 of the ''Sunny Megatron'' show on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, speaking on and demonstrating the fetish commonly referred to as race play. In 2016, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' published an article about her BDSM relationship with her husband Georg Friedrich Haas. She has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Janus, a Kink website.

Personal life

Williams-Haas is married to composer Georg Friedrich Haas, who is the dominant partner in the couple's BDSM relationship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams-Haas, Mollena African-American women writers African-American writers BDSM activists BDSM writers Hunter College High School alumni Leather subculture Living people American sex educators 1969 births 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women