Persia Jessica White (born October 25, 1972) is a

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

-born American actress, singer and musician. White is known for her role as Denise Williams on the short-lived television series ''

Breaker High ''Breaker High'' is a teen comedy-drama series that ran from 1997 to 1998, airing on YTV in Canada and on UPN's weekday "Kids" block in the United States. The series was created by Cori Stern, while David Winning directed the pilot and seven epis ...

'' and as Lynn Searcy on the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

/ CW sitcom '' Girlfriends''. 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).

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. 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 Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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. 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 The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

card. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

Career

White has appeared in various independent films, including '' Red Letters'' (opposite

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cro ...

) 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 In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

'', '' NYPD Blue'', ''

The Steve Harvey Show ''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB from August 25, 1996, to February 17, 2002. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan. Synopsis Steve Hightower ( Steve Harvey) is a 1970s funk ...

'', ''

Brooklyn South ''Brooklyn South'' is an American ensemble police drama television series that aired on CBS for one season from September 22, 1997, to April 27, 1998. It was aired during the 1997–98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Boc ...

'', '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', as well as regular roles on ''

'' 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 Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982) is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song " Be OK" (featuring will.i.am). She was previously signed to Motown Record ...

's video for "Be OK". In addition to acting, White also co-produced the award-winning documentary '' Earthlings'', narrated by

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

. 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''. 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 Tracee Joy Silberstein (born October 29, 1972), known professionally as Tracee Ellis Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2008) and '' Black-ish'' (2014–2022). She is ...

Jill Marie Jones Jill Marie Jones (born January 4, 1975) is an American actress and former professional dancer and cheerleader. Jones is best known for her role as Antoinette "Toni" Childs-Garrett on the UPN comedy series, '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2006). Jon ...

, and Golden Brooks in an episode of the ABC comedy series ''

Black-ish ''Black-ish'' (stylized as black·''ish'', `black·''ish'', and black''ish'') is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, to April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons. ''Black-ish'' ...

''.

Personal life

White is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

, a

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

advocate, and environmentalist. She was honored by PETA as a 2005 Humanitarian of the Year. She is a board member for the

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action tactics to achieve its g ...

. White has a daughter, Mecca Morgan White, born . 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''. On January 17, 2009, White announced via her Myspace blog that she and Williams were no longer together. After three years of dating, White married fellow ''Vampire Diaries'' actor Joseph Morgan in

Ocho Rios Ocho Rios (Spanish for "Eight Rivers") is a town in the parish of Saint Ann on the north coast of Jamaica, and is more widely referred to as ''Ochi'' by locals. Beginning as a sleepy fishing village, Ocho Rios has seen explosive growth in the ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on July 5, 2014, after which, he adopted her daughter and they had her legal name changed to Mecca Morgan White.

Filmography

Film

Television

Award nomination

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

External links

* *
Persia White Interview on ''The Gregory Mantell Show''

Persia White: More than Joseph Morgan's wife on ''Stagbite''
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Persia Living people 1972 births 21st-century African-American women singers 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Florida African-American actresses African-American female models African-American models 20th-century African-American women singers American environmentalists American film actresses American people of Bahamian descent American television actresses American women environmentalists Bahamian actresses Bahamian people of American descent Bahamian emigrants to the United States Bahamian people of Irish descent Female models from Florida People from Nassau, Bahamas Trip hop musicians