10 Things you may not know about me

I know it’s cliche but how else are you going to get to know someone. I was never one to do these chain mail Facebook post so I put it in a blog. Internet fodder for the masses, this is a list of cool stuff I have done, places I have visited, or people I have met that have enriched my life.

2. The kind of jobs I have had

The first job I had was as a kid stacking boxes of paper for my aunt who owned a small print shop. From there I have worked in the restaurant industry, the school system, retail, and managing a small business That was all before I was 22, I spent 10 years in the Navy where I was a computer tech for the Weapons Systems, Community Relations Coordinator, and a prison guard. Since then I have been working in the local film industry.

3. I have a brother in jail

I have been visiting my brother in jail since he was 15 and I will for the rest of his life. He and so many others who have been duped by the criminal justice system are part of the reason I am getting into politics. I have written many research papers on the criminal justice system using his case as reference and I wrote a full screen play about what happened.

4. Art will always be an expression and a passion of mine.

Since a young adult I have been in love with art in all its forms. Musically I sing, I can play around on a few instruments, but I have always been a choir girl. I was part of the Navy’s Gospel Choir in Chicago and I sing in the HPU chorale. I make movies too, that is later though, I recently started painting.

5. I grew up poor

I was the poorest kid in school. My mother was a single trying to take care of three kids as a waitress. I come from what some call generational poverty, my grandmother had to do it on her own too and she had 5 kids. There were times we didn’t have, I believe those times made me wiser and stronger.

6. I have traveled the world

There is a saying in the Navy, “I traveled the world and I swept it.” The Navy was my ticket out of generational poverty and out to sea. I have visited over 20 countries and years out to sea on a war ship, I have crossed the equator four times and cruised on every ocean. I do yarn to travel more but since the virus I suppose that is on hold.

7. I prefer cats to dogs.

I like dogs too, I just don’t want one for myself.

8. It’s about the details with me.

I have ADD and OCD, which means things that are out of place or wrong get my attention until fixed. I think it gives me an edge but not a super power. I can turn it off when necessary and appropriate.

9. I was bullied as a kid.

When you combine the contents of this article’s number 3, 5, and 8 on a kid it is easy to see how getting picked on also makes the list. Long story short, puberty was good to me. I realized it was ok to defend myself and I did. I grew in confidence and I believe that the empathy from that experience adds to my leadership skills.

10. I am an award winning filmmaker.

Made by veterans inspired by the military’s esprit de corps, The Wall: AntiPosteriori is a musical satire set in a dystopian future about procedural compliance. Written and Directed by Feena Bonoan. It has won awards from the Cult Critic Movie Awards, Druk International Film Festival, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Holy Grail International Film Festival – Jerusalem, and received honorable mentions from The Horror Movie Awards. Bellow is the trailer.