Growing up in Bielefeld, Germany, when expressing Lena’s childhood dream to become an actress at career days at her schools, she was convinced out of those pursuits. This experience is not uncommon as impressional students around the world, artists, talk out their dreams of pursuing creativity for financial reasons or doubt of talent. However, Lena’s experience was different and motivated by prejudice and racism. Lena was specifically convinced not to act because no actors on TV looked like her, and adults around her misled her that there was no place in German television for people who looked like her.
Lena Whoo is a black German actress, artist, and author based in Berlin and Brooklyn. As soon as Lena learned how to read and write- three years old- she felt compelled to express herself. Whether they realized it at that age, they wanted to shape her own narrative. Lena found writing as a way to be passionate about her journey of expression and healing the racial trauma of growing up in a dominantly white country and fighting for her dream.
They let themselves be talked out of their childhood dream, and so Lena poured herself into writing instead. She went to university, got a degree, and took a job that paid the bills. But something was missing. Every day, she felt a growing void. It wasn’t until ten years later, after feeling incomplete for so long, that Lena decided to pack up her life and head to New York, chasing the dream she had once buried.
New York was groundbreaking to Lena’s development and self expression as it is for a lot of people. Lena discovered communities and friends who made her experiences more relatable and found herself in safe spaces to explore herself. Lena now often travels back and forth from New York, crashing with friends of hers, otherwise, they couldn’t afford the lifestyle, as they then is able to mingle with networks and contacts of their friends. If she could give any advice to starting artists or artists in general, Lena would recommend networking. Insisting there are communities for people pursuing the same interest and contributing to the movements you are participating in will help you amplify the initiatives you are working on on your own. Lena’s own network is how she is able to accomplish her dreams between Berlin and Brooklyn.
Queer and BIPOC scenes are a big influence in Lena’s work, finding communities specifically based on her identity and her interests, also creating her community through her workshops on healing journaling. Lena’s book, Un-fulfilling, contains her essays, short stories, and poetry.
She explores fictional narratives of personal stories and emotions about her life. Lena brings this experience to others through their workshops as well as they explores the ideas of identity and freedom. Safe spaces and healing are at the center of all of her work,as she believes coming together in itself is a part of the growing journey. There can be something provocative about hearing and advocating for people in the same communities as yourself.
Lena says that art plays an important part in visibility and brings problems with invisible communities to the forefront. Social justice can be impeded by people’s own fragility, but contextualizing societal problems through art can recreate venues of consumption without such blocks. Lena finds her own way to deal with injustice, which is to keep making work an outlet. Ultimately, Lena is trying to seal themselves as a person doing the work they want to see in the world. They continue to unapologetically encourage other artists in the world to do the same, saying, “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do something because you can do anything.”
We asked Lena how she manages to do everything, juggling so many different aspects of her work, and Lena said she simply doesn't plan too far ahead and tries to do tricks to help with her ADHD. She believes being on top of her emails is one of their best ways to keep track of everything, on top of the short-term planning, and they apologizes when she ends up replying late when she struggles with organization. Lena continues to say she strongly believes in authenticity and validation of one's own experiences. This extends even with her relationship from ADHD to toxic positivity.
Toxic positivity blocks people from feeling your feelings. Lena goes on to say that she feels that people should be able to express themselves accurately when asked the simple question, “How are you?” Emotions, like anger and depression, are allowed to be there and normally have validity to be there. When exploring Lena’s work themes, we can see a correlation between how the expectation to be positive can interlace with people’s fragility and restrict freedom and expression. When taken in the context of the heavy experience of being “other” in society, it is easy to find reasons to be frustrated with the word and be justified in it. If you feel drawn to these themes consider taking one of Lena’s workshops or getting her book ‘Un-fulfilling.’
Lena’s audience is no one in particular. She creates herself. As seen from her workshops, she would like people to see their own experiences and reflections through her writing. Lena was personally influenced by the generation before her of Shirley, Aundre Lorde and May Ayim. Through May Ayim’s own exploration and influence, Lena was able to address the heavy themes on her own and create a narrative history as her work progressed. “I wish I were taught about May Ayim in school,” Lena says. In her book, Lena faces the themes of freedom and the dichotomy of freedom as freedom in her race, as she is granted privileges and recognizes that there is some more to be desired in living
Lena passionately talks about the other main influence in their life was her mother’s instability to pursue her dreams. Lena’s mother was her “heaviest” influence as she gave up her dreams so that Lena could pursue hers, even if her mom were still passionate about everything she did.
It’s a constant reminder of the cost of dreams, but also of the power they hold.