"The Vagina Is One of the Most Divine and Holy Places on the Planet."

Words spoken by Vanessa Williams....the chocolate brown pretty one....you know the 'Rocka Bye Baby' in New Jack City Vanessa Williams. Vanessa Williams has always been one of my favorites. Not only is she obviously talented (she was my favorite sister in the Soul Food series) but it is always great to see a beautiful woman in Hollywood who looks like she could be my sister, my cousin or best friend. More importantly, her words are ridiculously true. The vagina is holy and divine, and if kept clean, free of that ish, and exercised, it can make a man stutter and shake like he was having a seizure. The vajayjay is indeed beautiful. And Vanessa has made it her business to to show us all how to embrace our sexual desires and revelations. Vanessa is currently doing a one-woman show called Feet On The Ceiling, which is her view of a young woman coming -of-age and how she deals with sexual growth and liberation. She sat down with Essence.com to talk about her new project and a whole lot of everything else. Essence.com: How did the idea for Feet On The Ceiling come about? Vanessa Williams: I took a writing course when I was acting on Soul Food. At the end of the class, I compiled all of my stories and poetry and self-published my book, Shine. I ended up with these wonderful stories that sounded like conversations. In my mind, they were really monologues and I thought, Well I can perform this stuff. So out of those writings came Feet On The Ceiling. No one ever does movies about young women, especially young Black women, experiencing a sexual awakening. That’s the story that I’m interested in. It just became its own theme and took off. Essence.com: Were you at all intimidated by putting a piece about sexuality out there? V.W.: Absolutely not! I’ve been well groomed because I’ve done the Vagina Monologues five years in a row. The vagina is one of the most divine and holy places on the planet. There is nothing unholy about it. Plus, I always felt like I had my own story to tell. I’m a bit of an exhibitionist and I like art that disturbs people. I’m driven to issues that get people talking and push the envelope, particularly in regards to women’s sexuality, which is a huge part of who we are as women. Essence.com: Lets take a trip down memory lane. How did you end up on The Cosby Show as Theo’s girlfriend? V.W.: That was my first big job. Mr. Cosby was so generous. At the time, I didn’t even realize I would have a desire to work behind the camera one day but I remember he told us we could come back any time and watch them put the show together. Had I known what film school cost, I would have taken him up on that. Essence.com: What was it like to be the first Black woman on Melrose? V.W.: It’s wonderful but I don’t put a whole lot of stock into that. I’m so proud and happy to have been the first, especially if it eventually helped someone else. But it doesn’t take a lot of my thought time. Essence.com: Soul Food meant so much to the Black community. How did its end affect you? V.W.: Well it never ended in terms of that love and family that we created. Nicole Ari [Parker] and I are bridesmaids in Malinda’s [Williams] upcoming wedding. Many of us flew out to Germany when Boris [Kodjoe] and Nicole got married. But in terms of the show, we were so proud of what it meant to the community. Once we shot that first episode, we knew how important it was to people. I remember one of my prayers was that I wanted to act in something really meaningful and being a part of Soul Food was really a prayer answered. Essence.com: You were one of the actresses featured in Terri Vaughn’s documentary, Angels Can't Help But Laugh, which talked about the plight of Black actresses in Hollywood. Do you think it’s still difficult for Black actresses in Hollywood?V.W.: For sure, they’re not checking for us like they are for the 25-year-old blonde girl but at the same time, we have it so much better than Black actresses back in the day. Yes, of course there is so much work to do but all of the sisters in the documentary have had marvelous careers. Essence.com: Who are some of your close girlfriends in the business? V.W.: Of course, Nicole Ari Parker and Malinda Williams,Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell Martin, Tasha Smith, Sallie Richardson, Regina King, Regina Hall—we’re all friends. Essence.com: Back in the day there was a lot of talk about the confusion between you and actress and former Miss America Vanessa L. Williams fighting for the rights to your name. Are you two friends?V.W.: I’ve never met her. We’ve been at the same functions and have some mutual friends but that’s about it. It definitely became an issue for me more so because of her infamy but it’s not problematic in that it stops me from getting work. I roll with it because it’s not an issue as much as it is an interesting piece of conversation. To read more of this article and watch a piece of Vanessa's show, click: Shine