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|---|---|
| Nzinga Blake | |
| Born: | 1981 |
| Known For: | Fridays Host (2003-2004) |
Nzinga Blake (born 1981) is an American actress and writer. She is better known as the original co-host of the Cartoon Network's Fridays.
Bio[]
Born in Maryland, Nzinga Blake has been a jet setter from birth with a love for the arts, fashion, and humanitarian efforts. As the daughter of a Sierra Leonean former UN official, cabinet minister, and world scholar, she spent a majority of her childhood in Tokyo, Japan, and Nairobi, Kenya. While in Japan Nzinga, her older sister and mother, a clinical dietitian, were swept into the fashion scene as models, which is where Nzinga began her love for fashion. She also starred in several Japanese and English musical theater performances from grade school overseas and throughout high school, igniting her love and devotion to the arts.
Nzinga became the first live human to be seen on Cartoon Network, where she hosted the aformenioned Fridays. As mentioned in one of the ads, she speaks fluent Japanese, although she claims to speak "some" Japanese. Later on, in said ad, she mentions the block title, start date, and network in Japanese.
During this time she also landed a recurring role as Vivian, on the Showtime series Barbershop and the ABC primetime drama What About Brian. She would go on to become a host, writer, and producer on Al Gore’s Emmy Award-winning network, Current TV. In 2009, she began hosting for BET and is the LA Entertainment correspondent for a talk show on Australia's Network 10, titled The Project (previously known as The 7PM Project).
Blake hosted Culture Click, an educational and informative TV show using virtual reality to cover current events, societal issues, and pop culture. The program aired on Litton's Weekend Adventure, a weekend programming block airing primarily on ABC stations, which made its debut on September 3, 2011. The show won a 2012 Telly Award for Outstanding Cultural Television Program. In addition to producing, writing, acting, and TV hosting, Nzinga also consults for the new entertainment company, Freely in Los Angeles, California. Her responsibilities include developing Films and TV shows for the faith-based media market, in addition to creating and spearheading the social action arm of the company.