Viola Davis Buys Former Plantation She Was Born In For Her 55th Birthday

Academy-Award winning actress and ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ star, Viola Davis clocked 55 yesterday and gifted herself the house she was born in.

The actress revealed on social media on Tuesday that she purchased the house in which she was born

“The above is the house where I was born August 11, 1965,” she captioned a post shared on Instagram today. “It is the birthplace of my story. Today on my 55th year of life….I own it….all of it.”

She also included the words to a Cherokee birth blessing in her caption:

“May you live long enough to know why you were born.”

View this post on Instagram

The above is the house where I was born August 11, 1965. It is the birthplace of my story. Today on my 55th year of life….I own it….all of it. ・・・ "May you live long enough to know why you were born.” -Cherokee Birth Blessing-

A post shared by VIOLA DAVIS (@violadavis) on Aug 11, 2020 at 8:15am PDT

Reclaiming a property that once played host to the atrocities of American slavery comes at a time when the country is undergoing an increased reckoning with systemic racism.

The purchase is especially meaningful given the property’s history:

In a 2015 interview with Glamour, Davis revealed that the home, located in St. Matthews, South Carolina, was once a slave plantation. The actor spent her early childhood there with her five siblings in extreme poverty—an experience that led her to become an active advocate for ending childhood hunger.

Featured photo by @dario.studio

Source: House Beautiful