Persia White

Persia White is an American actress and singer who grew up in the Bahamas and South Florida, where she joined the Miami Coconut Grove Children's Theater and studied dance, acting, singing and painting as a teenager. After signing with the Ford Agency and moving to Los Angeles, she built a career in independent film and television. She is best known as Lynn Searcy on the sitcom Girlfriends and as Abby Bennett Wilson, Bonnie's mother, in a semi-recurring role on The Vampire Diaries. Her other television credits include Breaker High, Sister Sister, Angel, NYPD Blue, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Steve Harvey Show, and she starred in the television movies Operation Sandman and Suddenly. She appeared in the cult horror film Blood Dolls (1999) and co-produced the award-winning documentary Earthlings. In 2011 she won a best performance award at the American Black Film Festival for Dysfunctional Friends. She released her debut album, Mecca, in 2009.