If like most of the ton, you have already seen the prequel to the Bridgerton TV Series we all know and love, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, then you already know just how jaw-droppingly amazing Aresma Thomas, the young Lady Danbury really is.
In the show, she wowed us with her strong spine, fierce values and intellectual mind. We saw how she fought for her place in their society, for all black people, for her freedom and for anything she truly wanted. Though she claims to be entirely different in real life, she is just as smart, bold and cunning as the woman she plays in the show. She fought just as hard to achieve all she has so far.
Keep reading to learn why she’ our Nigerian girl crush;
She’s Nigerian-Ethiopian
That’s right! Arsema Thomas isn’t British at all. She was born in Atlanta Georgia to Nigerian(her father) and Ethiopian(her mother) diplomats. This ended up shaping most of her life decisions so far.
She Was Raised In Multiple Countries
Two weeks after she was born she moved to Kampala, Uganda and ended up living in multiple countries growing up, including Tanzania, Benin, Togo and Kenya, as well as the Comoros and India. Many would say she’s a citizen of the world.
She Speaks Multiple Languages
Though she hasn’t said anything about it yet, most assume that as a result of living in all these countries, she speaks English, French, Spanish, Yoruba, Amharic, and American Sign Language.
She’s Queer
Arsema Thomas shared that her pronouns are she/they. This multiplies just how much Arsema Thomas represents as a celebrity or public figure. As an actress in Hollywood, she represents black, queer, African, Nigerian and Ethiopian women individually and all together.
She Has Multiple Degrees
In 2016, she received her bachelor’s degree in biophysics from Carnegie Mellon University. She got her master’s in epidemiology and health policy at Yale University sometime after her first degree. Talk about a girl that DID THAT!!
Although Thomas has excelled in her academic career, she said that acting has taken precedence in her life since it is something she can see herself doing “100 per cent of the time.” Thomas moved to Paris, South Africa, and finally, London to study drama as a result of this choice but put her studies on pause when she was cast in Queen Charlotte.
“I packed up everything and moved to Paris because I wanted to do acting 100 per cent of the time,” she said. “It was always something I had wanted to do, but I didn’t think I would be able to. I thought it was going to be a hobby or a thing that I’d have to suppress in myself for the rest of my life.”
She’s An Avid Activist
Thomas truly is a citizen of the world as is seen by her many acts of giving back to the world she lives in or as many would call it, activism. Following her graduation in 2016, Thomas interned at a mobile health clinic and a refugee camp in Kenya for over a year. She worked in a maternal and child mobile health clinic in Northern Kenya and the Kakumah Refugee Camp on the Kenya-Sudan border. During the second year of her MPH, she spoke at TEDxYale under the title “Charity, one hell of a drug” about the problems with donor aid dependence.
She is the creator of the women’s health empowerment app Enki, which contributed to the distribution of female condoms to fight AIDS. She also co-founded a start-up called Mosaic. This is an online marketplace for refugees to sell goods globally and support themselves and their families.
Thomas has also held positions as an associate of the United Nations Population Fund, a fellow of the Global Health Justice Partnership at Yale University, and a board member of the Adebisi Babatunde Thomas Entrepreneurship Institute (ABTEI) in Nairobi, Kenya. She also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and International Refugee and Immigration Services (IRIS).
When we say she’s our girl crush, you can clearly see that we don’t need to explain why!!