CHARACTER INFORMATION
Full Name: Kenya Louise Richard (Ree-shard)
Nickname(s): Africa, Kenny, Ouiser
Hometown: Crowle Louisiana
Age and birthday: 18, March 4th, 1992
House and Year: 12, Rienzi
Electives & Schedule:

Latin
Art
DADA
Charms/Wandwork
LUNCH
Advanced Divination
Wizarding Literature
Free Period :D

Boggart: A giant wave coming up from out of nowhere to drown her, corrected by changing it into a flock of butterflies.
Patronus: A North American Porcupine, which while a rather fierce looking animal, is an herbivore. While learning to produce such, Kenya anticipated something more majestic and connected to her name sake- a lion, a giraffe, for goodness’ sake, even a rino would have been acceptable. Instead, she achieved a porcupine. Over time and a bit of soul-searching, she has decided that perhaps it makes sense, the protective aspect, the bad-ass hair-do. Hell she’s even grown to be a bit fond of the creature, dedicating a few scribbles here and there.
Religious Affiliation: When at home, she attends a Southern Baptist church with her grandmother & performs with the choir. This does not mean she takes such teachings to heart.
Extracurricular activities: Choir, Drama Club, Dance Troupe, Debate and Charms Club.
Family/Relationships
Parents: James Richard & Cissy Whitman
Siblings: JJ (20), +3 half-siblings.
Extended Family: Grandmother Teeney Whitman
Familiar A hedghog named Fred Astaire.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Significant Others: none at this time.

Appearance
PB: Antonia Thomas
Detailed Description:
[Height] 5’3”, though her shoes always have at least a two inch heel, so unless she is barefoot Kenya stands at a solid 5’5”-5’6”
[Hair] A-la natural. She tries to keep it back at the very least, but only her neighbor is allowed to relax or perm her hair, and she only sees her during the summer.
[Eyes] Brown and wide-set. When she was thirteen Kenya was given her first stick of eye-liner, they’ve never parted since.
[Piercings] Ears, nothing else but on days when you don’t see hoops in her ears? Are days you better stay at home. Last time she forgot to put them in, Michal Jackson died. never again
[Polyvore] Here

[The Rest]
Kenya dresses like those of her community when not in uniform- style, comfort and the best brands you can buy from down-town Crowley. Which is to say, they might not be 5th avenue, but Washington Heights could take a few pointers. Orange is her favorite color and collars are made for poppin’. She walks with the confidence that yes, she knows you want to ‘tap that’ but it’s not going to happen in this or your next life-time bucko. She speaks with the slightest reserve after years of being told again and again that “No granddaughter of mine will sound like a crack house whore.” Her grammar is appropriate and the colloquialisms are kept at bay. Needless to say, don’t expect any ‘z’ snaps from this girl.


Personality
Likes: Dance, Rogers & Hammerstien, toys in the bottom of cereal boxes, her brother JJ when he’s not an idiot, tea, Broadway, Maria Callas, bright mornings after a rainy night, chai-tea, England, fluffy towels, Queen  Latifah
Dislikes: Country-Western movies, bubble-gum smacking, the smell of burning rubber, being sweaty, Andrew Lloyd Webber, acne, one-way streets, pancakes, graphic novels, Oprah, strawberry milk, her father, very small children, Manswers,
Quirks:
• Kenya is a bit superstitious, and will perform the odd ritual before something important- refuse to talk an hour before a performance, wear a certain ring to exams, etc.
• When she was 13, she was the first actress to take up the part of Gavroche in Acadia Parish’s rendition of Les Miserables. Every summer since, she has participated in her hometown’s summer theater shows.
• Due to the way Justin is pronounced colloquially (Justine), Kenya is still pretty sure that Justin Beiber is in fact, a young lesbian girl.
• Kenya doesn't actively participate in drinking or smoking- not that she is ignorant as to what her peers do at parties, and heck- she is often at them as well, but rarely does her glass contain anything more than a rum & coke without the rum.
• The background of her cellphone is a young, bearded Mandy Patinkin during his performance in Yentle
• Her left foot is a size and a half larger than her right. She buys two pairs, and then gives one of the extras to an alto in her grandmother’s church’s choir- who lost her right foot in an accident several years back. She has yet to find someone to give the extra left shoes to.

Secrets:
• Her ‘first time’, was on a stage-couch after a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. :|
• During the Christmas season of her Junior year, she found where her father was living and peeked in the window- only to find he and a ‘new family’ (wife and three children) that she was unaware of. She suspects that they are equally unaware of her and her brother.
• She has bailed her brother out of jail twice for possession with intent to sell.
• Kenya has never had a weave.
• She really doesn't like Andrew Lloyd Webber, but since he's the only composer that people tend to associate the genre with, she tolerates the gifts of Phantom again and again and...
• She has a nearly debilitating crush on Professor Carson, and nearly failed the class last year when she got up the courage to take it. Her grandmother was not amused.


What’s in your characters pockets? Sha-bam.
Strengths: focused, kind, musically talented,
Weaknesses: unable to use chopsticks, difficult seeing the 'bigger picture', holds a grudge, tying her shoes, poor driver (2 moving violations at present), requires contacts,
Strongest subject in school: Charms
Weakest subject in school: Formerly Muggle Academics, currently Divination (it's one of her favorites, but proving to be a bit of a challenge)
One thing he/she can't live without: Her earrings, as stated before Kenya believes that if she goes without them, someone will die.

Detailed personality:
The first word that comes to mind when one describes Kenya's personality is that she is... nice. Pleasant. Kenya is not the girl in the front row taking notes and answering every question the teacher has to offer, but nor is she the one who sits in the back throwing paper airplanes. She is the girl in the middle, the quiet one who you have to watch out for.

As one of those people who try to see the best in everyone, it's rather difficult to scew this opinion in her eyes, though once you have? Her good opinion of you is lost forever. She knows how to hold a grudge and how to hold it in with rather impressive efficiency. But that is the negative, and Kenya always tries to see the positive in a situation. When it is raining, she is one to be thankful that at least she can cover her head, and when she gets a C on a paper, thanks someone up there that at least it wasn't a D. She was raised to be thankful for the small favors in every day life, and to count her blessings every night before bed. And count them she does. Be thankful she has friends, be thankful she has education, be thankful... etc etc.


Personal History:
Kenya, and subsequently her elder brother JJ, were both without a doubt, raised by their grandmother. Their bedrooms were (and are) made up of a retired woman’s guest bedrooms, and their luxury based on her retirement and pension. When Kenya was just over four years old, her mother dropped the two off to stay the weekend while she got her head back on straight, her life back on track and pull herself together after their father and her husband left them for a ‘better’ family and life. Those days turned into weeks, weeks into months and after a few years it was with her grandmother, not her mother did Kenya help JJ get ready for CCI, and then herself. Lucky Kenya, for she never had to pick favorites between her parents in their messy divorce, choose who to live with or spend holidays- for neither chose her and she grew to hate both. Somewhere, she has pity for her mother, but there is nothing for her father, for all that he sends them a check monthly- unlike so many dead-beat dads of his generation.

When Kenya started school at CCI, she was lucky enough not to be hit with such dreadful homesickness as others might’ve been, after all, her Nana was only a little while off and able to come to all her school functions without hassle. Her brother, only two grades above her was whom she followed daily in an attempt to stay in his shadow, to even be his shadow on the sunnier days. To him she was just ‘his brat’- for while he could make fun of her, no one else could.

It was in the two years he spent in upper academy without her that Kenya finally found her voice and her feet. A roommate was going to NYC for the holidays and the parents decided to bring along her quiet little friend. The city, so much more than either Crowely and New Orleans could offer shocked and amazed her. The sights, sounds and above all- music hit her in a way she didn’t know it could. She rode her first taxi and saw her first Broadway Show- The Lion King. By the time The Circle of Life ended her life’s ambition was clear. Kenya? Was going to one day, be on stage. While in NYC, she and her roommate spent their waking hours sitting outside box offices, using up all their allowance to see Wicked, Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray and A Year With Frog and Toad. Her roommate wasn’t into it as much as Kenya, but the adventure of the two of them was exciting just the same. When they arrived back in Louisiana, Kenya began her own record collection- abandoning those of her grandmother and ignoring such of her brother. Bernadette Peters replaced Beyonce, Stephen Sondheim replacing Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. Though her family thought it was odd, her Nana had to admit that it was a minor relief to see at least one of her grandchildren sit with their headphones on without the fear of what is going into their ears.

This obsession, for a lack of a better term, followed Kenya as she traveled up the grades in CCI, it was ’Mamma Don’t Know’ that she hummed when sorted into Rienzi, at which she was not surprised. Though her elder brother was a Lalaurie, it was evident that though related, the two siblings were not so much the same as they once were. Her grandmother was to find out immediately, the poor owl being sent out before she had a chance to unpack. Her mother was not to find out until her semi-annual holiday visit when she saw her daughter decked out in the colors and uniform. Her father is yet to be informed.

Kenya thrived in the upper academy, taking the classes, getting Bs and As on her exams and writing home to her Nana on an almost overly regular basis. Though she hasn’t admitted it to her elder yet, upon graduation at the end of next year she has every intention of going to school for music and drama, so that one day- somehow she can also take the stage. She isn’t one to date, or date very well and as a senior, she is vaguely aware that this should upset her, but until it does she will keep going the distance.