Promoting Black-Owned Businesses Is A Sweet Spot for ‘A Snowy Day in Oakland’ Star Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker may be known for her many memorable roles, including her most recent ones in The Best Man: The Final Chapters, And Just Like That, as well as Chicago P.D., but indie film is what got the NYU Tisch School of the Arts alum here. And she hasn’t forgotten those roots, which is why she plays therapist Dr. LaTrice Monroe in director/writer Kim Bass’s A Snowy Day in Oakland.
Described as “magical-realism comedy,” A Snowy Day in Oakland, the debut film release from the independent PoC (People of Culture) Studios, explores many pressing themes of community, including Black-owned businesses, relationships, and mental health. Parker is a therapist who opens an office in the neighborhood. While the longtime residents view her as an outsider, the truth is that community is also her home. Going through a breakup and trying to find her purpose in life has brought her back and she is committed to the community, even as gentrification threatens to destroy it.
“One of the great things that I take from seeing the finished product is that she goes back into her community,” shares Parker via Zoom. That communal love is also reflected in the characters her many well-known co-stars play. Kimberly Elise and Deon Cole are Theona and Davis, a hairdresser and…
