By Nicole S. Daniel
The Birmingham Times
Omari Grandberry – better known as Omarion, a Grammy-award nominated singer/songwriter, performer and actor who became popular in the early 2000’s as the lead singer of R&B boy band, B2K — was in Birmingham last week for another one of his talents: book author.
Nearly 100 people gathered at the Birmingham Public Library Central Branch for Omarion’s newly released book “Unbothered: The Power of Choosing Joy” and his Q&A session led by Birmingham writer and comedian Jermaine “Funnymaine” Johnson.
Johnson asked Omarion what it means to be “Unbothered.”
“Being unbothered is not about brushing things off. Being unbothered is about emotional intelligence. You have the ability [ when having challenging moments] to take a step back instead of react you respond,” the author said.
Omarion said he has faced an abundance of life challenges but remained unbothered which motivated him to write his book.
Asked about becoming an author he replied, “The motivation was all of this experience and having the opportunity to share this information. I put an autobiographical book out many years ago when I was young but to be able to make that turn and see how I am not the only person that goes through things and how this can really be valuable to people.”
Johnson asked Omarion what he wanted readers to know about the book. “I want them to know that Unbothered: The Power of Choosing Joy is up to you. The first step in my journey was deciding, you have to decide that you want better and different. I want everybody to receive that at the end of the day … ups and downs will happen. Things won’t always go our way but it’s up to you to truly choose joy.”
Johnson allowed attendees to ask questions for the author and some included:
How has the book change you?
“This has been healing for me, this has been me holding myself accountable. I’ve been writing this book for over a year in a half,” he said.
How do you hold yourself accountable?
“It’s about creating that nucleus of people. My brother holds me accountable. There is something powerful about admitting maybe there’s another way I could have done something. I keep myself accountable by quickly apologizing and making sure I am communicating that I am not perfect,” he said.
