About

My name is Omari Kamau Williams-Reid.  UaMaK is my art name..  I am 39 years young, driven by Caribbean and African ancestry. I was exposed to music and theater at a very young age. I played the piano and then I moved on to playing the tenor saxophone until high school. I played in the youth symphony from ten until I graduated high school.   I attended schools that exposed me to theatre and art. I also grew up reading and loving Shakespeare. As a young boy, I taught myself how to write scripts and sometimes I still dabble in it.  I wish that one day, I can write a full script that can be performed in a theater or a movie.

     I was, and still is driven to always work hard. Unfortunately, I went to work one day and was not feeling well. I came back home thinking that I just needed to rest. By that afternoon, I had to be rushed to the hospital. At the age of 32, I had a stroke.

     My brain continued to swell, and the doctors had to operate.  After surgery on my brain, I stayed in the hospital for one month before entering rehabilitation for another month. Through physical therapy, I had to relearn everything again.  I had to relearn how to walk, how to care for myself and how to talk. I’m still experiencing aphasia and cannot remember and say my sentences fluently. I have seizures sometimes and is taking medicine to reduce the  amount of episodes. I also have some discomfort on my right side, but I continue to work through these challenges.

    In order to focus on building my strength emotionally and physically, I started learning the saxophone again and also kept busy by drawing every day. Lately, I have taken up walking for exercise. I try to walk for 2.5 to 3 miles daily. This is helping me tremendously. It is helping me to not get down on myself by staying actively focused.

   There are some good days and there are also those bad days that I have to keep a positive mindset to get through. I am trying to do my best and take one moment, one day at a time so I can have joy in my life again.

   My art helps me to express myself in many ways. I love mixing colors and designs  that draw upon what I see, feel, hear and touch around me. My hope is that I can express my feelings through art, and I can also reach out to others who have similar challenges. I want to connect, inspire, share and continue to imagine and learn.  I am thankful for my family and my super friends, who continue to support me every day.  

Thank you.

Omari Kamau Williams-Reid