Sharon M. Lewis is a Canadian television personality and film director from Toronto, Ontario. She studied political science at the University of Toronto. She was an actress and author before being the host of counterSpin on CBC Television in 2001, and then hosted ZeD, also for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She began her career on counterSpin with a special on the September 11 attacks. She called herself an "activist," saying "it's a journalist's job to activate change through information... Who isn't passionate and is in the journalist field, otherwise I don't know what would drive you?" After leaving ZeD, Ziya Tong took over as host. Lewis subsequently established the company urbansoul inc., which promotes the art of minority women. During her acting career, she appeared on Degrassi: The Next Generation as the mother of Jimmy Brooks, who was played by rapper Drake. She also appeared in the film Troubled Waters. In 2017, Lewis directed her Afro-futurist feature film Brown Girl Begins, a feature film prequel to the celebrated novel Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Lewis is a member of Film Fatales. Filmography Filmmaker Actress References External links Sharon Lewis' ZeD biography Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Toronto Black Canadian actresses Black Canadian broadcasters Black Canadian filmmakers Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian television hosts Canadian women television hosts CBC Television people Film directors from Toronto Writers from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Canadian television directors Canadian women television directors Canadian women film directors Canadian women screenwriters