Karen Williams was born on August 12, 1952 in the Soundview area of the Bronx. Karen’s parents were only 18 years old when she was born, and she was the oldest of seven children. Thus, Karen grew up quickly and took on many caretaking responsibilities alongside her parents. Karen always loved going to school, excelling so much that she was bused to intelligently gifted classes on other areas far away from her home. Unfortunately, Karen faced discrimination there, and was even discouraged from participating in a junior high school science fair because she was a girl. 

At age 17, Karen placed a child for adoption—she reunited with her son, Ben, 25 years later. At age 18, she moved to Connecticut, where she left college, got married, and had another child. Amidst her struggles during this time, Karen’s father and brother embraced Buddhism, which inspired her to start a chanting practice, and she’s continued practicing SGI Nichiren Buddhism for 50 years. She and her then-husband both struggled with addiction and entered rehabilitation programs. Through recovery, Karen came to terms with her lesbian identity as her marriage dissolved. She moved out to California in 1974 with her son, Yusef, first to Santa Monica and eventually to the Bay Area. Her third child, Keith, was born in 1981.

Working in Oakland as a secretary for $9 an hour, Karen would chant and pray for two things: to get her kids out of “the worst neighborhood in Berkeley,” and to be able to see the world. On a whim, when a comic approached her and some friends in a hotel bar to promote his show, Karen blurted out, “I do comedy too,” and he gave her 5 minutes in his act. Before she knew it, she was honing her comedy chops in the Bay Area Black comedy competitions in Oakland. Later she performed comedy for lesbians, and her set at a Take Back the Night event in Santa Cruz even earned her a standing ovation. She was eventually scouted to perform at SF Pride, which then gave her the platform to perform in the National Women’s Music Festival in Indiana, at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, and on Olivia cruises to the Caribbean and around the world. 

Karen faced challenges balancing parenting responsibilities with her comic career, and had to make difficult decisions about prioritizing her values and earning a living performing comedy. Ultimately, she found ways to make her work an expression of those values. After reuniting with her first son in her forties, Karen harnessed her work as a healing power by speaking at adoption conferences. And when a gay man approached her after one of her healing and huor workshops and thanked her for helping him laugh again after the devastating loss of his partner, Karen was so moved that she started the International Institute of Humor and Healing Arts (HaHA Institute). She’s since led countless humor and healing workshops for nonprofits, AIDS organizations, health and recovery groups, women’s groups, and colleges where she boldly shares the healing power of humor.

Karen’s thirst for knowledge has never stopped. She’s taken courses in real estate, learned couture sewing at a fashion institute, and returned to the university in her forties to finish both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Now she’s studying social gerontology, where she’s exploring how ageism appears across diverse social groups, focusing on discrimination and other challenges that LGBTQ+ elders face. She also shares stories about the importance of philanthropy, the backstories behind her tattoos, and the power of connection and support in the LGBTQ+ community.