I am an artist who creates with the belief that if my work (written or performed) can make at least five-to-ten people get up and leave during intermission, then I have done my job as a revolutionary artist. Why? Because I want to create art that places a mirror up to its audiences and forces them to face truths about themselves that they wouldn't dare face otherwise. I intend to make my audiences very uncomfortable with my work, why? Because on their way home, they are going to have to talk about why they were so uncomfortable that they had to leave mid-performance, and in doing so, they will have opened up a discussion about what they experienced, which is all I ask for. If they decide not to talk about it, I am certain that the silence will speak volumes. That is how I change the hearts of the people- with the truth- my truth.

I am who you would call a “Hood rat, straight out of the projects of South Central, Los Angeles.” So, when asked why I create, it is simply because of where I come from. I come from nothing, yet a whole lot of something. I come from poverty; where the streets are stained with America’s “lowest of the low,” the ignored and unseen. However, we are so much more. Our hearts are made out of pure gold, our eyes reveal pain that our lips aren’t conditioned to articulate; yet our souls still manage to survive. I survived- but there is still a group of people whose voices I have dedicated myself to making sure are heard; whose stories I must tell.

My artistic journey has consisted of theatre for and by my community in South Los Angeles. I have used poetry, playwriting, music, film, and theatre as a platform for social change. My work reveals the brutal honesty about my own personal experiences, and specific aspects of the Black experience that I feel must be brought to life. I am interested in providing new perspectives on issues that we don’t usually consider. I want to give voices to those who have been silenced. More than anything, I seek to create and perform in interactive theatre that is inclusive to my audiences.

When the lights come down and all is said and done, I want those who experience my art to be challenged, and changed in some way. I am inspired by and intend to continue to create art that causes it’s audience to have an emotional and physical interaction with it. I want to create art that makes my audience shift in their seats, lean in, or walk out during intermission because they couldn’t handle the raw truth of their own selves. I want my art to place a mirror in front of its audiences so that they may discover their own realities. I want my work to raise awareness and give perspective where there simply is none. There’s two sides to every story, yet only one side gets told; I strive to tell the other side that no one ever wants to address. I know I can’t save the world with my work, which is why I’ll take it one heart and one soul at a time.