UC San Diego

In August 2014 I lie for hours, motionless and bloodied on the ground in Center City Philadelphia before Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE statue, in silent protest of police brutality. It went viral. Overnight I became ‘the guy who always talks about race.’ Soon people wanted my opinion on every aspect of critical race theory imaginable. I had to educate myself, and quick, because what they didn’t understand is that my burning desire to react to this pressing issue didn’t come from readings in books. It came from a deep fear and disappointment in my lived experience as a Black person in this country, and I

could no longer be silent. It was a long time before I found the beauty and value in my lived, Black experience. In October 2015 I was able to combine that experience with my artistic skill as an actor; writing and performing, THE BITTER GAME.

This piece of theater effectively combined all that petrifies me as an actor and human; devised theater, solo performance, semi-autobiographical storytelling and yes… basketball. The sleepless nights and mounting anxiety I daily felt while sitting to put pen to paper, attempting in my own way to address such a polarizing topic as excessive police force, was paralyzing. My heart break daily for the families of the victims whom I used as source material.

However, through it all, I was reminded of these two truths: for the artist, heartbreak is a rite of passage and that the thin line between art and activism must be traversed with courage.