Death Sentence is a spoken word performance commenting on Blackness, police violence, queerness, and survival. The Black queer political art performance artists hope to help audience members work through and heal from the trauma of police brutality against Black bodies.
Victor Yates, spoken word artist, will use performative techniques, body paint, and symbols of violence to heighten tension in the performance as he speaks an original poem containing the last words of Black people murdered by the police.
The performance will be recorded and presented on the City of West Hollywood’s website with a Q&A session with the artist to provide context for the performance and shape the conversation surrounding police violence.
Victor Yates is a writer and storyteller. He works as a freelance writer for a local L.A.-based LGBT quarterly publication. He also directed his first documentary film two years ago and is in the final stages of editing the film. He is currently working on his second novel. His first novel, A Love Like Blood, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction.
Death Sentence, a spoken word performance by Victor Yates, premieres 23rd October at 7pm (EST), followed by a live Q&A with the artist.