Episode 62 with Poet, Activist, Actor and Powerful Performer, Donté Clark, Inspiration for Romeo is Bleeding

On Episode 62 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete has the pleasure to speak with Donté Clark. Donté and Pete discuss Donte’s growing up in North Richmond, CA, his childhood memories-both beautiful and traumatic, his work in the movie Romeo is Bleeding, his poetry, his teaching, and his poetry collection, Close Caskets.

 

Donté Clark is a poet, actor, and community activist from unincorporated North Richmond, California who works with youth organizations throughout the Richmond area.

As a student in high school, Clark was recruited by his English teacher Molly Raynor who was founding a youth arts program, RAW Talent. Clark became the artistic lead of the program's first play, Té's Harmony, which examined local issues through the structure of Romeo and Juliet. The performance was introduced by poet Luis J. Rodriguez. The 2015 documentary Romeo Is Bleeding follows Clark in the process of writing and performing Té's Harmony.

In July 2014, Donté Clark and two others, Lincoln Bergman and Brenda Quintanilla, were made poets laureate of Richmond for a two year period. They were preceded as poet laureate by Dwayne Parish, and succeeded by Daniel Ari, Ciera-Jevai Gordon and Rob Lipton.

Clark's mentoring of the community's youth has led to some becoming mentors and teachers themselves, including poet and actor DeAndre Evans who appeared with Clark and Will Hartfield reciting poetry for a PBS story about housing in Richmond.

Clark has a supporting role in the 2016 film Kicks, the 2018 film Code Switch, and stars in the web series The North Pole. 

 

 

 

Show Notes and Links to Donté Clark’s Work

 

Buy Donté ’s Close Caskets Here

 

Donté Clark's Wikipedia

 

The Creative Independent Interview with Donté by Ambrose Mary Gallagher

 

Close Caskets Interview with Richmond Pulse

 

Edutopia Article about Romeo is Bleeding

 

Donté Clark Discusses Romeo is Bleeding

 

Romeo is Bleeding Trailer

 

Watch Romeo is Bleeding through YouTube

 

Donté performs his work, “Let Me Breathe” in 2014

 

Donté in Season 1, Episode 1 of Series The North Pole

Talking Points/Authors/Books Mentioned and Allusions Referenced During the Episode:

 

At about 2:50, Donté talks about Richmond, CA, and his background there, and how he sees it as a “small city” and its interconnectedness and history of families

 

At about 5:30, Donté talks about one of his poems “600 Banks Drive” and its connection to the innocent days of his childhood

 

At about 10:40, Donté talks about shifts in his life, where innocence was lessened through his middle school days and looking back at possible traumas, and how he felt forced to make adult/serious decisions at a young ages

 

At about 14:35, Donté talks about the idea of “growing up too fast” and “growing up backwards”

 

At about 17:30, Donté talks about the dynamics between certain parts of Richmond

 

At about 23:40, Donté talks about his poem “Bus Stop” and how “exhausting” life can often be when you have to be vigilant so much of the time and how this hypervigilance has impacted Donté in his later life

 

At about 28:20, Donté talks about how he got into the Renaissance Man life-being an actor, poet, performer, etc., when he had at one time, according to Romeo is Bleeding, wanted to “be the best dope dealer.”

 

At about 35:20, Pete asks Donté about chill-inducing writers, and Donté references several, including Amir Sulaiman, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Jesmyn Ward, Chinaka Hodge, Lauren Whitehead, and Molly Raynor 

 

At about 39:45, Donté talks about Molly Raynor and how she gained his respect when he was 17 and how the two began working together 

 

At about 47:50, Donté describes reactions from him and others when he did his first poetry performances and his thoughts on the subject matter and how when he’s teaching, checking in with students comes first

 

At about 54:25, Pete and Donté discuss some powerful lines from the documentary Romeo is Bleeding and Donte and “being in tune” with the words he reads and with the audience

 

At about 57:20, Donté discusses the Romeo and Juliet links to Romeo is Bleeding and the incredible feelings after presenting the work to an audience; he also talks about early casting 

 

At about 1:06:40, Donté talks about Luis Rodriguez’s help and support for Romeo is Bleeding and Donté’s work as Poet Laureate of Richmond

 

At about 1:14:25, Donté talks about some of his acting work, including The North Pole YouTube series

 

At about 1:16:55, Donté explains the meanings and background of the title of his poetry collection, Close Caskets, as well as how Karla Brundage and Pacific Raven Press became the publishers

 

At about 1:20:00, Pete reads an excerpt of the poetry collection’s foreword from Dr. Khalid White

 

At about 1:24:00, Pete and Donté discuss themes from the poetry collection, including loss, poverty, hunger, as seen in “33 Reasons,” “Gimme,” “Today, I…”

 

At about 1:26:25. Donté talks about the poem “Orgy” and its inspiration from the history of white America’s obsession with and violation of black bodies, as well as from the murder of George Floyd and the slow and public way in which he was killed

 

At about 1:32:40, Donté connects “Orgy” to some of his other work and discusses the deep-seat racism that exists 

 

At about 1:35:05, Donté discusses the rationale behind the form, style, and structure in some of his poetry, including in “Before Becoming,” “Hell is All I Know,” and “The Math”

 

At about 1:38:50, Donté reads his poem from Close Caskets-“Studying Don’t Solve Sorrows”

 

At about 1:41:00, Donté reads his poem from Close Caskets-“Today, I”

 

At about 1:43:30, Donté reads “Blessed Be”-his poem from Close Caskets

 

At about 1:44:20, Donté talks about his future ideas and projects