Interview: Yolo Akili By Franklin Abbott
Yolo Akili is author of the upcoming book, Dear Universe: Letters of Affirmation and Empowerment. He is a poet and activist on many fronts. From his website www.yoloakili.com : Yolo Akili Robinson (known as Yolo Akili) is a performance artist, counselor, Iyengar yogi and social justice worker. His career and work emphasis has been on black masculinities, gender & LGBTQ rights, HIV & AIDS, and emotional/spiritual wellness. Yolo is the former Regional Training Coordinator for Men Stopping Violence, where he served as the lead designer and architect of Mercury, an online education platform for men on violence against women. He is the co-founder of the pro-feminist queer men’s group: Sweet Tea: Southern Queer Men’s Collective, and has worked as an organizer for SPARK! Reproductive Justice, The Atlanta Queer Literary Festival and United 4 Safety. Yolo is a vocal proponent of Emotional Justicewhich calls for an analysis of wellness and trauma in the context of social justice. He is a spiritual teacher and a licensed 200 level Iyengar Yoga teacher (RYT),having studied and graduated fromYoga of India Yoga School, in Sandy Springs Georgia. His work has appeared in publications such as The Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, Aquarius Magazine,The Crunk Feminist Collective, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Voice Male. He is also the author of the chapbook “Poems In The Key of Green” and the spoken word album “Purple Galaxy.” He has been a keynote speaker, panelist and featured performer at many universities and conferences including Vanderbilt University, the National HIV prevention Conference, Columbia University, Fordham University, University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana, The Texas Council on Family Violence, Northern Illinois University, Baruch College, Agnes Scott College and much more. He has been awarded the Creative Leadership Award by the Feminist Women’s Health Center Atlanta, A ZAMI award and the “Unity In Community Award” from Unity in Christ Fellowship Church. Yolo currently resides in New York, New York.
48 RFD 153 Spring 2013
1. How young were you when your Grandmother taught you how to talk with plants? My grandmother never explicitly taught me to talk to plants. She more so showed me through her example. She would get up and water her plants and just be out their chatting it up with them. She never said “this is how you do it” though she did tell me that they liked it, and to my young mind, it seemed like they did! (Laughs). Later in my life I started talking to my own plants (which disturbed my neighbors). I actually do feel that in their own way, they respond. I also feel like it helps me to remember the sentient nature of all life. When I talk to them, it helps me remember that it’s not just all about humans on this planet. There are other kinds of people here too, who deserve life and balance. 2. When did you begin to channel Wonderwoman? (Laughs) I don’t know if I channel Wonder Photo courtesy Yolo Akili