A fatal turf war between neighborhoods haunts the city of Richmond, CA. Donté Clark transcends the violence in his hometown by writing poetry about his experiences. Using his voice to inspire those around him, he and the like-minded youth of the city mount an urban adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the hope of starting a real dialogue about violence in the city. Will Richmond force Donté to compromise his idealistic ambitions? Or will Donté end Richmond’s cycle of trauma?

Molly Raynor is a poet, educator and community leader. She has facilitated creative writing workshops in prisons, juvenile facilities, halfway houses, high schools, teen centers and summer camps and has traveled from coast to coast performing spoken word and organizing youth slams. She’s a two-time Ann Arbor youth poetry slam champion and has coached both the Ann Arbor youth team and the University of Michigan slam team. She’s published two poetry collections and has been featured on National Public Radio. Molly graduated with a Bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in 2006, where she created her own major, entitled “Critical Pedagogy & Activism Through the Arts”. After spending six years as a member and leader within several spoken word programs and collectives (the Volume Youth Poetry Project, Ann Arbor Wordworks and the Cypher), Molly moved to the Bay Area in 2007 and founded RAW Talent in 2008. She is the recipient of a Jefferson Award for Public Service as well as a Teachers 4 Social Justice Award.