Our Team
Antonio David Lyons
Director of the Racial Justice Institute’s EnActors
Email: al1883@georgetown.edu
A multi-disciplinary artist whose storytelling often fuses poetry, music, and embodied movement. An Applied Theatre Practitioner who manages to maintain a thriving career as a professional artist in tandem with his activist and scholarly pursuits.
He has been an Art and Social Justice Fellow at Emory University. A Fulbright Awardee, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival Producing Fellow, and a Scholar in Residence at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He is the creator of “We Are Here”, a social activism campaign birthed in South Africa that utilizes discoursive play to engage men and boys in themes of identity, Masculinity, relationships, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS. We Are Here has implemented programs and toured in South Africa, Namibia, and the USA. Writings about We Are Here, appear in Performance and Politics in Africa; University of Michigan Press.
Some of his producing credits include: Recipes, Remedies and Rumors; Community Producer, La Comedia of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Beautiful Struggle (US Consulate Commission/Market Theatre, Johannesburg); Back2Back Thursdays; We Are Here (premier/ Joburg Theatre) **this poetry based solo show became a multi-person play produced in collaboration with TX Theatre at the Soweto Theatre; Culturefest (Oregon Shakespeare Festival)
Some of his Film/television credits include: Sherman’s Showcase, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Star Trek: Picard, Seal Team, Bosch, Person of Interest, The Book of Negroes, Avenger, Generation Kill, False Prophets, Hotel Rwanda, Masked and Anonymous, American History X, The Sum of All Fears, New York Undercover, The District, The Agency, 24, The Practice, Philly and Karen Sisco, In South Africa: Generations, Jacob’s Cross, Fourplay: Sex Tips For Girls, Scandal, Ubizo: The Calling, Jozi-H, Night Drive and Home Affairs.
He’s released numerous poetry-infused music projects which include: Human Jewels (album), We Dance We Pray (album and remix EP) and My Africa (album and remix EP).
He is currently manifesting several projects: Crossing Rivers (an immersive theatrical experience/ writer), Women on the Hill (TV series/ creator-writer), Almost A Dancer (Film Project/writer), and Breathe (Short Film/writer-actor) and his first collection of poetry, TWO SIDE/SAME COIN.
He also serves as the Board President for the Valerie J. Maynard Foundation.
Website: http://www.antoniodavidlyons.com/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Antoniolyons
Leslie Jones
Assistant Director of the Racial Justice Institute’s Enactors. Community Artist & Restorative Consultant
Leslie is an actress, writer and arts-educator from Brooklyn, NY. As an actress, she has performed extensively throughout the US. In 2015 she founded Artery, a Brooklyn-based arts organization committed to presenting affordable performance and other creative events to communities where arts events may not be readily accessible. She currently facilitates workshops for families and educators in areas of conflict management, wellness, personal development, and transformative Social Emotional Learning. In addition to working with the NYC public school system, she has been invited to train staff in schools nationwide, including Lafayette LA, San Francisco, CA and Philadelphia, PA. She is currently working as the personal development instructor for both AileyCamp NY and AileyCamp Baltimore.
Leslie currently resides in Baltimore, MD.
Justin Alexander Gordon
Assistant Director of the Racial Justice Institute’s Enactors
Justin Alexander Gordon is the assistant director of the Racial Justice Enactors at Georgetown University and an adjunct professor at the Georgetown Law School. Gordon is a masters graduate from Harvard’s School of Education and in addition to teaching and creating in Washington DC, Gordon has brought arts education services to all levels of students from Kindergarten to Medical School, in New York and Michigan. Gordon is a rapper, writer, producer, actor, and creator of the Most Turnt Nerd. Most Turnt Nerd is a character created to use theatre, film and music to influence families of the youth from the hoods of America to enjoy public school education. He is also a Lin-Manuel Miranda family fellow, which is a conglomerate of artists who are traditionally underrepresented in commercial art spaces. Gordon is also the author of the acclaimed poetry book, 6 Mile Negus on the Honor Roll at Michigan. This book uses the vehicle of poetry to celebrate survival and triumph despite suffering from domestic violence, police violence and poverty from the perspective of a melanated 24 year old whose identities intersect in ways that illustrate the diversity of the United States.
Website: justinalexandergordon.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mostturntnerd