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.Love in the Time of Turf Wars by Edgardo Cervano-Soto, Richmond Pulse. February 12, 2013. Accessed April 30, 2015.
In July 2014, Donté Clark and two others, Lincoln Bergman and Brenda Quintanilla, were made poets laureate of Richmond for a two year period.Three poets laureate selected to represent Richmond over next two years . The Richmond Standard. July 14, 2014. Accessed April 30, 2015. 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.Poetry exposes truth about public housing in the Bay Area by Victoria Fleischer. February 24, 2014. Accessed April 30, 2015.
Clark has a supporting role in the 2016 film Kicks, the 2018 film Code Switch, and stars in the web series The North Pole.
Clark debuted a short film, Blú Honey, in 2026."The Film 'Blú Honey' Shows the Poetry of Coming of Age in Richmond" by Pendarvis Harshaw, February 25, 2026, KQED. Accessed February 26, 2026. The script was written in poetry; Clark said, "I want the poets to be able to see themselves. Like, 'Oh okay, so not only could I do slam poetry and write books, but I could write a movie too.'"
Collections
KNOWFREEDOM (2018, self-published on CreateSpace) We Cry Freedom (F&M Publishing)
See also
List of municipal poets laureate in California
References
External links