Meet Lorenzo
Lorenzo served as editor and creative consultant for Silence is Death: Unleashed Voices: an anthology of essays, poetry and short stories; a project with the Palm Beach Health Department giving voice to those who are often silenced when AIDS & HIV affects or infects their lives. He also produced and co-directed his first documentary, Silence is Death: Unheard Voices in conjunction with the project.
Lorenzo currently lives in Broward County with his husband Derald and continues to write, perform, and facilitate workshops as well as keynote speeches for local and national organizations when requested. He also serves as co-founder of BROTHASPEAK, a discussion and discovery group for same-gender loving men of color as well as founder and conference coordinator for the Ujima Men’s Collective; a network of Black same gender loving men addressing issues and other paramount concerns germane to Black men in all populations.
From crayon drawings that first adorned his name, Lorenzo has been writing. It was those formative years that proved the genesis of his budding love for the performing arts. From childhood, he staged fashion shows, wrote poetry, and playlets with his sister and brothers in tow to perform for his family and friends.
His acting debut as both the father and grandfather in The Leftover Reindeer ignited his itch for acting. Shortly thereafter, Lorenzo could be found center stage in most (if not all) of his middle and high school productions as the lead or playing several characters in one production. He recalls that it was hard to get boys in Pahokee to be in a play.
He attributes acting to his love for writing and the source of his debut novel Detached. His love of words later fostered the publishing of his first book of poetry, eclectic essence; both critically acclaimed and published by Ishai Books.
Lorenzo’s literary sojourn ignited an introspection that would become his autobiographical one-man show, me, myself and i. After previews with excerpts from the work in progress, he mounted the full show in collaboration with Central Stage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida which debuted to sold out crowds each night.