Yolo Akili is an award winning writer, performance artist, astrologer, Iyengar yoga teacher and social justice advocate. His career and work emphasis has been on gender & sexuality social issues, LGBTQ rights, HIV & AIDS and emotional/spiritual wellness.
He is a graduate of Georgia State University, where he earned his B.A in Women’s & African American Studies. He is a licensed 200 level Iyengar Yoga teacher (RYT),having studied and graduated from Yoga of India Yoga School, in Sandy Springs Georgia. He has been awarded the Creative Leadership Award by the Feminist Women’s Health Center , A ZAMI award and the “Unity In Community Award” from Unity in Christ Fellowship Church.
As a performance artist, he is the author of the poetry chapbook “Poems in the Key Of Green” and the spoken word album “Purple Galaxy”. He has been a featured performer at the National HIV prevention Conference, The State of Black Gay America Summit, The Southeastern Students Against Sweatshops Conference, Harlem Pride, MAGNET San Francisco, Agnes Scott College, Morehouse College and much more. His performance art videos have been featured at numerous colleges and universities as talking points for forums on gender,race and sexuality.
He and his writings and articles have appeared in numerous venues including The Good Men Project, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Voice Male, Left Turn, The GA Voice, David, and Aquarius magazine.
He has also worked in the field of HIV & AIDS service, working with AID Atlanta’s Deeper Love Project, where he facilitated “Many Men Many Voices”Interventions and organized community events for black gay men. He worked with National AIDS & Education Services, where he was apart of the creative team that helped to establish “Da C.R.I.B.B” an HIV Prevention Community center for young black gay men. At “Da C.R.I.B.B” Yolo conducted HIV & AIDS Testing and facilitated CRCS (Comprehensive Risk Counseling Services), and independently designed wellness workshops such as “Upgrade You: A Workshop on Loving, Appreciating and Celebrating Your Self” for young black gay men.
Through his gender & sexuality activism, he has been an organizer with United 4 Safety (LGBTQ Domestic Violence Organization), Spark! Reproductive Justice and the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival. He worked as the Regional training coordinator for Men Stopping Violence where he organized the mentor program, taught men’s education classes (commonly called batterer’s intervention courses) and trained and educated organizations and individuals on gender based violence.
Yolo currently lives in New York, providing provocative trainings, consulting, education, yoga classes and spiritual consultations to groups and individuals across the world.
Website © 2012 Yolo Akili Robinson
