Throughout this year, we will be highlighting individuals or groups that have impacted our work over the last 50 years.

Lorinda Hawkins Smith

Former POV Violence Prevention Specialist

“This summer I'm performing my full length solo show, Justice? Or...Just Me? The Bite in the Hollywood Fringe Festival (13 years in the making). My production was selected to be a recipient of the 2021 Hollywood Fringe Festival Diversity Scholarship awarded to productions with powerful community impact. This is the first in a trilogy of shows: The Bite, The Fight and The Flight based on the Justice? Or...Just Me? book series. I recently just published the first in the series which coincides with the show of the same title.

The show and book highlight my journey of leaving a domestic violence marriage and all that it entailed. Being a Violence Prevention Specialist with POV taught me so much. Through presenting and tabling at events, I was able to learn about the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation that benefits Foster Youth. Biddy Mason is my shero. She was an ex-slave that won her freedom in court and went on to be a philanthropist, real estate investor, church planter, right here in L.A. She is a constant reminder that once you have been freed from bondage, not to return to it again. Being involved with POV was also a blessing to my son. At the time, I took him to see The Hunting Ground and it made a profound impact on him. He then became involved with Youth Over Violence and wrote a paper on sexual violence on campus which helped get him into his college he has since graduated. It is my desire to continue to bring awareness to domestic violence to the point where we end it. Also, it is my desire for October to be known by more people to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month.”