Artist Bio

(Bio as of March 2022)

McKennzie Boyd (she/her) was a generally shy kid from Chicago before she discovered writing poetry as a way for her to speak up about what she was experiencing. From there McKennzie has realized how vital the arts are to expressing serious topics and reaching many groups of people. Since the 6th grade, McKennzie has been a part of the Viola Project, a program that teaches non-men an alternate way to feminize Shakespearean text in order to bend or break ancient gender roles. She has also acted at various theatres in the Chicagoland area including with the City Lit Acting Company where she did THE VOICE OF GOOD HOPE, a play about Barbra Jordan, the first Black woman elected to the House of Representatives who paved ways for Black people to represent themselves and their communities, while challenging segregation and the political climate. McKennzie has managed different plays at her school and organized the assemblies and classes related to Black history month. She’s begun to adapt some of her poems into plays. Currently McKennzie is a part of Steppenwolf’s Young Adult Council and fights to challenge the silence that confines Black and LGBTQ+ voices.