LGBTQ & Jewish actor, filmmaker and advocate, Yuval David is elevating awareness of the concept of ‘Identity Politics’ — how to be an advocate for one’s beliefs and community – through speaking at events for marginalized communities. Most recent events include Zikaron BaSalon (January 28) and #EndJewHate (February 2) in observation of International Holocaust Remembrance as well as the National LGBTQ Task Force’s annual Creating Change Conference on January 31.
Yuval states, “Identity Politics is a focused perspective on representing oneself and the community of people who share that identity. It is empowering, particularly for members of marginalized communities to develop their voices as advocates.”
Yuval understands the larger social ecosystem of the world and how it benefits from creation for the purpose of advocacy, self-expression, and mental health. This is why he personally focuses on creating work that entertains, uplifts, and inspires.
He encourages those who attend his discussions and workshops to approach Identity Politics as “personal branding,” as one would in Marketing. He strongly recommends using similar vernacular and thought-provoking questions, such as “What is your subtext,” “What triggers and activates you,” “What is your character,” and “What is your narrative.” He finds this exercise to be particularly effective to allow individuals to truly step into and embrace their personal identity by creating and owning their own narrative, and continuously working on their personal story.
Yuval continues, “A person’s identity impacts everything that they do. One way individuals can find resilience – particularly during difficult times as we are in now – is to wholeheartedly adopt and embrace their community. When a person feels they are an active participant in a community, they feel responsible for more than themselves, giving them a greater sense of purpose. Personally, I also find that it’s incredibly powerful to use the elements that comprise a person’s identity as a source of pride. And, when others negatively characterize that identity, it is up to the individual to represent themselves and teach how they actually are and how they want to be seen. If still met with negativity, resilience must kick in, because the individual does not only represent themselves, they represent their community. When others send me hate, I send them back love. Above all, I continuously create and share. It is what an artist does when connecting to an audience.”
The importance of using creativity to positively impact mental health and maintain resilience cannot be emphasized enough in this moment. According to a survey by The Trevor Project, 40 percent of young LGBTQ people in the United States say they have seriously considered suicide over the past 12 months, in addition to 50 percent for transgender and non-binary youth surveyed.
Yuval works with numerous highly respected US and international organizations that raise awareness for the marginalized and under-represented, using the inspiration of his LGBTQ + and Jewish identity, and his Israeli-American roots, including the The Aguda, The Shoah Foundation, American Israel Cultural Foundation, Chabad, #EndJewHate, the Israeli Consulate, The Jewish Learning Institute, Jewish National Fund (JNF), Keren Kayemet, Stand With Us, A Wider Bridge, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and Zikaron BaSalon among many other cultural and artistic organizations. Yuval is frequently invited to host, MC, and speak on behalf of cultural, humanitarian, philanthropic, social, and political initiatives and institutions. He is seen in this capacity on television, film, and live events. For example, in 2018, he hosted Israel’s 70th Anniversary Celebration in Times Square in front of 30,000 live eventgoers and millions of viewers around the world.
As an actor, Yuval plays major roles in studio and independent films, television, theatre, web, digital media, and voice overs. These include, “What Would You Do” (ABC), “Madam Secretary” (CBS), “The Michael J Fox Show” (NBC), “Beauty and the Beast” (Disney), in addition to productions with HBO, Comedy Central, DreamWorks, AFI, and theatres across the globe.
Yuval’s exceptional work as a filmmaker has been screened at more than 60 film festivals and taken home nearly 50 awards from international film festivals, including The Big Apple Film Festival, New York International Film Festival, NewFilmmakers Film Festival, NYC Independent Film Festival, Hollywood Just4Shorts Film Festival, Top Shorts Film Festival, Vegas CineFest International Film Festival, IndieFest, Accolade Global, American Picture, Atlanta Film Festival, and Global Webisode Festival, just to name a few.
About Yuval David
Yuval David is an innovative actor, host, and filmmaker with a creative mantra to entertain, uplift, and inspire.
As a TV Host/Presenter, Yuval focuses on societal, humanitarian, and entertainment programming.
Yuval David is a go-to host and narrator for short- and long- form video content and documentary features for Jewish, Israeli, LGBTQ, Arts, Cultural and Humanitarian organizations and initiatives, including the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change Conference, Shoah Foundation, the Jewish National Fund (JNF USA), and Stand With Us.
As a filmmaker, Yuval produces, directs, and writes short and feature films, documentaries, web-series, digital and TV content, including the award-winning episodic series, ‘One Actor Short,’ ‘Pranks of Kindness,’ ‘Better World with Yuval David,’ ‘What Makes You Beautiful,’ and numerous other web series.
For more information about Yuval David, visit https://yuvaldavid.com, and the following social media channels:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/YuvalDavid
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Yuval_David
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YuvalDavid
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YuvalDavid
