Kaia Tyus is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She currently resides in Plano, Texas where she attends Richardson High School. Kaia is a member of the award winning Dallas Youth Poets Slam Team. One of the team’s most recent achievements includes winning top 12 in the annual international youth competition, Brave New Voices. Aside from performing with her team, Kaia also frequents the stage solo to do shows in the DFW area. Kaia recently did the show, “In The Words of A Little Sistah” here in Dallas. In her free time, she interns at Healing Circle’s events. Kaia enjoys writing poetry, journaling, and doing anything that allows her the opportunity to express herself freely. Some of Kaia’s goals include being a traveling poet and a published author. She desires to relate to others as she tells her story. One of her earliest inspirations to write poetry was Tonya Ingram back in June 2017. Another of her greatest inspirations is Ebony Stewart. For fun as well as personal development Kaia enjoys listening to music, attending workshops, competing in poetry slams, and performing at open mic events.
Back in July, I had the opportunity to hear Kaia spit some poetry when we performed along with Bee Tha Poet and Jazzmen Victoria at the event “Paint, Sip, and Some Mo’ Shit”. Kaia blew me away with not only her talent but her ability to be courageous and transparent as she spit about a touchy subject that still plagues the black community, crack. Crack hit our communities hard in the 80’s but the effects can still be felt today. Check out this piece by Kaia.
“Yo mama so stupid
She climbed over a glass wall
Just to see what was on the other side
Yo mama so old
She still owe Jesus $5 from middle school
Yo mama so stupid
She put lipstick on her forehead to make up her mind
Yo mama so dumb
When you were 5
She introduced you to the second hand smoke of her crack pipe
Yo mama so strung out
She doesn’t even remember how to get back sober
Yo mama so stupid
She doesn’t know you perform poems that make her seem less strung out than she actually is
Yo mama would never know
You keep yourself from hitting rock bottom by talking about her getting high
Yo mama so naive
She thinks you can’t smell burning glass under cigarette smoke
Yo mama thinks you are oblivious, girl
Turn the other cheek
Joke about alcohol with her
Laugh at her when she thinks everything is funny
When she keeps going out
Don’t question why she always stumbles back in
I heard yo mama was a magician
She always makes things in the house disappear
Like
Televisions
Like
Everything you’ll need to make a house feel like a home
Like
Herself
Yo mama so embarrassing
When someone makes crackhead jokes
She be the first one to laugh like she ain’t a punch line
And you are the first one to think she’s breaking on the inside just like you
Yo mama so impulsive
She’ll buy a fix Saturday night because she can’t fathom a Sunday morning sober
The same God that gives us courage
Is the same God that your mother hides from
You think God is an evil man
You’ve prayed for a healed mother
And all he has given you is one that can’t be saved
Yo mama so needy
She asks you to save her from herself sometimes
Like taking the pipe away from her is easier than taking candy from a baby
She prayed for redemption
And God hasn’t given her the strength that we have begged for
So she fears him and all his courage to turn his back on her
So you do too
My mama so stupid
She thinks she’s the only one suffering from her addiction
Like
My mama so addicted
She’ll die loving crack
More than she loves me”
-Kaia Tyus
In this photo Kaia is rocking a Sistah Nova tee by Dallas poet and author Jazzmen Victoria. Smile queen.
You can expect to see Kaia Tyus performing at all of Dallas Youth Poet’s upcoming workshops and events and she will be posting details and footage on her social media pages. You can follow her on Facebook @kaaiityus and Instagram @melanin_barbiie. To book her for your next event, email kaiatyus12@yahoo.com.
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