Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kenyatah Austin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kenyatah, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
When I seen this question I knew the perfect answer would simply be, For God has not given me the spirit of Fear but of Power, Love and Sound mind (2 timothy 1: 7 ). For as long as I can remember I have been able to draw inspiration for stories creating whole new worlds from the look of the way tree sways or a moment in a feeling I wouldn’t want to ever forget. I never knew what real fear was until the person who introduced creativity to me was snatched away from any reality I had him in. It was my first true heartbreak in the real world and it was also the beginning of my profound ability to escape this world when I needed to. I stayed away from anything, thought, event, people or experiences that would bring the reality of my best friend never being apart of my life to mind. I only stayed in worlds I could control. I was great at school, every subject, but hated reading so much because the anxiety of how it would end wasn’t a quick experience. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Ballock, my fourth and fifth grade teacher can attest to this. It’s something we joke about currently, up until last year when Mrs. Brown unfortunately passed from cancer. Mrs. Anderson never saw that I didn’t like reading, she set sail an evolution of a God promised character build. The next three years were those most difficult years of my life actually and the choices three women made for me during that time begin to shape the mind this world loves to get lost in now.
I was nine years old when my father was arrested and imprisoned with a life sentence. I found out the whole town knew about it at school on my fourth grade classroom bathroom break, when Mrs. Brown, pulled me aside and asked me “Was everything okay at home.” I dropped to my knees and cried in front of the whole class and my crush lol. I was theatrical to say the least even then. The short answer was, “No it was not,” but when I tried to form the words nothing came out. Mrs. Brown held me though, told me “It’s okay sweetie,” I let her arms grip my body and shield me from emotions I didn’t know my body could actually feel. I never knew what real fear was until the person who introduced creativity to me was snatched away from any reality I had him in. It was my first true heartbreak in the real world and it was also the beginning of my profound ability to escape this world when I needed to. I stayed away from anything, thought, event, people or experiences that would bring the reality of my best friend never being apart of my life to mind. I only stayed in worlds I could control. I was great at school, every subject, but hated reading so much because the anxiety of how it would end wasn’t a quick experience. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Ballock, my fifth grade teacher can attest to this. It’s something we joke about currently, up Until last year when Mrs. Brown unfortunately passed from cancer. The next three years were those most difficult years of my life actually and the choices three women made for me during that time begin to shape the mind this world loves to get lost in now. Mrs.Brown was one of those women who would set the tone of the classroom with smells that would make you feel a comfort of home. She used colors and systems that you loved so you can feel like the space was your own as well. She was so patient. I struggled with my attitude and my emotions greatly as it was my first year at a conscious age without my father. She moved my desk close to hers. She always gave me a task to accomplish and rewarded me with things like choosing a song, or helping her carry things. I did not know what was happening then, but Mrs. Brown Faught to consistently show me that I had been loved. She was a very straight-forward women. A women of integrity. She didn’t fold for the nonsense, always expecting the best, but would wait in every step with you until you were at that best. She did everything was the kind of love, you want to never forget. You almost feel unworthy of having that kind of unconditional love when you would lash out for reasons unknown to yourself. She always held me accountable, but did not let go while showing me another way. Mrs. brown was the reason I gave myself permission to always feel freely and unapologetically. However; I did not know how to do it outside of her. So all my emotions were now raw and real, but no place to put them.
Mrs. Ballock , my fifth grade teacher had a reptile, a skink, as a class pet that I feared, but she taught me how to love him by letting me watch her feed him mice. He had a blue tongue that freaked me out, but she would tell me a new fact about him every time I would make a dramatic comment on how it was only a “lack of tail” away from being a snake, so naturally he has to be something I hated. She never minded my dramatics, always adding to it actually. Mrs.Ballock didn’t just meet with you a no-nonsense attitude she gave you all of her sass back, raised those eyebrows, the never-ending gadgets on her lanyard she kept clutched in those always manicured hands and arms crossed. She’s stand there too wanting to know what you had to say after she finished. You usually didn’t have anything to say, she was good at leaving you speechless when you tried her. However, when you did have something to say, she’s help you figure out how to express. She always knew how our mind worked in such a way she would help select books for you during AR reading on her bookshelf wall that was a collection of her own personal books. She introduced me to the series of unfortunate events. We read a class book once called Saavy. She would read aloud to us and her voice could take you to a million parts of world that existed in so many different lifetimes. She had a way with words honestly. Many days I let her take me places and I was only in my desk listening to every annotation, diction and cadence. Mrs. Brown was the first person to ever take my spurted expressions of my emotions and help me understand what I was trying to express. She always spoke with a gentleness that would throw cold water on the fire in my chest and wipe clean the fog in my mind. I grew close to her family by staying after school with her often to the point I had shared with her many things I never voiced to anyone else. Mrs. Ballock is the strength behind my emotions and the gatekeeper of my gentle heart. She’s the reason I confronted personal fears and she’d stand right next to me as I confronted some on my own. Like she did when I watched her feed that Skink. Now, I knew that I had no reason to fear my own emotions I just had to learn how to feed them.
Mrs.Anderson was the first black female teacher I ever had and babyyyy I thrived because her old soul provided a space of familiarity. She always had us learning in convergent ways. Using game boards and projects to teach us in the book lessons. We made biosphere with a real eco-system and a fish bowl at the bottom with 2 liter bottles. We got to pick our own betta-fish and allow the thrills of nature to unfold in front of us over the course of weeks. Then by the end we took a field-trip to the actual bio-sphere. I remember walking in silence around the bio-sphere in that huge dome seeing in real life something we spent weeks studying about in a book. I still remember the temperature of the space and smell of the fresh water on the leaves. We got to do our own, which showed me our hands had the power of productivity. Mrs. Anderson was the type of women who was independent and did it in style. She was herself at all times. If she didn’t like something you would see it in her face, but when she did you would hear it in her contagious laugh. Her laugh could wrap you up in a hug. She did it boastfully and proudly. She wanted you to know that when it was time to be friends there was always room for that kind of love. She would let us sit at her desk and play this frog game on her iPad, but the moment we showed her we weren’t able to share and be proactive in our choices, she wasn’t just our friend, but a woman responsible for showing us better. She always showed us her best. One assignment was for us to create our own stories and manually develop the book, with pages that had images. It was the first story I had ever written. It was the first time I had felt a relief. It was a story of a little girl who ran from something and found a closet in the process. Once she went in the closet, she was in a world she created in her head. (No I did not see The chronicles of Narnia at this time. It tripped me out too). She didn’t just find the world though, it became her world. She never wanted to leave, surrounding herself with everything she loved, everything safe. I named it “The Closet,” wasn’t that creative, but it was mine. It was the first product of what I would never stop doing after this day. Mrs. Anderson showed me I had to discover how I was going to take what God had given me and create something worth watching the process become a new kind of life. Like the beauty of that Bio-sphere it takes time to create something worth admiring.
For God has not given me the spirit of fear; Mrs.Brown. Thank you for wrapping your arms around me that day and never letting go. Even now having to say goodbye to you physically, Spiritually you live within me.
But of Power; Mrs. Ballock My gatekeeper to the strength in escaping and living as many lives as you can. Thank you for your gentle yet strong love. A duality I would be nothing without.
Love and Sound mind; Mrs. Anderson thank you for introducing me to my productive hands and the skill I would use to create a whole bio-sphere around me everyday. Everyday I tend to the care of having a fruitful eco-system. This is where I know the true peace of resting in God to be.
Teachers have a profound ability to cultivate not just a place to gain education and I learned that because they are more than teachers to me, All three of these women chose to love me unconditionally. For that there has never been a day that goes by I do not thank God for hand picking them for that role. That little girl needed every piece of love they gave me for reasons I would not know until now and continue to learn. I get my resilience from the details in the character traits of these women. They are my home. They are apart of me in every way and the reason I strive daily to give an ounce of what they provided for me to others in everything I create and everything I am apart of.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am First Generation college graduate in my family and a jack of all trades. I find pride in my ability to dive in the layered aspects of storytelling. I cultivate professional experience in musical theater, screenwriting, directing, and authorship. I currently am a teaching artists with Free Lunch Academy in the Chicago and south suburb area teaching creative writing and filmmaking k-12. As well as the the head writer and Director for my shared company production company The Film Spot with my team Jay and Cici! We focus on telling unique black stories that let you escape. We really are about giving a space for young creators that may not have the tools to start in this industry. We actually have a series coming out, so if you haven’t you should for sure follow our page on instagram @thefilmspot_prod. We’re really dope lol!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Kindness, Patience and Adaptability
The advice I would give is to take the leftovers and seek wisdom and knowledge in how you can create something that could be worth it for someone else. No one sees or experiences the things in the way you do, so tell the story in the way you’ve seen it and in the way you know how. Try it first and edit later.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The bible.
Micah 6:8
And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God
God just wants our heart posture to always be in the space embodying these three things. No matter what religion you are in, God speaks the language of unconditional love.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Keeyaustin
Image Credits
Kenyatah Austin
