Meet Italy Lee

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Italy Lee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Italy below.

Italy, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

I truly believe that I am one of my grandma’s reflections, which is why my grief for her is particularly special. The more time passes, the more I realize how much of her is embedded in me. For context, my grandma took me in as her own when my parents couldn’t take on their own responsibility. Her grace, kindness, and purity was always something I admired growing up. Even if you weren’t her blood, if you were in her presence she’d feed you, house you, and know that the hospitality was immaculate! She was scarily honest but always preceded her truth with “I mean no harm” because there wasn’t an evil bone in her body. I aim to embody her the most and believe that my generosity is an ancestral gift from her.

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?

Italy Ja’rae Lee is a 19-year-old award-winning actress and spoken word poet born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In 2022, she claimed her title as the New Jersey State Champion of Poetry Out Loud, which was the catalyst in amplifying her voice through writing her own poetry. She has since performed at venues like the Apollo Victoria Theatre, Count Basie Theatre, S.O.B’s NYC and Skirball Performing Arts Center where she won the audience choice award at Ultra Violet Live. Italy performs her original work across her home state, advocating for arts education, social justice, and the mending of humanity. Currently a rising sophomore at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Italy studies acting at Atlantic Acting where she makes both of her acting and poetic talents meet. Just recently, she claimed the title of Teen Slam Champ of NYC after winning Parlee Endeavor’s annual “Battle of the Boroughs” competition. Italy aspires to emulate the impactful work of Nikki Giovanni for her own generation; serving as a voice that inspires others to spiritually heal, advocate for social change, and enable the essence of community everywhere they go.

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?

When I reflect, the qualities that I value the most in the development of my career is perseverance, curiosity, and humility. Coming into spoken word poetry was rather random for me as I was introduced to the artform via an acting competition (Poetry Out Loud, 2022). With that being said, I learned quickly that spoken word poetry requires a level of these qualities when you hit dead ends like writers-block. It’s here where curiosity becomes most valuable- you go to a workshop or an open mic to expand your inspiration or poetic caliber. It’s here where you must persevere and realize that there isn’t a block, more so a missing piece. I’m the biggest hater of the idea to “be humble” because it is very much an idea curated by white supremacy, elitism and capitalism. However, humility in this field is nuanced as it is an acceptance to be inspired. You won’t have all the answers so allow yourself to consume, be present and soak in what’s around you so you can find the answers in your work.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

Welp, it’s not a book– it’s a play because I’m an undercover theater kid. The play Doubt a Parable by John Patrick Shanley is rather a hefty description, so I won’t go too much into detail. The play untangles the nuance of doubt and ask readers to let go of their ego and be okay with not knowing the answer to everything. It particularly targets the political climate as we get caught up in the polarization of humanity rather than just listening to one another. There’s so much value in listening on smaller and larger scales. I try to implement this into my work as listening is also absorbing. The more you absorb the more sensitive you become. Sensitivity is a gift, and we are taught the opposite, it’s sad truly. The more sensitive you are, the more you absorb, and can help others see the complexities that you are affected by. It’s there where the gut of humanity is reached.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @italysblur
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@italysblur

Image Credits

Bricked wall pictures: Michael Gebhardt
Purple Background: New York University
Black turtle neck: Caf