“I came to far to back, I’ve been through to much to hold back”
-Kayla “Divine Lotus” John
Kayla John’s story is an interesting one for one very important reason: Kayla’s life is an allegory for black women and men everywhere, of the potential one has when he or she refuses to be shackled by the ideologies and standards of society; the subtle racism and sexism implemented in mainstream media causes young children to question why they look the way they do, or why they aren’t as “pretty” as the heroine on TV. A depressing casualty of the long history of ingrained racism in our country. During Black History Month, many reflect on those times, and it is something we should never forget but rather learn from. The question is how much reflecting should we do, before we pick ourselves up and move forward against the lingering opposition? Black History Month is in part the reflecting, however this is where many people stop; they do not realize that they have the power to rewrite the narrative of our lives today. The children of the next generation should know that we had a dark history, but that in their days, they do not have to feel that they are helpless to do anything or that they are less than their peers from other demographics. Rather their attitude should reinforces they have the ability to make their dreams realities and with hard work, it cannot be stopped. Kayla’s story is a reflection of this. Society may bully you, or the circumstances of life may give you many road blocks that will halt you or cause you to stumble and fall; ultimately, you will do one of two things: give up or stand up and drill your way through. Kayla, in her own words, wants to share that exact story with you all.
“[I was] born and raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York or shall I say ‘The Floss.’ I am of Caribbean decent dominantly raised by a Guyanese household. I enjoy where I come from and how I was raised because I got to see and hear the best of both worlds, from the music , the dialect …. everything. Growing up I knew I loved to dance, but I was shy at first, it would be my twin brother in the drums and me dancing! It was always my passion to dance ! Then also I was raised up in a church so I praise danced and sang apart of a choir, I knew then that I had a voice but I stopped singing and lacked the confidence to sing in front of people again due to bullying , that’s where I turned to writing, since my voice wasn’t heard out loud, I’ve always want to a write everything down in my diary, where I wrote poems, secrecy letters and just anything that came to mind . Overtime I just got creative with it. In fifth grade I tied for first place in a poetry slam. Little ole’ me rapped and had my two back up dancers, we wore all black and a gold chain, it was so fun to be on that stage and to hear many classmates cheering, That’s when I knew that this life that I’m trying to continue to live was for me. Art was everything to me as well and still is, from elementary school days, I enjoyed doing projects and would draw my butt off or make creations, especially in a group. [When] I got to college for my first year and was lost about what my purpose in life was, I was very confused because the things I went to school for, I ended up not liking it and I didn’t understand it , also due to the fact that I had a racist roommate, it was hard to think or even live , yet alone get work done. I later moved back to New York and started all over and that’s where everything began to come together for me . I learned how to really trust God and trust /understand the process in which my life is going. I began to dance more , I worked two jobs , I started modeling and then here I am now singing and writing my heart away. I don’t have any websites as of yet but I do have a Youtube. You can find me under the name of Divine Lotus and I have to inspirational music videos out , those words in my songs signify what I’ve gone through in my life and the moments I was waiting for. I hope to really inspire a nation in what I plan to do with my life.”
Kayla’s hard work and focus for her passion has amounted her a following of over 10.6k followers on her Instagram (as of today February 16th) and it is still growing. Check out Kayla’s work from her music, to her choreography by clicking on the social icons towards the beginning of this article. In closing, you do not need to be gifted at many things in order to be successful. All you need is a goal and plenty of ambition to reach it; it is okay to be discouraged, it is a natural occurrence. It’s a matter of disciplining yourself to endure and work in spite of what happens. A crazy, but interesting fact is that any person can learn to sing; some are born with the gift and it comes more naturally and such a person can reach many notes. Nevertheless with hard work and practice you can develop a wonderful singing voice yourself. It will take longer for some than others, perhaps even several years; nevertheless even something seemingly impossible is very much possible, so why treat your dreams and goals like they is unreachable too?
Q + A Time
Black History began as black history week, recognizing the achievement of black people since the emancipation of blacks in America. Today, it has so many connotations; can you define what black history month is in light of the day and age we live in today?
“Black history month or in other words Black EXCELLENCE Month means to simply celebrate being black. I love being black, to me black history and black excellence is everyday, every month and every year because the culture continues to grow and is embodied everyday and every year! We have so much to celebrate because we have fought for everything we have and still continue to shine and succeed through the challenges we face. There’s nothing like black culture from the clothes we wear ,the diverse foods we eat , down to the music we play . We’re all over and deserve to be celebrated. Black history means to have strength and courage also faith because our leaders had it , and we shall continue to carry it for the rest of our lives.” – Kayla John
Interview
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