Featured Youth Poet Jay-Jay Davis, age 13
When did you first get involved with Art from Ashes?
I got involved with Art from Ashes around February 2009. My Aunt told me about it. She thought it might help with me—free therapy.
Why did she feel you needed therapy?
Well, I was into really bad stuff. I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to at my age. And I was involved with drugs, just talking to the wrong people, and I had a lot of emotion built up inside of me. In general I was very upset about my dad not being here with me, about my mom not supporting me like she should be and helping me, so I had a lot of anger built up inside of me.
Did you do well in school?
I always had A’s/A+’s all my school years because of my writing, but I never knew I could take it to the next level by writing poetry. One of my first poems was called “Weed,” well, really it’s called “Fear the Addiction,” and it was really, really good. I was surprised. I shocked myself. I mean, I was a hypocrite when it came to it, because of my problems with drugs, but I just felt like I should probably be aware myself of what weed can do to your life. Even though after I wrote the poem I didn’t really follow by it, I always knew it was wrong, and usually when I read the poem I always questioned myself like, why am I doing it? It doesn’t make any sense. Why am I smoking it? I don’t need to smoke it. I guess you could say it woke me up into reality, and I read it every day sometimes just so I don’t go back to doing that stuff.
So poetry is pretty powerful in your life now?
Yeah. It saved my life, ‘cause without poetry I would be angry; I would still be smoking; I would be doing all of the bad stuff I was doing before.
What did you think of the workshops?
I thought they were really creative, and it opened a lot of doors for me, and I appreciate that, because it got me into doing more things.
How was it therapy for you?
It was therapy, because I always got my anger out by writing stuff down. I don’t know why, it was always easier for me to get the message across through writing. It reminds me that I am intelligent. I didn’t think I could write like that, and I thought it was just absolutely cool. What [my poems] do is that they talk about a certain topic metaphorically, but they always get to a positive lesson.
Why is that?
Because when I write, I always try to get a point across because knowledge is your biggest revenge. I knew that if I can write poetry and open people’s minds and open my own, it would benefit me and everybody else, too. In these days and ages and this generation and this economy now, it’s going pretty bad, so I always like to make people think like we gotta save ourselves. That’s what most of my poems are about.
So you believe you have a lot to teach.
Yeah. Cause I’m so young and it’s an advantage. People want to listen to the youth. At the Alan Poussaint event, a couple students from [the school I got expelled from] were there, and they thought that I was stupid before. They thought when I was going to that school that I was dumb, that I was just messed up in the head. And when they heard me say my poem, they were absolutely blown away! Like, “I never knew JayJay could do that!” That’s the most—that’s what means a lot to me. And I went to the Girls Empowerment workshop and didn’t expect that I would know half the girls that were there. They were shocked. I mean I’m not expecting to change anybody’s life with just one poem, but as long as I open their mind to the questions, then that’s all that matters.
I actually wrote a new on the other day called “Lets Trade Shoes,” and it’s about why we always long to be somebody else? Why can’t we just be happy with ourselves? Why can’t I be this, why can’t I be that, but the main question is, why can’t you just be yourself?
How do you see the role poetry will play in your life now that you’re moving away?
Well, I am bummed because you guys opened so many doors for me here. So I feel I like if I stayed here it’d be just so much easier for me to just explore and shoot out there, but now that I’m moving to Atlanta. I’m going to have to recreate myself. I’m gonna have to find another organization like Art from Ashes, and I don’t know if they offer anything like that there. I’ve talked to many people in Atlanta, and they can’t find anything either. They’ve never heard of any poetry organization. A lot of the kids out there who think they’re rappers can be excellent at poetry, but they don’t know that yet, so I hope when I get down there . . .
I wanna start a foundation called Priceless Youth, and of course I’m gonna represent it with Art from Ashes. I want to find a group of kids who want to do something with their lives and stop trying to be everybody they’re not. But it’s hard these days, trying to find kids that even wanna just dedicate themselves—they would rather go party, but…
Why did you feel that way before Art from Ashes instead of recognizing how brilliant you are?
Media. Biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest thing was the media. Hearing all like Lil’ Wayne and all that and hearing everybody say, “I have money. I have this,” makes you want to go out there and sell drugs and get money, so you can be like them. Not being supported by family, feeling like you don’t really matter, you don’t really care what you do to yourself. You get the thought in your head that you don’t need to go to college, you don’t need to be successful ‘cause it doesn’t even matter. So it makes you wanna go out and party and hang out with your friends all the time and not do anything. And when I came to Art from Ashes I noticed, because compared to most of the people you guys work with, I realized that I do have it good. Some of them don’t have homes, and they’re not doing some of the stuff that I was doing. I am blessed with a home, and I am blessed with a mom, and I am blessed with the people that care for me, so why in God’s name am I doing stuff like that? It didn’t make sense!
So it’s about who you’re listening to?
Yeah, cause my generation is convinced. I hear conversations between girls about how many dudes they gave it up to and how why they’re so hard and how they smoke weed, and they laugh about it. I used to be the same way, but it just frustrates me.
What was it that helped you hear your own message?
If I take the time to care for myself, and if I love me, then other people will do that same thing. So I don’t need to pretend like I’m something else to get approval from other people. I don’t need to sell drugs so I can get approval from my peers saying, “Oh JayJay, you look . . . because of the shoes you have on.” I just need to love me and be happy with the stuff that I do. I mean it’s okay to like pretty things, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter.
It’s really hard and I feel sometimes like giving up. But when I go to all these youth functions, they concentrate on the youth, because people are starting to realize that our youth is really messed up, and we really do need help, and no one’s doing anything to help us and holding conventions and holding speeches and stuff like that isn’t working. It’s going to take a lot more work and it’s going to be a lot harder. And I’m ready for it. I want change. I can’t stand looking at this anymore; it hurts so bad. I’m talking about like 12-year-old girls who are just wild and out. I don’t wanna have children if they’re going to be facing the problems that my generation is facing today.
We have to fix it. We don’t have a choice.
You said the temptation is always to give up, but you still keep working to fix it, right?
You gotta take your punches. Everybody gets knocked down, that’s just life. When you get up and say, “I’ve had it,” people respond to you differently. And when you tell people, “Don’t mess with me. I’m on a roll. I’m gonna get where I want to be and you’re not going to stop me.” It changes people’s minds so much. I’m happy that you guys gave me an opportunity ‘cause I never—like you guys made me realize my gift. I just hope I can make a difference, ‘cause we need a difference.
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