#kaiwilliams
Kai Williams is a fiction writer / spoken word poet based in New York City and featured artist in Sakhi’s upcoming show, “Gender Justice + The Arts: An Asian American Showcase” at Bowery Poetry Club on 7/31! Most recently, she received an Honorable Mention for her submission to the New York Times’ Modern Love college essay contest. She is a 2015 alumna of the National YoungArts Foundation, as a national finalist in writing. Her work has been published in The AmerAsia Journal, Pushing Past Limits: Young Writer’s Anthology published by VerbalEyze Press, For the Sonorous Magazine and Mask Magazine. She is also a founder and Executive Director of Eat At The Table Theatre Company, a non-profit theater arts organization for young actors of color. Catch Kai at our show this month and on Instagram at @kainaima
Can you describe your art / poetry / writing / music and your artistic process?
When I decide to a write spoken word poem I generally carve out a specific time of the day or night that will put me in the most vulnerable and creative mindset. 4:00 AM is a good time for this. 11:00 PM is a good time for this. Ambiance is important to me so I’ll put on music that aligns with my mood and surround myself in my notebooks. And then I just sit with my laptop and try to write down every single thought I have about the subject that’s compelling me to write. This can take hours. When I write down an idea that strikes me as particularly interesting or as the correct approach for the poem, I just follow that lead and write until I have a first draft. After that, it’s a process of editing and exploring performance techniques.
What does gender justice mean to you and how does your work explore themes related to gender and social justice?
Gender justice is a primary theme and motivating factor in my work, particularly my poetry. My work is primarily concerned with analyzing the processes of self-identification for women of color. As a mixed-raced, loudly third-wave feminist young writer from the Bronx who has navigated primarily predominantly white institutions, nothing moves me more than exploring the relationships between other girls of color my age, and the unique, unbidden magic that they carry with them just to survive their daily worlds. I am obsessed with understanding how young women of color could find, pursue and maintain love for others as well as for themselves in spaces where they are starkly the minority. I perform spoken word to call attention to the injustices implemented by the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, using my interactions with the system as a young queer woman of color. Performance gives me an opportunity to vocalize my power beyond the page and I strive to empower and evoke experiences from other women of color.
Who is an Asian American artist / writer / performer that inspires you and why?
I really dig Awkwafina right now. She’s so New York. She’s got that vulgar, snarky, observational humor I feel like so many of my friends and I identify with as young women who grew up here. I think that rap is one of the greatest mediums of personal storytelling, especially for people who don’t stand to benefit from the systems in place in their communities. I love when people of color who grew up around, respect and revere rap, especially those you wouldn’t necessarily expect like young Asian women, choose to try their hand, even with comedy-rap like Awkwafina’s. She’s a girl from Queens who picked up this funny form of rapping and then kept finessing her way into really coveted, big Hollywood jobs on her unique wit and unwavering specificity of self. I can get behind that.
What can Sakhi supporters look forward to seeing from you at Bowery on 7/31?
I plan to perform spoken word poetry that delves into the intersections between race and womanhood. Recently, I am deeply engaged in creating poetry that speaks to the experiences of women who belong to multiple “minority groups”: namely queer women and women of color (and queer women of color). I am interested in dissecting the details of these intersections, the tensions that exist and conflicts that are developed in light of them, and the ways in which oppressions mimic one another.
What’s your favorite thing about summer in New York?
When I was living in Connecticut this winter and I couldn’t see a foot in front of me because the snow was coming down with such a vengeance I felt as though it could wipe out my entire history, all I wanted was to be in New York in July. I had this fantasy of stumbling upon a Mr. Softee truck, ordering a chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinklers, then walking the length of 125th between St. Nick and 5th Avenue while listening to Beyoncé’s “Dance for You” and wearing something short and cute. My favorite thing about summer in New York is that feeling of utter freedom and bliss. There are little happinesses on every street and it’s warm enough to walk the streets until you’re satisfied with the amount you’ve come across that day.
