Ka-Son was born in Bed-Stuy and raised in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. Although he was raised by a single mother, his father played a big role in his life. He spent many weekends and summers at his father's apartment in Bed-Stuy. There, when he wasn't practicing his gymnastics with his brothers in vacant lots on old mattresses, he cultivated his natural artistic ability by watching the creative processes of his father, a portrait artist, and his eldest brother, a local Graffiti artist. Drawing and Graffiti writing became his passion.Ka-Son believes he didn't get much literary instruction from the New York public school system. In fact, the school system had an adverse effect on his education, despite having an "A" average in elementary school. Thus, to the teachers he became invisible. A bout with the chicken pox in high school forced him to miss his English finals. To make up for it, he was kindly given an assignment by his English teacher. "She was a young, African American teacher who took a chance on me. I think she saw something in me that most in school didn't, that I was indeed bright, only very lazy". The assignment: one week to read and write a report on the book, "Wuthering Heights", or fail. "I guess I'm failing this class," he thought. To his surprise, the story drew him in, seeing a world and time totally different than his real life. That report was praised by the teacher, and a literary interest was sparked. The next year, a creative essay helped him gain the highest score in the school on the English Regents. "I was finally 'seen', although it came only right before graduation," he says.So he set out to prove in college that he wasn't a wasted mind. He won second place in a short story contest, which was published in the local college anthology. He also wrote for the student newspaper. Along with his Graphic Design major's course load, he took extra courses in literature including Contemporary, African, English and Law through Literature. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the City University of New York's Baccalaureate Program.Education exposed him to works of different sorts by a myriad of authors. It was the concept of Love, however, and its ability to amplify just about all aspects of human emotion, that really charged creative inspiration. And from first-hand experience he wrote, and wrote, and wrote. And he hasn't stopped. For him, writing has become sort of a Self-discovery, a path for the mind to walk towards self-growth.A Poet-Whore, Pimped By Pain, by Ka-Son Reeves. Available now!
