How did I go international as a 16-year-old Kansas City author? I’m just like you | Opinion

Let me introduce myself: My name is Tyree Colbert. I’m just a junior in high school, 16 years old and born to lower-middle-class Black working parents. And raised in the heart of Kansas City — the home of the Chiefs, Super Bowl champs.

Some may say I’m different from my peers and others teens in my age group, so I get asked questions a lot. For example, how am I 16 years old but already have my own book — “Same Window 2 Different Views” — published? (And it hit No. 4 on Amazon’s bestsellers list.) How is my book on sale at almost every major online retailer, including Walmart, Target and Barnes & Noble? How am I 16 with my book receiving not just local or national sales, but international sales as well?

These are questions not only do I get asked by others — they’re also the questions I ask myself. Some may say the answer to the “how” is in the experiences I’ve already had in my short years on this earth.

See, at age 10, I had to bury my big brother Dasean Colbert, whom we called Shawn. He was just 16, but made an impact on every person who knew him, resulting in his name being honorarily bestowed on a local street. Then, just three years later at the age of 13, I had to bury my mother Robin Colbert. I have buried more friends and family than I can count.

With that being said, I really don’t see my story as being different from anybody else’s. Everybody has, or will have, obstacles and trauma to face in life. The only thing I see different between me and others is what I have chosen to do with my experiences. In my book, I hope to inspire and show people that no matter what you’re facing, you can make it through, and also make a better way. I try to achieve this by being transparent and vulnerable about my traumas, grief, betrayal, slander, envy and depression in my work.

I learned how to write poetry from my father J. Colbert, who also is a published author with his book “Product of Society.” Some of his poems are featured in my book, too. There, I choose to feature some of my Pop’s poems that spoke to the same subjects as my own poems, but from his vantage point — hence the title, “Same Window 2 Different Views.” I did this in hopes of showing everyone’s pain is the same, just with different perceptions — Dad being a 39-year-old father and me being 16-year-old teenager. Another of my goals in structuring the juxtaposition in that manner was to start conversations that can help bridge some gaps between parents and children, to help them understand one another’s points of view when dealing with tragedies, and how each chooses to persevere.

My father taught my siblings and me at a very young age to use prayer and writing as outlets to cope with the adversity we would face in this world, as he has and does. The gift he gave us of being able to take our pain to help others in a positive creative way is what brings me the most peace. By my words, I’m able to let people know all over the world they are not alone. To be a blessing to someone else is by far the greatest gift I’ve known. By not letting my loved ones die in vain has let me help other lives — and that’s what I really want people to take from my work.

If I can do it, you can do whatever you choose to accomplish, too. Be the blessing in whatever you do. Look inside yourself find your passion, then bless the world with it. You never know what it can do to help the next person by seeing you doing it.

My name is Tyree Colbert and I’m not different. I just want my legacy to be different, and I don’t want it to be the only one.