My Journey
Lyah portrait.
Lyah Beth LeFlore-Ituen is a renowned author, a New York Times Bestselling writer with multiple awards, a respected film and television producer, a community advocate, and a cultural activist. With over thirty years of experience as a television and film executive, producer, music supervisor, and author of eight critically acclaimed books, she is recognized as one of the most versatile and talented creatives in the entertainment industry.
Lyah began her career at Nickelodeon and went on to hold significant positions in development and production. Throughout her journey, she has worked alongside prominent figures in the entertainment world, such as the late Andre Harrell, legendary television mogul Dick Wolf, Emmy-winning director Anthony Hemingway, and her mentor, live entertainment and boxing juggernaut, Alan Haymon. She was a young producer and the music producer for the groundbreaking FOX series New York Undercover (1994-1995, 2019), produced UPN’s Grown Ups (1999-2000), and served as the executive producer and creator of BET’s 8 Days a Week (2011), which is based on her young adult book series The Come Up. Lyah, who came up in the business in New York City during the 1990s and knew personally, and worked closely with some of the biggest hip hop stars in the game; served as producer and music supervisor for USA’s popular limited series Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G (2019). Over the years, she has built both professional and personal relationships with numerous entertainers in music and film, including Tupac, Biggie, Cedric The Entertainer, Usher, Malik Yoba, Lauren Valdez, Wendell Pierce, Jennifer Lewis, Eddie and Gerald Levert, Bokeem Woodbine, Anthony Hamilton, MC Lyte, and Lynn Whitfield, to name a few.
In addition to her role as a producer for other projects, Lyah has produced, written, and directed various independent works. She was the producer, writer, and host of the documentary Poetry In Motion: STL Poets Take The Mic (2021). Additionally, she produced three docu-shorts in the ongoing STL Made Campaign (2020), produced and co-wrote the indie Word Warriors III (2016), and executive produced and co-created the digital online series Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Presents: Conversations & Conversations Live (2014–2018).
Lyah has authored eight books, including the well-received novels Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (2007), Cosmopolitan Girls (2009), and Wildflowers (2009), as well as young adult novels The Come Up: The World is Mine (2009) and The Come Up: Can’t Hold Me Down (2010). She was a co-author of the popular biographies Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown” (2015) by Lezley McSpadden, The Strawberry Letters (2012) by Shirley Strawberry, which won Lyah an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Debut Author, and the New York Times Bestseller, I Got Your Back (2009) by Eddie Levert and Gerald Levert.
Lyah is the founder of Dolly’s Girls Productions (DGP), co-founder of the literary arts nonprofit The Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore Foundation (SBLF), and currently serves on the board of CounterPublic . A Stephens College alumna, she joined the Board of Trustees in 2005, serving two terms, becoming the second African American and the youngest member in the college’s history. Additionally, she is an engaged member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
MY STORY
Lyah with her mother, Shirley Bradley LeFlore, Poet Laureate Emeritus of St. Louis.
As a young girl in the early 1970s, I dreaded being taken to poetry readings, but my late mother, Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore, who was the Poet Laureate Emeritus of St. Louis, wanted me to recognize that I come from a lineage of women who are storytellers. This legacy began with my great-great-grandmother, who became a freed slave thanks to her husband’s efforts. Her experiences equipped her with the resilience to endure and triumph. Her faith, determination, and strength sowed the seeds of storytelling that would be inherited through generations. My great-grandmother was self-taught and emerged as a leader in her church, becoming a respected speaker and poet in segregated southern Missouri. She passed this gift to my grandmother, Annette, affectionately known as “Dolly.” Dolly ran a beauty shop in St. Louis, where women from all walks of life—rich, poor, sinner, and saved—would come to hear her unique life stories, often infused with a dash of Jesus. Her words created a welcoming space for women, regardless of their circumstances. Their burdens and troubles would be washed away when she “put ’em in the bowl.” After she pressed, curled, and pinned you up, her insightful storefront philosophies would help you stand up a little taller or help your heart get a little lighter. You felt renewed and whole again.
Lyah with her father, celebrated jazz composer and trumpeter, Floyd LeFlore.
My mother once told me, “Words are your weapon; they can hurt or heal.” I took her words to heart. She was a commanding presence, captivating and embodying both strength and vulnerability. Whether she was performing for a small audience in a smoky speakeasy or hundreds at Carnegie Hall, Shirley would transform when she leaned into a mic. She shifted from her warm, playful self into a vibrant, larger-than-life warrior woman spirit. She started, as many people did, talking very plain, even a little salty. Her cadence would start to pick up speed, then crescendo from a whisper to a holler. My father, Floyd LeFlore, a jazz composer and trumpeter, explained to me as a child that musicians refer to this as riffing.
After all these years, I feel like I have a lot of work to do because I’m still a student of Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore. The legacies of both my parents are reflected in my work as a New York Times Bestselling author, content creator, producer, music supervisor, and arts advocate. I am a product of this beautiful, bold, badass sonic collision.