08. Kyra Dawkins
A lover of words, teaching about the values and dangers of living in our distinct communities
Inspired by the stories her grandfather told her, Kyra Ann Dawkins is no stranger to writing. Having published in many papers, she graduated with highest honors from Phillips Exeter Academy and from Columbia University in the City of New York where she majored in Medicine, Literature, and Society. After graduating, she noticed an intense pressure to construct her identity. A champion of oral tradition, she wrote her debut book, The We and the They, to create a narrative space where readers could escape the limits of individuality and experience a story as a member of a new collective. Kyra enjoys The Twilight Zone and is a huge Mickey Mouse fan. When she isn’t visiting museums, you can often find her annoying her younger siblings.
In our conversation, Kyra talks about her experiences falling in love with words and language, dealing with racism as a black woman and why she wrote her book “The we and the they”. She shares her unique insights on the perspectives of our humanity as it exists in our individuality as well as a part of a greater collective.
