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About Me

I tell stories with data, words, and moving images.

Currently, I am a Ph.D student at Harvard studying politics and statistics. I study conflict, violence and prosperity, in Africa and in the historical US South. I am writing a memoir about my grandmother.

New discovery: the thrill of shooting and editing video, then sitting in a darkened room, watching something you've lovingly labored and fretted over for weeks, not certain whether anyone would see what you saw, and hearing everyone laugh and gasp in all the right places.

Prior to Harvard, I was a freelance writer in China and East Africa for the Guardian, the Scotsman, the Africa Report, and Ebony Magazine.

Location:
United States, Cambridge, MA
Current organization:
Harvard University
Current role:
Ph.D student
Gender:
Female
I am:
Activist, Artist, Explorer, Filmmaker, Global soul, Journalist, Student, World traveler, Writer/Editor
Languages:
Chinese, English, French, Spanish
Universities:
Princeton University, Harvard University
TED conferences attended:
TED2012, TED2009
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Comments

  • TEDCred score: +905.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • +6

    A comment on Talk: Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice

    Mar 19 2012: Hi Kyra. I was just visiting this page to make the same observation: this was definitely one of the stand-out talks at TED this year (and in my opinion, one of the best TED talks of all time). They don't make orators like this anymore! I'm also puzzled it hasn't gotten more views. Here's one hypothesis:

    Videos spread online when people share them with their friends. When I was in college and organized anti-war protests, we had a small number of public supporters, but a large number of silent supporters. They were the ones who sent emails and told me in private how much they supported our work, but wouldn't attend our rallies or directly challenge their hawkish friends.

    Most TED talks are uncontroversial, especially the ones in the top 20 (http://blog.ted.com/2011/06/27/the-20-most-watched-tedtalks-so-far/). Who doesn't want more happiness, creativity, success or orgasms? Who doesn't want to be told the world of the future is going to be a better place, with cooler gadgets and longer lifespans?

    I think it's generally harder for most folks to spread or share a video that takes a stand on a controversial issue, especially if they can't take for granted their friends or colleagues will agree. By posting this on your Facebook page, you're revealing an opinion you might otherwise want to keep private. And there is no topic hotter or more taboo in this country than race and politics.

    (Much easier and less risky to "take a stand" on the plight of people far away then to drive ten miles down the road just about anywhere in America.)

    TED usually shies away from politics, unless it's the politics of the far away. I think this talk is an important step in the right direction for TED. And while it's a shame it hasn't gotten more views, historically, the provenance of moral imagination has been the minority, not the majority.

  • A comment on Talk: Bonnie Bassler: How bacteria "talk"

    Apr 20 2009: Selection pressures only work on traits that are either beneficial or harmful to bacteria's reproductive potential. Unlike antibiotics, which kill bacteria, Bonnie's research has no affect on the ability of these bacteria to reproduce. It just makes them deaf and dumb.

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