From Civil Rights Roots to Healing and Wellness: Dwania Kyles’ Story - Episode 35

On today’s episode of the Purpose Finder Podcast, we’re exploring a story shaped by faith, family, creativity, and history. Our guest grew up in a home where music and art were the heartbeat of daily life; her father directing choirs, her mother dancing, her siblings singing. Creativity wasn’t a performance; it was her family’s foundation, and it would later become her place of healing.

Her name is Dwania Kyles, and long before she understood the language of healing, she lived through one of the most pivotal moments in American history. At just twelve years old, she was helping prepare a simple pre-rally dinner for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a house full of movement leaders, food cooking in the kitchen, kids setting tables wherever they could. Meanwhile, her father was at the Lorraine Motel, talking and laughing with Dr. King minutes before the shot was fired. He was the first to reach him. And at home, all she remembers is her mother’s scream when the phone call came, and the grief that filled their house.

For years, Dwania carried the unspoken trauma of that day, her father’s nightmares, the fear of him traveling through dangerous states, and the silence that settled over their home as a form of protection. It wasn’t until adulthood, through breathwork and emotional healing, that she finally began to understand what her twelve-year-old body had been holding for decades.

Today, Dwania shares her story with us, not just as history, but as healing. She is a storyteller, a creative, and a guide whose depth and wisdom were shaped by a life few could ever imagine. And I believe her words will stay with you long after this episode ends.

Timestamps:

00:00 Breath, Wellness, and Life Creation 06:34 Proper Belly Breathing Basics 15:38 Breathing Fuels Mind and Body 19:13 Toxicity and Stress Cycle 28:07 Discover Your Purpose Today 33:48 Peaceful School Integration Reflections 39:27 Obama Rally Nostalgia 45:20 Pre-Rally Dinner Preparation 49:02 Jesse Jackson, King, Economics, Breadbasket 55:07 Legacy, Trauma, and Change 01:02:48 Childhood Reflections on Impact 01:05:11 Everywhere, Big and Small. 01:12:46 Healing Self, Healing the World 01:15:02 Transforming Lives Through Breathwork

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About the Guest

Dwania Kyles, Civil Rights Advocate, Wellness Consultant and Breath Coach, is an alum of The Memphis 13, subject of the highly touted documentary by the same name chronicling the desegregation of Memphis City Public Schools in 1961 by thirteen, 5 and 6-year-old girls and boys, (dubbed “the smallest pioneers” of the Civil Rights Movement), in answer to the 1954 landmark decision by the U. S. Supreme Court on Brown v. Board of Education.

Ms. Kyles is also the eldest daughter of pioneer civil-rights activists, the late Gwendolyn Kyles and Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, subject of the ’09 Oscar & ’10 Emmy nominated documentary, The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306, that gives voice to her father’s memories, who on April 4, 1968, was the only other person on the balcony, with Dr. Martin Luther King when he was fatally shot, as she, her mother and siblings were prepared to receive Dr. King and the SCLC staff at their home for dinner.

An innocent participant of these two historical, yet traumatic events as a 5 and 12-year-old, it stands to reason why Ms. Kyles’ commitment to helping others connect or reconnect with their inner healer has been a lifelong passion. That same commitment paved the way on her personal journey to health and healing over the past 40 years.

As a wellness coach and educator, she seeks to inform on why the power of the breath, the belief system, laughter, and self-love are the first line of defense when on the path of true healing.

Visit her website: https://dwaniakyles.com/

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