This week we’re delighted to present Mentees Dom Dawes (he/they) and Jamilah Araf (she/her) as they chat about Dom’s poem “I Am From.”
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Dom Dawes
(he/him, they/them) Mentee
Dom Dawes is a diligent sophomore at Hunter College who has been writing for the past six years. Dom began writing enemies-to-friends short stores on Wattpad. He has mostly focused on fiction, and has also experimented with poetry and creative nonfiction. He looks forward to branching out into writing more nonfiction this year. He is preparing for a career in writing and publishing, and is seeking an editorial internship now. Dom is an animal lover, and has a particular love of cats because they are very clever and require us to earn their affection.
Favorite Authors & Artists
Stacey Abrams, Dina Temple-Raston, Michelle Alexander
Artist‘s Statement
I wrote “Kindness? Or People Pleasing?” for black adolescents who thought like me/or at risk of thinking like me. In an attempt to distance myself from any ‘black and angry’ stereotypes, as I entered adulthood I said ‘yes’ even when I couldn’t or shouldn’t. Don’t. It does not earn you worthy ‘brownie points,’ only stress and your floor mat title for people to walk over you.
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Kindness? Or People Pleasing?
The poem “Kindness? Or People Pleasing?” highlights how the line between kindness and people-pleasing blurs for both parties— the pleaser and the pleased. Dom explores how the blur affects both from the pleaser’s perspective.