By Dwana Bradley I had the pleasure of interviewing Lyric Sellers. She received the Making a Difference Award. She has been doing great work in our community and is deserving of this great accomplishment. Our interview is below. Interview with Lyric Seller Making a Difference in Des Moines, Iow 1. Share with our readers a little about Lyric Sellers. I’m a Junior at East High School. I’ve grown up in Des Moines Public Schools all my life. I’ve always been invested in my community and a lot that comes from who my mom is (Tiffany Johnson, Pyramid Theatre). I have been in her shadow through it all. At a young age I really started getting involved and figuring out what I was interested in. I’ve done a little bit of theatre, basketball, but my heart went towards activism that’s where is has always led me and guided me. 2. What was it about your mother that made you want to get into this work? I think seeing my mom do everything she did unapologetically and never compromising herself when doing it so if she was in any situation where she didn’t feel like she was representing herself the way she wanted to she would get out of the situation or address it until it was where she could express herself the way she wanted and to represent her community so everything she has done has always been rooted in service to other people and I just took after that and admired it and sometimes to the point where she forgets to take care of herself so that’s where I would grow in that area and see how I could be a better version of what I learned from my mom. 3. Talk about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award I received the Martin Luther King; Jr. Make a Difference award. This award is to honor the work I’ve done with my community and engaging them, so I received the award on MLK Day on January 18th 2021. I will be honored amongst other people as well Judge O’Dell McGhee whom I admire so much and Kameron Middlebrook whom I also admire. It is truly an honor to be represented amongst those people. 4. What is the work you are involved with in our community? Most of my work has been centered around my school district working with DMPS to hold them accountable with Anti-Racism. I think I’ve always thought about it but have never had the drive that I have now which I see is paying off it’s just a matter of what I owe to my people to represent them the best way I can and none of the work is for me, it’s for everyone else around me and just finding ways to get my peers and other people to feel supported and amplified in order to able to do these leadership things like I do. It takes initiative and trust in myself and people to trust in me to do it. Anyone is capable of this work and I want to be an example of that and help other people find their voice in that capacity. The URBAN EXPERIENCE | 2021 15 ,
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