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Seg. 1: Hir. Seg. 2: Story Of Ed Dwight

Segment 1: Comedic play at The Unicorn invites serious conversations on gender identity.

The comedy Hir revolves around the story of a transitioning teen and their dysfunctional family. Find out how one performer connects with their role on a personal level.

  • Ahafia Jurkiewicz-Miles, actor

The production of 'Hir' runs at The Unicorn Theater through June 24. For ticketing and information, visit UnicornTheatre.org.

Segment 2, beginning at 21:40: After a brief stint with NASA fell through, Ed Dwight chose to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an artist.

Kansas City, Kansas native Ed Dwight was the first African-American to train for NASA but would not venture into space due to racial prejudice at the time. He eventually returned to his roots as an artist. Hear the Renaissance man's story.

  • Ed Dwight, sculptor, KCK native and first African-American to train as an astronaut for NASA

Ed Dwight will be a featured speaker at the Juneteenth Celebration at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on June 9. For more information, visit Nelson-Atkins.org.

People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.