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Library

Kitwanda "Kit" Reeves

August 5, 2026

|

New York, NY

Song

Recorded by

Craig Goodwin-Ortiz de Leon

This interview is available in-person only. Please get in touch if you would like to listen.
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Summary:

This interview with Kitwanda Reeves was conducted by a fellow student at Oral History Summer School in residence at Columbia Oral History Summer Institute 2026 as part of a 20 minute interview exercise.

Kit starts off talking about the experience of having her Black name mispronounced and not having the agency to change that, leading to her decision to use her nickname. She talks about her path to Columbia Oral History, being on disability since 9/11 and learning to give herself grace in getting back to work. She describes the day of September 11th, 2001 and how that day change her life, leading to a suicide attempt on her 30th birthday.

She speaks about the role of the Black church in her life and how at 55 she celebrates each birthday like New Year’s and “using the Black girl strength of my Black girl name.” Kit talks about her college degree, her house in Brooklyn, looking for self advocacy in the medical field and the honor of hearing her own testimony.

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Themes:
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Interviewer Bio:
Craig Goodwin-Ortiz de Leon
Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:

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Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

Part of this interview may be played in a radio broadcast or podcast.

Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”

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