Dr . Dunkley migrated from Jamaica to the United States a year after leaving 6th form at Wolmers High School for girls . She attended St . Catherine High school in Spanish Town that incidentally is the alma mater of Jamaica ' s current Prime Minister , The Most Honorable Andrew Holness . Dr . Dunkley did this for five years . Before that , she attended Dunrobin Primary school , which was where she got a firsthand feel of the disparity among children and saw how one group of children were favored over another simply because of physical features and perhaps where they lived . This situation might have been where she developed an affinity for looking out for disenfranchised youth , having had a personal taste of it .
A resident of the city of Philadelphia , Dr . Dunkley is happily married to Randall Williams , who is ten years her junior ; she gushes and laughingly shares with us . She adds that sometimes we envision a perfect life in our estimation , then life throws us a beautiful curveball that we cannot allow to pass . Not wanting the direction of the story to change just yet , and because we were curious , we had to ask Dr . Dunkley about the absence of her husband Randall alongside her in the media . She promptly tells us of her husband ' s aversion to social media . And being the awesome wife she is , she assents to his stance .
She also believes that marriage is a sensitive topic for black women to discuss , and women sometimes weaponise marriage . As a result , some women may feel incomplete . Dr . Dunkley considers this perspective from a place of empathy and decides not to join in . She shares her take on the different things that hold us back as a black community , one of which was the many single-family households run by women . " This is a factor that impedes our ability to create wealth for ourselves and future generations because wealth creation is easier with two committed individuals rather than one ," says Dr . Dunkley .
Early Childhood I had a happy childhood . I grew up poor if you measured us by the socio-economic standard . Our family for a time , was middle working class , and after my parents divorced , things changed . I remember us being poor because I remember us being hungry .
I am a middle child , there are 3 of us , and I am my mother ' s daughter . My mother ' s name is Barbara Carmeta Dunkley , and my father is Melvyn Duncan Dunkley . My mother was a clerical officer in the postal service and later became a social worker and an entrepreneur . My dad sold insurance for British American , and then he migrated to the United States . I can vaguely recall when we moved to Ensom City in Spanish Town , Jamaica . That is where we grew up . They were the golden years when my younger brother was born , and we would go to the country often . To St Elizabeth , Elderslie to be exact . That is where my parents met , and my grandparents lived , and so we would spend inordinate amounts of time there , especially during the summer .
When my father had migrated to the United States , he was undocumented and could not return home ; divorce was imminent , and this was how my mother became a single parent . It was very tough , and I mentioned being hungry because no money / help was forthcoming from my father . Going back to school each year was challenging , and school fees were unpaid . We did not have what children would classify as " new stuff ."
We would get second-hand books and uniforms from persons in the community . A woman named Maxine Green , who I still keep in touch with , would give me her previous year ' s uniforms , and I would make the adjustments so I would have uniforms to wear to school . I think I got my first set of brand new , un-worn uniforms when I got to 5th form . My sister went to St Jago High , and I went to St Catherine High .
TBWM : Usually , younger sisters would want to be at the same high school with the older sibling they look up to . Why was it different for you ?
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