As we all undergo these transformational energies of the dawning of a new day and an expanded way of “Being”. It is inevitable that sometimes we may be challenged by the direction our path is taking us and it behooves us to check ourselves as to the “rightness and Spiritual integrity” of our actions.( I have attached this letter as well to the email so it will be easier to read )

Meditation and prayer were necessary before I “officially” committed to joining with this highly motivated and Spiritually oriented group of women. Without a doubt we are now moving into the “Divine Feminine” power of collaboration cooperation and community. Confrontational, hierarchical, independence of the “masculine pay to play” has had its season. So that you will understand my” point of view” I will tell you a bit about myself.

Horehound in “white lightening” with a lump of sugar plus sulfur and coal tar was my first introduction to “Medicine”. My grandmother saved my life as an infant with her arsenal of plant medicines after the local hospital sent my mother home with me to die. “Coloreds” weren’t treated in the hospital.

A rough hewn log cabin with a pot bellied wood burning stove in the center was my first school room experience. My mother, with two years of college and a teacher’s certificate, taught grades 1-12 in this one room school house. I was four years old then and remember her holding the one book too high for me to see. You see there were 6 foot tall young men just learning to read at age l8. Needless to say that was during the time of segregation where “separate but unequal” was the law of the land. .

My father was a West Virginia coal miner who only completed llth grade. He had broken his foot and was on crutches when he met my mother. She recognized he was a genius and before it was all over he taught himself calculus and other subjects. As a result he scored extremely high on the pilot aptitude tests and he ultimately became one of the Famous World War II “Tuskegee Airmen”. He was awarded the “Distinguished Flying Cross” for flying nonstop around the world.

The “Tuskegee Airmen” were on a mission to prove that Negroes were as smart as anyone else … and as courageous. They never lost a plane. When my father returned home he could not drink from a” whites only” fountain or lift his eyes from the dirt when a white woman passed by or suffer dire or even fatal consequences off the military base especially in the South.

The mantra “You must be three times as good” you are “representing” the race was what I was raised on. Although as a child I suffered rocks, bombs on my homes doorstep, discrimination and the “N” world.. I never considered that I would not succeed. I was raised on “you can do anything and “everything” you set your mind to” with discipline and hard work. An “even” playing field was never assumed, expected or found .This is why I believe early encouragement and support of girls and women is invaluable.

Peace Corps training projects to Africa had just begun when I began college and I was on the staff, on of the first trainings. I also found myself among the first students coming from countries newly freed from colonialism at the International House. Their stories peaked my interest in international affairs so I graduate in Political Science and International Relations from U.C. Berkeley and was awarded a fellowship as a foreign Affairs Scholar to the State department (which later declined).

The Civil Rights Movement, the Free Speech Movement, Anti Vietnam War”flower children” as well as Women’s rights were active and Berkeley was a “hotbed” for all these movements. I cut my adult teeth on J Edgar Hoover and the FBI, Angela Davis, Kathleen Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael (Black is Beautiful) and the assinations of John, Malcolm X, Robert, and Martin.

Despite” dodging tear gas” I received a life time teaching credential and pupil personnel designated services credential Masters Degree in Counseling psychology and finished all but dissertation in Higher Education .I subsequently taught psychology, social science as well as became Director of Counseling at the college level working primarily in inner city environments.

Emotional health impacting physical Health made a great impact on me I went back to medical school at the University of Illinois college of Medicine and subsequently did an Internship and residency in family Medicine and taught at Rush Medical School in Chicago and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

I served as an E.R doctor, urgent care, private practice, and medical director of an ambulatory care center, Residency training program Director and Professor of Family Medicine for 20 years. I have also worked with “Crack” addicted Mothers .blind students, and job upgrade programs for drug addicted people. This experience showed me how broken and discriminatory our health care system was. It has given me invaluable experience that can be applied at an international level.

Leadership in organized medicine seemed to be the next logical step. I was elected the first female Family Physician of the Year by my peers in Georgia (just 6 years before some of the members needed only a “sheet” over their heads and they could have been right at home as KKK members) I also became President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and on the National Board of Directors for the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine.

The American Academy of family Physicians first elected me to represent Minorities and ultimately I became Chair of their most powerful Commission on Legislation and Governmental Affairs. I was nominated to the American Board of Family Practice (testing and licensing for all U.S. Family Physicians) among other honors and commissions. I was also a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry as well as State and federal agencies on Primary Care and Sexual Health issues.

The mentoring I received from three people along the way and my parents example, were key to being successful as a woman of color in a then predominantly white male discipline.. Courage to tackle difficult problems, embrace leadership roles, and to strike out in unknown waters, taught me how to prevail when people were more powerful, didn’t play fair and were not happy to see me on their playing field. I see these as valuable skills when considering helping to alter the status of women globally.

Dialogue facilitation between generations of women provides opportunities for enlightened more compassionate, collaborative leadership styles to be forged. Encouragement, Mentoring, and Resource sharing are critical. I am also an “Intuitive”and practice “blended medicine” For these reasons I feel uniquely “gifted” to help women from other cultures develop leadership skills, and the confidence to address entrenched practices which are disempowering to women.

Clean assessable water is also an interest because it reduces disease and frees women up to pursue education and other ways of improving their community through the ability to pursue a livelihood.

The links below demonstrate to me how important it is that girls and their mothers receive interventions that can help us have the courage to build a better world for all.

This is an example of the children of our future... These little children are coming in "knowing" www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPszAxLjFSs&feature=youtube_gdata_player audition

Bothale... 11 year old South African Poet... winning performance and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tdZqEO9guo wining

Creative Minds with Prayer, diligence, and a joyful heart cannot fail. Community empowerment and Revolutionary Full Spectrum Healing with Heart globally are goals I believe my path has prepared me for. Leadership development for girls and women is critical for this to occur. I welcome the opportunity to join with others who have this “New World Vision” in their Hearts and their “Minds Eye”.

I am also including a link to a “Man Prayer” I was really moved by the sincerity.... pray that it spreads from men www.upworthy.com/one-prayer-that-might-actually-make-the-world-a-better-place?c=upw1

I believe in “Oneness” …we are all in this together. We are One People and One World.

I look forward to working with you. When we work in collaboration, our impact to the world increases exponentially. I also look forward to hearing your voices on the conference call as well as meeting you in person in New York next month!

"Love and Light," Tanya