1955-

Iyanla (pronounced Ee-Yan-La) Vanzant was born Rhonda Harris in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York. Her first name, Iyanla is Yourba and it means "great mother".She was born in the back of a taxi cab and was given to her grandmother at the age of 2, when her mother died. Since then Iyanla has become a lawyer, writer, ordained minister and inspirational speaker. Despite all of her trials and tribulations, from being a teenage mother to being sexually abused as a child and being an abused wife.

She became most popular when she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show several times throughout 1998-1999. She has earned a B.S. degree from Medgar Evers College and a J.D. degree from City University of New York law school. She is also the founder of Inner Visions Worldwide Inc. She has also become a best-selling author. Some of her works include: In the Meantime, One Day My Soul Just Opened Up and Tapping the Power Within Acts of Faith. Iyanla is also pursuing a master's in spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica.

Iyanla is the mother of three children, Damon, Gemmia and Nisa. She is the grandmother of our and currently living in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband Adeyemi.

 

Black Women in Literature Maya Angelou Gwendolyn Brooks Nikki Giovanni Zora Neale Hurston Terry McMillan Toni Morrison Ntozke Shange Iyanla Vanzant Alice Walker