**I am not a medical doctor. This article does not substitute medical advice. Please seek professional trusted medical advise shall the need arises.**
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Have you been at your primary care physician’s office, your local emergency room and or your local urgent care—and just felt unheard, ignored, isolated? Better yet, have you been sent home feeling that you were not heard, supported and or treated in the manner that would actually solve the primary area of concern that you were seeking medical attention for? Did you look around and see other ethnicities, socio-economic classes and or genders being helped while you just were left on “ignore” or told “we can’t find anything wrong here, Ma’am”?

​My grandma used to tell me that darkness makes the light brighter. As I have grown through life, the principles taught to me by my grandmother make so much sense. Like my beloved grandmother, I understand that I am an educator because I have endured hard times. I don’t think anything in life has taught me gratitude like grief. To have and lose in the blink of an eye is a phenomenon that continues to astonish me. My sister’s death broke me. 

In life, there are many directions we can take. There are many mistakes we can make but at the same time there are many blessings we can walk right into.
 
For many years I’ve been. Grasping…. Grasping for answers. Grasping for hope. Grasping at thin air. Trying to be understood while at the same time trying to understand self. Trying to heal while at the same time simply trying to survive.

​“She’s aggressive!", “She’s intimidating!”, “She looks so manly!”, “Her arms are too big for a woman!”, “She doesn’t look very feminine!” Blah blah blah!
 
These are just some of the lines I’ve heard being said about black female athletes as well as myself, particularly when it comes to my arms, as they've always naturally been toned and defined (thanks mum!).

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases. It is not intended to be a substitute for medical or professional advice. Should you have a pre-existing medical condition, please consult your trusted health-care practitioner.
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Our relationship with herbs and plants as remedies started a long time ago. Think of Georg Ebers’ 1872 purchase of a medical Papyrus, a 20-meter scroll dating from 1,600 B.C., summarizing 1,000 years of Egyptian medicine. It describes over 870 formulas based on 500 different plants. In the year 500, Ancient Egyptians were known as the best doctors of the Mediterranean.