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Iyanla Vanzant is an American inspirational speaker, New Thought spiritual teacher, author, and television personality. She is known primarily for her books, for her eponymous talk show, and for her frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She can currently be seen on television as the host of Iyanla, Fix My Life and as a frequently featured guest teacher of Oprah's Lifeclass on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. She attended Medgar Evers College and Virginia Union University.
Vanzant was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 13, 1953, as Ronda Eva Harris. She was given the title "Iyanla", which means "great mother" after being initiated and ordained as a Minister in the Yoruba tradition. She currently resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. She is also a Yoruba priestess and an ordained New Thought minister.
In the year 2000, she was named one of the "100 most influential Black Americans" by Ebony magazine, which said that "Her books, lectures and television appearances have made her a multimedia high priestess of healthy relationships." In 2012, Vanzant was listed at #7 on Watkins' Mind Body Spirit magazine list of the 100 most spiritually influential living people."
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