Yeefah Thurman was born in NYC to very progressive parents, an entrepreneur and educator. Her family was heavily involved in the civil rights movement, especially her maternal grandmother who is memorialized in a song about her activities. Her families’ civil rights activity was influential in forming Yeefah's belief that equality is for all people and that we should all have power to stand up for ourselves and others. She was raised in a home where TV was limited and conversation, books and music were emphasized. This fostered her deep desire for gathering information and communicating with others. Yeefah is well travelled since infancy including living in Europe, Vienna Austria, for 5 years. An artist by nature she attended the famous Music and Art high school, worked in clothing design and is currently working as a hairstylist. Her hobbies include photography, sewing, mixed media art and writing(paternal uncle and maternal grandmother were English professors and uncle a published poet) She has raised and is raising 4 eclectic children: an aviation mechanic, a hairstylist, a singer songwriter and a junior in high school. Yeefah has an internal desire to be exposed to other cultures and to understand people the way "they" want to be understood. She is a lifelong learner currently studying Spanish and has a working knowledge of German. Her previous careers have been modeling, selling African fabric and an holistic health practitioner. Over the years she has won numerous awards and scholarships including the Gates Millennium Scholarship. Yeefah’s motto: If there is a difficult situation like stress, anger, sadness or anything else, remember that tomorrow is a new day and a new chance to handle the situation in a different way.