All About Laughs
Iyanla Vanzant has been in the business of helping others fix their lives for over a decade. Her hit OWN series Iyanla Fix My Life has provided several viral moments over the years. In a 2013 segment she ruffled a few feathers when she made comments about black women being “out of order” while speaking to MadameNoire. Now, as her hit series comes to an end she’s doubling down, claiming black women still have a lot of work to do.
This past February, Iyanla clashed in the news with fellow television star Tamar Braxton. Tamar and her sisters were featured on an episode of Iyanla’s show hoping to mend some family issues that had forced them to stop filming their own series Braxton Family Values. Braxton reportedly walked off set and eventually took to twitter to call Iyanla “the DEVIL”.
In another recent episode she tried to help mend broken relationships for actress LisaRaye. The “Players Club” star has some fraught relationships with her mother and daughter. The trio sat with Iyanla who tried to help them facilitate healing and growth. However LisaRaye opted for a quick solution, trying to buy her mom’s affection. Mom Katie McCoy fired back “You ain’t got enough d*mn money to buy me!”
LisaRaye was also the kick off point of Iyanla’s latest season, where she was focusing on mending herself this time around. Speak on the topic of self-healing amongst black women Iyanla said “This is hard. It’s hard because I love us and so I want to fully step into my role as an elder and be able to say things you may not like but you will at least respect,” Vanzant goes on. “The way we are moving in the world – it’s time for us to close our legs; close your legs open your heart. Let’s get clear before we make the same mistakes over and over and over.”
Iyanla spoke with Essence recently where she elaborated futher.
“We’re still out of order,” Vanzant told ESSENCE. “I think because we get paid to be out of order now. [Because of] some of the images that we allow to be portrayed of us. Some of the ways that we behave and treat each other publicly.”
While she’s Acknowledged that “we’ve made a lot of progress,” the TV host adds, “I think on a personal level down on the ground, we still need to do some work. And I don’t blame us. I just say that the way that we’ve been conditioned and programmed and educated doesn’t afford us the ability to really tap into and live fully who we are. And then we engage in bad behavior.”
“The way we are moving in the world – it’s time for us to close our legs; close your legs open your heart. Let’s get clear before we make the same mistakes over and over and over.”
