CD - Cloud Dancing (see CD cover below) -Track 4 -To Worship You, Sheryll Brooks Mitchell - Lyrics, Rev. (E. T.) Templeton - Music. Sheryll is Mentor Joan Burns Brooks' daughter. Her immediate family is husband Daniel L. Brooks, Sheryll & spouse Leonard, their son Brooks, and daughter Dandrea Brooks, M.D.
Brenda Terry, her Mentors Taylor and Bruce, Mentee Neely
L-R: Jackie Bruce, Brenda Terry and Tynisha Neely
WOW! What a WONDERFUL concept.... a day to say "thank you" to the ones we owe so much to... Please consider posting the following (along with attatched photos) on your website in honor of this day. Thank you so much for sharing this with me... I will pass it on to others!!!
With gratitude,
Brenda
SEE BELOW..............
SIGNS OF GREATNESS - by Brenda Terry
As an Interpreter for the Deaf, I work within a profession that is dominated by white women. Therefore, it is a joy and a priviledge to meet, learn from, work with, train under, or simply encounter another Black Interpreter on any occasion. It is also a rarity (to say the least) that such occasions might occur on a regular basis. It can be considered a stroke of good fortune to find a mentor and a REAL role model who exemplifies mastery of the craft while personifying the highest level of integrity within the profession. For me to have found these qualities and more in someone who looks like me and uses the same kind of comb? Priceless! To find it twice? Let's just say that I am BLESSED and HIGHLY FAVORED! Allow me to introduce you to my two mentors, Ms. Kathleen Taylor and Ms Jackie Bruce:
Kathleen D. Taylor
Kathleen D. Taylor has obtained three national certifications (Certificate of Interpretation, Certificate of Transliteration and NAD Level IV) in American Sign Language issued by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and the National Association of the Deaf. She also earned a Bachelors of Arts in Biology (Pre-Med) from Hofstra University and a Masters of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling (specializing in Deafness) from New York University. Ms. Taylor has been a professional sign language interpreter for over 12 years having had the privilege of interpreting for several national and international personalities, respected authors, political, social, civic and religious leaders. She has also interpreted for over a dozen Broadway/regional theatrical performances and musical concerts.
Jackie Bruce
Jackie Bruce has been involved in the profession of interpreting for the past twenty-five years. She presently holds interpreting certificates and/or licenses from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. (RID), National Association of the Deaf (NAD), and the State of Texas and Alabama. She obtained her Bachelors Degree in Deaf Education from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, her Master of Arts Degree in Sign Language Interpretation from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, and she has completed doctoral work at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and holds ABD status. Ms. Bruce, a former president of the National Alliance of Black Interpreters, Inc. (NAOBI)and has previously served as a member of the National Multicultural Interpreting project in El Paso, Texas, and the Alabama Licensure Committee for Sign Language Interpreters. Ms. Bruce is a community and video relay/video remote interpreter, mentor, consultant, presenter, and educator.
These two OUTSTANDING, PHENOMENAL women have not mentored me through any formal program or educational matriculation. Rather, they have (individually and collectively) met with me, taught me, advised me, corrected me, praised me, encouraged me, supported me, cried with me, nurtured me, held my hand, and DEMONSTRATED to me that in the reflection of their achievements I, too, can find greatness in me. I honor them and I THANK them for all that I have learned at their feet. I am inspired, and with that being said, allow me to introduce to you my MENTEE, Ms Tynisha Neely:
Tynisha Neely
Tynisha Neely is a recent graduate of California State University at Northridge where she obtained her Bachelor's degree in Deaf Studies-Special Options Four. She currently works for the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc. (GLAD, Inc.) where she serves as Executive Assistant to the CEO. Tynisha's immediate goal is to become nationally certified with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and eventually work as an Interpreter.
It is a joy for me to embrace the concept of mentorship in every sense of the word. All that I AM, as a professional Interpreter, I owe to those who have gone before me, facing the burning sun, so that I might walk the path in the coolness of their shadows. All that I WILL BE is an exact measure of how much I am willing to pay it all forward.
Profile: Genealogist, Researcher, the only African American National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC) Consultant and Instructor, and veteran law enforcement officer Bennie L. Phifer III, West Chester, Ohio.
