Written by: Latoya Scott
Coordinator- Elishaba B George
Sparkle Booth Photography
Creating friendships that last forever! Creating moments that last a lifetime! Meet the Okinawa Ebony women. One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. Since I landed on this beautiful island these women have accepted me with open arms. The support and love that is spread throughout this group is beyond AMAZING... The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Let's meet the creator of Ebony Women of Okinawa - Monsharee Love
The reasoning behind starting the Ebony group is community. When other black women come to the island, they should know that they are not alone. The trip overseas is already hard enough. Some of us have never traveled outside of our city or state let alone an overseas trip. For many of us, this is our very first time away from everything that is and feels familiar. It’s important that we know local beauty supply vendors or store, or which online beauty supply stores provides the fastest shipping or where we can find ingredients for many of our cultural dishes during the holidays.
Lastly, the Ebony Group was created to feel like home and a true sisterhood amongst black women. We keep each other uplifted. We attend each other’s birthday parties for our kiddos because when we come to this island, we do become new aunties. We comfort one another by simply being there. The Ebony group is for us all. It’s a place where we can ask a question and get a response and draw off one another’s wisdom.
Not to mention, we hang out, laugh and commune together. We are a community. It’s just a safe place for black women to let our hair down and just be us.
Meet Timisha Taylor
I was invited to join in the Ebony waterfall photo-shoot and was able to meet some amazing women. I interviewed a few asking them about their amazing experiences on this island and how the group has helped them during times such as these, being so far away from family and not being able to fly back whenever you want to visit. "Being on the island for three months, I have noticed the sisterhood of the Ebony group and the amount of support they share with each other. During my short time here I have participated in a group photo shoot with the Ebony group and interviewed a few of the Ebony women about their experiences so far on the island and their connects in the group" said Timisha.
Timisha Taylor is a serial entrepreneur operating multiple businesses on Okinawa and in the states. In the states she has a business named slumber Potty, which helps moms who are sleep deprived and need help with potty training & building stronger connections with their children. Timisha is a certified pediatrics sleep & potty train consultant and a positive discipline coach.
She’s been in business for 12 months with majority of her clientele in Virginia and California. I was so amazed at the wide range of talent and skill sets between the women and how they still find time to be there for one another. The next young lady I met has so much drive and such a beautiful spirit
During the long bumpy and extremely hilly ride to the waterfall, I met Tara Dixon who is so humble and down to earth. I started asking questions about who she is and what it is she does and undenounced to me no of the other ladies knew what this amazing woman did on an every basis. Allow me to introduce Mrs. Tara Dixon, the president and CEO of Research and Evaluation Group (EvalGroup) a woman-owned (WOSB), SBA 8a certified small business headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Mrs. Tara Dixon founded EvalGroup in 2009 based on identifying a need for nonprofits in the local community. EvalGroup is now a full service professional consulting company. Mrs. Dixon has worked with many local and state agencies in assessing their programmatic efforts developing research grants and scientific reports, summary writing, and presentations. She is an expert in public, behavioral, and community health and has evaluate multiple site chronic disease and substance abuse prevention projects. She works with multiple state and federal agencies, auditing programmatic and healthcare quality improvement efforts.
Mrs. Dixon earned her B.S. in Physical Science/Chemistry from Auburn University and her Master of Public Health from Ryals School of Public Health University of Alabama-Birmingham. In 2018, Mrs. Dixon was accepted into the Executive Doctoral program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Health Professions and is currently pursuing her Doctor of Science in Healthcare Leadership. Mrs. Dixon's areas of interest include the working military spouse, underserved and underrepresented populations, and diversity inclusion in business consulting. She is also an advocate for women in the workplace and women back to work. Since learning all of this about the amazing Mrs Tara, we have since had a few business gatherings where she helped a few of the ladies on the island gain access to government contracting and how to get started.
I have been so blown away by the amount of skills and knowledge within this group of women and how freely they are willing to share and help each grow and be better people. Meet Shayla Homes, a Business consultant and Officer wife. “My experience with the Ebony group has been very refreshing and the support has been amazing it's helped with the challenges of living overseas especially during the pandemic” said Shayla. Shayla was such a sweet person to hang out with during the photo-shoot. Being new to the island I didn't know too many ladies yet. And Shayla was a big help in making sure I got around on the island. and even picked up a few Japanese goodies for my family to enjoy.
Taking in the beautiful scenery of the waterfall I found myself surrounded by The Ebony Queens of Okinawa all are successful in their own rights; doing major things on the island. Which led me to speak with the Queen of Balloons, Beauty Supplies, and Throne Chairs. Aeriel Butler-Campbell She is the owner of Beauty SHE creates, a beauty supply store for women of color. Once she arrived in Okinawa, she realized there was a lack of basic hair care products that are essential for the women here in the community. Her goal was to provide products that were both easily accessible and affordable. "The appreciation and support that I have received since I have launched my business has truly been unimaginable" said Aeriel. I am looking forward to the many adventures with this amazing group of women. You can learn more about the Ebony women of Okinawa and it's founder at www.ebonysofokinawa.com
You can purchase the magazine here Print Copy or Digital Copy