"UNARMED BUT DANGEROUS"  

“UNarmed But Dangerous," tells Tawana's poignant and heroic true-life love story of being born without arms and impaired use of her legs, surviving the trauma of gang rape, being raped by her step father, abortion, the miraculous birth of her daughter, drug addiction and marrying her childhood sweetheart 'Toby' on Christmas Day in 1991. Since 1996 Tawana has been traveling and speaking to people across the country, encouraging them to look beyond their circumstances and to accept God’s gift of freedom without limitations.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW

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Part 1: The Presidential Challenge

The book begins by telling the compelling story of how Tawana’s mother, a young black woman in 1963, experienced fainting and nausea so severe that her doctor gave her a sample of a drug. She later found out it was Thalidomide. Not realizing the side effects or what impact this drug would have on her unborn child, she took the Thalidomide. The drug, which decreased her fainting and nausea, would cause damage far beyond her understanding.

When Tawana was born, the doctor would not allow her mother to see her new born baby. Instead, he instructed the nurse to "keep her sedated.” For three days following her child’s birth, she was not allowed to see her baby. Once she did, to her horror and disbelief, she saw not only that her child did not have arms but that her legs were also impaired. Her life would now take on a new challenge, the challenge of rearing a severely, physically handicapped black child in the early 1960’s.

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With the help of her mother, Tawana’s grandmother, this young mother learned how to care for her child and coped as best as she could. After many attempts to receive assistance from the Department of Human Services, in desperation she sat down and wrote a heartfelt letter to the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. What happened as a result of that letter amazed the young mother. Weeks later, President Kennedy’s office wrote her back instructing her where to go for help for her challenged child. They also contacted the same Human Services office that had refused to assist her in the first place.

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Part 2: Identity Crisis

As a result of the President’s intervention; Tawana, at eleven and a half months old, was taken to the Duke Cerebral Palsy Hospital in Durham, North Carolina to be trained to use her feet as hands. At the time, no other Black children were there because this was a White institution.

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While there, Tawana experienced an identity crisis. Since she had seen mostly Whites, she began to believe, in her young mind, that she too was White. This was evident when the hospital staff ordered her first prosthetic arms, White arms as no Black ones were yet available. Tawana wore them proudly. When the staff ordered her Black arms, she refused to wear them because she thought they did not look like her. The hospital staff realized that she needed to see her family and requested that they come and bring as many family members as they could. After that, she soon wore the Black arms but never liked them.

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Part 3: The Homecoming

At the age of four and a half, Tawana returned to live with her family in Washington, DC for the first time since she was a baby. The children in the neighborhood met and greeted her joyfully. Her sisters and mother had told them about Tawana’s physical condition but that did not prepare them for Tawana.

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When one of the children confronted her about her missing arms, she returned the taunt and made everyone laugh, including the bully child. Her strength and sense of humor would prove to be a gift since she would soon be tested as she re-entered the world of people with two arms.

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Part 4: The Acceptance Factor

Because of her physical limitations, Tawana had a great need to be accepted. This need would soon prove to be one of her greatest liabilities. It drove her to seek friendships at any costs. Although she was an outstanding student, her grades soon slipped in an effort to gain the other students’ acceptance.

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With good grades no longer a barrier, she connected with the drug culture. She smoked marijuana and before she realized what was happening, she became addicted to crack and cocaine. This began the downward spiral that would last more than ten years.

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Part 5: The Return to Reason

Tawana is now on track for her God-given purpose, letting others know they have “No More Excuses” for not doing what God has told them to do. She says “she is still in the metamorphosis phase, being changed and renewed daily.” Although ‘UNarmed, she speaks God’s love with power and conviction, which helps others know of His forgiveness and redemptive power. She believes everyone is in the midst of the creation process and is like a moth that emerges from its cocoon as a butterfly, changing from glory to glory into God’s image.