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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hey NFB Family and Friends,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Here you go…Day 20 of Black History Month.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Alexa Irene Canady, born November 7, 1950, is a retired American medical doctor. She faced many obstacles throughout her school years. However, despite these obstacles, Canady stood out among her peers academically, both in the classroom and by earning high scores on her tests in school.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Her father was a dentist and her mother was an educator and former national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as a result, she spent years being active in civic affairs within the city of Lansing. She was the first African American to be elected to the Lansing Board of Education. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She earned both her bachelors and medical degree from the University of Michigan. After completing her residency (in pediatric neurosurgery) at the University of Minnesota in 1981, she became the first African American woman to become a neurosurgeon. This came after the first American woman was board certified in neurosurgery in 1960. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She became the chief of neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital in Michigan from 1987 until her partial retirement in 2001. In addition to surgery, she also conducted research and was a professor of neurosurgery at Wayne State University. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>During her partial retirement in 2001, she moved to Florida. That same year, after meeting doctors and people in the area,, she decided to work part-time at Pensacola's Sacred Heart Hospital. She remained there until her full retirement in January 2012. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1989, Canady was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, and in 1993 she also received the American Medical Women's Association President's Award. She was known amongst her peers as a patient-focused surgeon who cared deeply about each of her patients. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She continues to be both an advocate for her profession as well as diversity in medicine. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Submitted by Janette Gholson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#222222'><br>Peace,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Jacki Bruce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia<br><a href="mailto:jackibruce6@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>mailto:jackibruce6@gmail.com</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="tel:(757)291-1789" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>tel:(757)291-1789</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="http://www.nfb.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfb.org</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="http://www.nfbv.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfbv.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Follow us on Twitter @NFBVirginia<br>Find us on Facebook @NationalFederationoftheBlindofVirginia<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Live the life you want.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#222222'>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>