Wambui Responds to
BP Winter 2010 Edition Article

The following is Wambui's response to an article that appears in "BP magazine" Winter 2010 edition. The article is entitled "Where Are They Now?". The magazine ran a profile on Wambui in the Winter 2005 issue. Wambui agreed to be interviewed again for a follow-up article for 2010.

Wambui says, "Perhaps the articles were too long and at the last moment someone had to shorten them. I don know what happened. However, because of the way the article is chopped up, and because it contains many sentences out of context, it does not represent me.

Below is the article [keep in mind that the article is mis-leading and had little to do with what Wambui actually said in the interview and] followed by Wambui's response.

Wambui's profile from "Where Are They Now?"
(Copied exactly as printed on bp website.)

New York City entertainer Wambui Bahati, 60, has found a new way to tell her story: a memoir about living with bipolar disorder. She’s proud of herself for getting the manuscript completed and into print.

“And the best part,” she says with a laugh",is that my ex-husband still speaks to me.”

In finishing You Don’t Know Crazy, which she self published in January 2009, Wambui says she learned that she has the fortitude to finish something despite seemingly overwhelming odds. So far, she says, she has sold about 400 copies of her book.

She continues to share her story through her autobiographical play Balancing Act, which she performs for colleges, mental health agencies and other clients around the country. She also presents a show on domestic violence and does motivational speaking.

She relies on a raw diet and meditation to remain stable, but says medication played an important role in her recovery. “I believe that my life was saved many times by pharmaceutical drugs,” she says. “I believe there is a real place for them, just not with me right now.”

Wambui, who lives in Harlem, says her moods are “relatively stable. I have had a few minor meltdowns, nothing that lasts more than an hour or so.”

She adds, “A lot of people I know perceive me as a little wacky. In the past, that would have bothered me because I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to think of me as abnormal. Now, that doesn’t bother me. It would bother me if you thought I was disrespectful or mean. “I accept that I’m different. That is what I am. And I just go with it.”

Wambui's Response:

I won't address everything, but I would like to clarify just a few things. First, let me clear up this statement about my ex-husband:

[“And the best part,” she says with a laugh", is that my ex-husband still speaks to me".]

When discussing my book and how my family felt about it, I jokingly said that an indication that my ex-husband has never read the book is the fact that he still speaks to me. The point being that in the book, I could not fully tell my story without also telling parts of his story too. There are many things in my life that are absolutely fabulous. While my ex-husband and I are friends, the fact that he speaks to me is certainly NOT the best part of my life.

[In finishing You Don’t Know Crazy, which she self published in January 2009, Wambui says she learned that she has the fortitude to finish something despite seemingly overwhelming odds.]

While writing my book and establishing a publishing company was certainly a challenge, I already knew I had "the fortitude to finish something despite seemingly overwhelming odds." I have had a successful professional theater career that spans decades. In 1997 I wrote, produced and still perform an award-winning one-woman musical called Balancing Act. My (spoken word) CD, Crazy for Me - How I Got Over Bipolar Disorder and Other Life Stuff was recorded in 2006 and is sold at online stores that sell CDs. I wrote and first performed a one-woman show called I Am Domestic Violence in 1998. I still perform this show all over the United States. I have written and performed many custom shows for various organizations. I have spent days and nights in airports when my flights where delayed or canceled, but I always made it to the events where I was booked and have always given audiences an uplifting and powerful presentation. The complete title of the book is never mentioned. The title is You Don't Know Crazy - My life Before, During, After, Above and Beyond Mental Illness.

[She relies on a raw diet and meditation to remain stable, . . .]

I believe the quality and the types of food we eat and meditation are two of the many things that can help all of us remain healthy. I have personally witnessed the amazing benefits of raw food. However, I eat a variety of foods including raw. I do not solely "rely on raw food and meditation" to remain healthy. For the past 13 years I have researched, studied and explored various “quality of life” altering strategies.

[. . . but says medication played an important role in her recovery.]

Medication did not play an important role in my recovery. I believe medication saved my life on more than one occasion because some of the medication made me feel calmer when I didn't know how to make myself feel better.

However, with long term use, there were mental and physical side effects that resulted in me having to take more and more various medications over time. It was after I stopped taking medication and implemented holistic ways of healing my mind, body and spirit that my mental and physical health drastically improved.