![]() In the African diaspora, Black women have penned life stories that offer insight into the shifting kaleidoscope of violence and harrowing social experiences with domestic and sexual violence, foster care or forced child home systems, public humiliation, inadequate health care, employment discrimination, and disenfranchisement that have negatively impacted their physical and mental health. Sexual violence is traumatic in a hostile social environment that not only blames and shames victims, but deems Black women “unrapable,” the trauma is increased (Lenhart, 2006). This collection presents a rainbow of diverse people who stand in solidarity with those victimized in Atlanta and around the world. As the majority of girls in the youthSpark Voices program are African American, historic research provides useful context. ![]() Women’s quest for peace and justice are too often made invisible, trivialized, or misrepresented. I created workshops out of a desire to combat the social stigma surrounding survival and to help others along their paths of love and struggle. By learning the healing traditions in Black women’s intellectual history, I slowly developed an emotionally, socially, and professionally grounded life. ![]() As a survivor of several attacks during my childhood and young adulthood, I eventually found my voice through poetry and through making a career of studying African American women writers. In Spring 2015, I developed Purple Pens Poetry Workshops for survivors of sexual violence in order to share words of encouragement and empowerment. ![]()
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