
Behind the Wall by Tracy Chapman: When a Woman’s Cries for Help Are Heard, but Help Never Comes
Some songs stay with us because they are beautiful. Others stay with us because they tell a truth that society has spent generations trying not to hear.
In 1988, Tracy Chapman released a song called âBehind the Wallâ on her s [...]

Before âI Am Womanâ Became an Anthem, Women Were Fighting to Be Heard: The Story Behind Helen Reddy’s Song
The history behind Helen Reddy's 1972 anthem, the rights women were fighting for, and what her story can teach Survivors about independence, solidarity, and finding their voices.
In 1972, Australian singer Helen Reddy release [...]
Who Did You Have to Become to Survive? A Gentle Introduction to Jungian Self-Reflection for Survivors
Exploring the parts of ourselves we learned to hide, the roles we learned to play, and the freedom to discover who we are today.
Sometimes we become so accustomed to being a certain kind of person that we forget we had other [...]
đ Black Sitcom Halloween Episodes: The Ultimate Watchlist for a Cozy Night In or a Watch Party With Friends
From Martin and Living Single to Girlfriends, Family Matters, Abbott Elementary, and more.
There is something special about revisiting the television shows that made us laugh growing up. The familiar theme songs, the characte [...]

Because They Refused Jim Crow, We Walk Through Different Doors
October 7, 1955: Ella Fitzgerald Arrested After Performing Before an Integrated Audience in Houston
We live inside freedoms that somebody else had to be brave enough to imagine. I am grateful for the people who challenged Jim C [...]

10 Surprising Lessons for Survivors from Gloria Gaynorâs I Will Survive
When most of us hear Gloria Gaynor sing âI Will Survive,â we hear certainty.
We hear a woman who has figured something out. She sounds like she knows where the door is, knows she deserves better and knows she can live without [...]

10 Lessons from The Forever Tree for Black Women, Girls, and Survivors Who Have Learned to Play Small
There is something quietly radical about The Forever Tree.
Tawny Bennett, played by Olivia Washington, is a young Black woman living during the Harlem Renaissance. She is intelligent, knowledgeable and working as an antiquari [...]
10 Lessons for Survivors from Sandy âPepaâ Dentonâs Letâs Talk About Pep
Sandy âPepaâ Denton is known to millions as one of the women who helped change hip-hop. But Letâs Talk About Pep tells another story underneath the records, performances, fame, laughter, relationships and celebrity encounters. D [...]

Tammi Terrell’s Story Reminds Us That Survival Is More Than Staying Alive
When people speak about Tammi Terrell, they often begin with how young she was when she died.
Twenty-four.
They talk about the brain tumor. The interrupted career. The songs she never got to record. The future that was cut sho [...]

7 Reasons Survivors May Want to Read Taraji P. Hensonâs Around the Way Girl
Sometimes the books that stay with Survivors aren't the ones written specifically about surviving.
Sometimes they are simply somebody telling the truth about her life.
Taraji P. Henson's memoir, Around the Way Girl, was pu [...]

Angie Stone, Roberta Flack & Gwen McCrae: The Power of Their Musical Legacy
Angie Stoneâs Music Pulled Us ThroughâAnd Now, Sheâs Gone.
Angie Stone has passed, and somehow, it still doesnât feel real.
During one of my lowest valleys, her music became my guide, my comfort, my reassurance that I [...]

The Wishing Tree With Alfre Woodard: A Beautiful Movie About Finding Your Way Home + Full Movie
Sometimes you want a movie that doesn't demand everything from you.
Something you can put on while folding clothes, answering emails, working on a project, cooking dinner, or finally dealing with that pile of papers that has [...]

How Singing is Surprisingly Good for Your Health
There's a vocal teacher on Youtube that I love, and I wanted to share her with you. Kristel Cherelle's approach reminds me of our choir teachers back in school who had faith in our ability to sing if only we understood technique [...]

10 Lessons Women Can Take From Star Jones, Al Reynolds, and Everybody Who Had Something to Say
There was a time when Star Jones and Al Reynolds seemed to be everywhere.
The proposal came at the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. Then came the enormous wedding, the vendors, the publicity, the photographs, the commentary and eventu [...]

7 Survival Lessons From Eve: Your Life Is Allowed to Have More Than One Act
Some chapters prove you can survive. Others remind you that survival was never supposed to be the whole story.
I love Eve's music.
Let me get that out of the way because, obviously. Tambourine. Love Is Blind. Let Me Blow Y [...]

Vanessa Williams Refused to Become the Worst Thing People Said About Her
Deal with yourself as a individual, worthy of respect, and make everyone else deal with you the same way. -Nikki Giovanni
It was 1984, and Vanessa Williams was surrounded.
Only months earlier, she had made history as the f [...]

Some People Don’t Wait for Affirmation. They Give It to Themselves.
They did not wait for the world to settle the question of their worth. They kept something sacred for themselves: the authority to know who they were.
There is an old story about Diana Ross. "Call her Miss Ross."
[...]

There Are No Children Here: When Survival Makes a Child Grow Up Too Soon
In 1993, Oprah Winfrey starred in a television movie called There Are No Children Here. She played LaJoe Rivers, a Black mother raising her children in Chicagoâs Henry Horner Homes, a public housing development where violence, p [...]

Survivor Affirmations: You Are Not Too Late for Your Own Life
Maybe the life you imagined for yourself was supposed to happen by now.
That is the part we don't always say out loud.
You thought you would have written the book by now. Started the business. Finished school. Traveled. Ma [...]
Steve Harvey Survived the Closed Door Because It Wasn’t His Only Door
There is something Steve Harvey has been saying lately that I think is worth hearing beyond the celebrity story.
Harvey has spoken about conflict he experienced with a powerful television executive and what he believes ha [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
đş Marielle Franco: She Spoke. Even When It Was Dangerous to Speak.
Marielle Franco was a Black woman from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
She knew violence.Not from headlines.From proximity.
From [...]
HEALING JOURNEY
She Traveled Deep Within: A Spiritual Portrait of Alice Coltrane
âđ˝ For SurvivorAffirmations.com
There are people whose healing path takes them outwardâ
into movements, microphones, and moments of bold declarati [...]
Survivor Affirmations: I’m a master of messing up, and a ninja of new beginnings!
I'm a master of messing up, and a ninja of new beginnings!
You may never get an apology....
You may never get justice.....
But you must, forg [...]
19 James Baldwin Truths and Affirmations That Still Strengthen the Human Spirit
Few voices have spoken to the human condition with the clarity, courage, and compassion of James Baldwin. He did not write to decorate reality. He wro [...]
10 Ways to Reconnect with Yourself (The 1980s Way) w/ Affirmations
10 Ways to Reconnect with Yourself (The 1980s Way)
If you want to step away from the digital noise and tap into that grounded, authentic energy of th [...]
Soul Train Dancer Tamechi Toney Briggs Influenced A Generation & Created Infamous MC Hammer Pants
I've been screaming! No one was going to tell me?Â
Now all those years watching Soul Train and I did not make this connection when MC Hammer, who I a [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE
MUA Professional Shannon Jean-Pierre Helps Survivors See Themselves As They Truly Are
Â
shannonj.mua
My mother is beautiful and has been all her life.
Recently she was asked to appear in a commercial. In came mixed feel [...]

Life Changing Advice by Denzel Washington (video)
Here is one of our favorite teachers on the topic of rising against the odds....Mr Denzel Washington.
[...]
Somatic Healing and Ancestral Wisdom: How the African Diaspora Heals Trauma Through Movement
Before the world started using words like "somatic experiencing" or "nervous system regulation," our people were already experts in the science of sur [...]
đĽ Boundaries Are Health Care (Yes, I Said What I Said)
Letâs go ahead and set the record straight:Boundaries are not rude.Theyâre not mean.Theyâre not "doing too much."They are health care.
Thatâs right [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
New to Boundaries? Youâre Not Alone.
For many of us who survived abuse, neglect, or manipulation, the concept of âboundariesâ may feel foreignâmaybe even scary.
You might have grown up i [...]
đĽ 20 Fire-Burning Affirmations for Black Girls Who Were Never Protected
You deserved to be shielded, nurtured, and fiercely loved. These words are for the girl you were and the woman you are becoming.
They [...]
Surviving Is Still SacredâEven If They Clap for the Wrong Person
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
You saw them cheer.You heard the applause for the one who harmed someone.You watched them [...]
Bob Mackie Set Beauty Free: Remembering a Designer Who Knew How to……
Before Bob Mackie dressed Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Cher, Dolly Parton and some of the most famous women in entertainment, Black women were already d-r [...]
Survivor Affirmations: I Deserve to Be Seen in Gold
"Gold is not just what I wearâit's who I am."â SurvivorAffirmations.com
âď¸ Reflection Prompt:
When do I feel most radiant in my skin?
[...]
Support Women’s Safety: Mom Builds Apartment In Her GarageTo Help Her Leave An Abusive Relationship
When the going gets toxic & dangerous, you gotta think outside of the box. Applause to this Mom! @naydaniellexo Moms are a blessing, lo [...]
She Is AMAZING
The Phenomenal Phyllis Hyman, Institutional Betrayal, and Affirmations for Your Own Battles
Sometimes it isn't 'imposter syndrome.' Sometimes institutions just want you to be something that you are not because it is easier for them. B [...]
WE GREW UP WITH THEM đ¤
There's something tender about realizing that some of the Black girls we watched on television aren't girls anymore.
Neither are we.
Kim Fields. [...]
Lessons from Pam Grier’s Memoir for Survivors
updated from December 2024
I love it when women tell our own stories in our own words!
When Pam Grier's memoir came out...I [...]
BLACK GIRL, YOUR CREATIVITY HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD đđ¤
Look around.
Hair.
Fashion.
Dance.
Music.
Language.
Beauty.
Humor.
Style.
So much of what Black communities h [...]
The Forgotten Scientist Who Cured Leprosy â The Story of Alice Ball (w/affirmations)
The Forgotten Scientist Who Cured Leprosy â The Story of Alice Ball: A pioneering woman's life cut short before she reached her full potential and los [...]
Cathy Hughes and The Quiet Storm: Healing on the Airwaves
âGood evening, sweetheartâŚâThose few words, whispered through radios across America, werenât just an introductionâthey were an invitation. An invita [...]
ART HEALS
BLACK GIRL, YOUR CREATIVITY HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD đđ¤
Look around.
Hair.
Fashion.
Dance.
Music.
Language.
Beauty.
Humor.
Style.
So much of what Black communities h [...]
Bob Mackie Set Beauty Free: Remembering a Designer Who Knew How to……
Before Bob Mackie dressed Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Cher, Dolly Parton and some of the most famous women in entertainment, Black women were already d-r [...]
Living in Truth in a Loud World: The Courage to Stand Tall
There was a time when a singer could stand on a stage, look out at the world, and sing a line that would echo for generations:
âI did it my way.â
Th [...]
7 Survival Lessons From Eve: Your Life Is Allowed to Have More Than One Act
Some chapters prove you can survive. Others remind you that survival was never supposed to be the whole story.
I love Eve's music.
Let me get th [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
WE Survive Abuse Podcast












