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Jungle Boogie: The Joy of Funk and Giving Yourself Permission to Feel Good
Sometimes the music reminds us that we are still alive, and that is reason enough to dance.
There is something wonderfully uplifting about “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & the Gang. From the moment those horns come charging in, th [...]

The Cabin Kids: Black Children, Beautiful Voices, and the Joy We Kept Singing Into the World
Black history holds more than what was done to us. It holds everything we created, loved, celebrated, and shared with the world.
Watching old footage of Black children singing warms my heart. Especially when you know the hist [...]

Edward Crawford Jr. Tried to Protect Children in Ferguson. We Should Remember His Story.
Remembering Edward Crawford Jr., Darren Seals, and the Ferguson protesters whose lives and deaths deserve more than silence.
There is a photograph from the Ferguson protests that many people remember, even if they do not reme [...]

Janet Jackson’s Control: The 1986 Album That Taught Young Women to Expect Respect
Before we had today's language for boundaries, emotional labor, and relationship expectations, Janet Jackson was singing about them.
In 1986, Janet Jackson released Control, an album that gave young women something worth list [...]
Why Are Women Expected to Compromise Their Safety?
Mistreatment can teach us the wrong lessons. It can teach women to question our instincts, ignore our discomfort, and mistake surrendering our boundaries for kindness, fairness, or compassion.
For example, a woman may say, "I [...]
I Don’t Have to Explain the Boundaries That Keep Me Safe
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
You’ve explained enough.
Why you stayed. Why you left.Why you didn’t speak sooner. Why you did.Why you flinched. Why you disappeared. Why you blocked them.
Now they wa [...]
Are You Still Protecting People Who Never Protected You? 5 Powerful Questions to Break the Cycle
These affirmations are written with tenderness, truth, and a deep honoring of those who carry the ache of being raised by parents who did not do their best—not because they couldn’t, but because they wouldn’t. These are for the [...]

Grief Comes Back Again and Again. So Can Love.
How remembrance, music, and personal tributes can help us live with loss
There is something especially beautiful about the hip-hop classic They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) by Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Released in 1992, the [...]
Inspired by Gil Scott-Heron: 10 Affirmations on Deserving Respect for Survivors
Gil Scott-Heron: A Man Who Understood That Respect Begins With Recognizing Humanity
Gil Scott-Heron (1949–2011) was an American poet, musician, author, and social commentator who understood that respect was about far more than [...]

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 “Behind the Wall” on her s [...]

Before “I Am Woman” 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 [...]
🎃 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 Gaynor’s I Will Survive
When most of us hear Gloria Gaynor sing “I Will Survive,” 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 “Pepa” Denton’s Let’s Talk About Pep
Sandy “Pepa” Denton is known to millions as one of the women who helped change hip-hop. But Let’s 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. Henson’s 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 Stone’s Music Pulled Us Through—And Now, She’s Gone.
Angie Stone has passed, and somehow, it still doesn’t feel real.
During one of my lowest valleys, her music became my guide, my comfort, my reassurance that I [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
Self-Care That Rebuilds You — Without Feeling Like a Lie
Self-Care That Rebuilds You — Without Feeling Like a Lie
Some days, surviving is the win. If you’ve been through abuse, the l [...]
HEALING JOURNEY
Do Not Mistake a Blackout for a Lack of Black American Talent
Is "Woke" Just the Newest Word for an Old Fear? A History. - WE Survive Abuse
One unfortunate reality of anti-Black American racism specifically is [...]
🌺 You Are the Proof — Not the Problem
They said you were the problem.Too loud. Too soft. Too different. Too much.But the truth is, you were only ever too real for a world addicted to pre [...]
A Life Well Played: The Legacy of Hal Williams
clip originally shared by @DjCobreezy on X.com
What stands out to me about Hal Williams is that he represented something important in Black tel [...]
I Choose Boundaries, Not Codependency: An Affirmation for Healing
Sometimes, the language of “codependency” gets weaponized against people—especially women—who were raised to care, to
nurture, to serve. Humans [...]
How to Really Let Go of Past Mistakes and Move Ahead (audio)
.tb_button {padding:1px;cursor:pointer;border-right: 1px solid #8b8b8b;border-left: 1px solid #FFF;border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;}.tb_butt [...]
12 Free Books to Support Your Trauma Healing Journey
Whether you’re healing from personal trauma, systemic injustice, or generational pain, you deserve tools and support that honor the fullness of your s [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE
10 Ways to Gently Release People-Pleasing (Without Losing Your Beautiful Heart)
🌿 A survivor’s guide to reclaiming your time, truth, and tenderness.
People-pleasing isn’t about being weak.It’s about surviving in systems, relation [...]
The Scar Is Not the Whole Story: What Miss World Uganda’s Extraordinary Gown Asked Us to See
There are dresses designed to make us look.
Then there are dresses designed to make us understand.
When Miss World Uganda Muhoza Trivia Elle appeare [...]
Võ Thị Sáu: 🌿She Was Young. And Still… She Stood.
“I was never too young to see clearly—and I honor the strength that rose in me anyway.”
Võ Thị Sáu was a girl.
Not grown.Not protected.Not given tim [...]
Am I Selfish for Setting Boundaries? (audio)
Setting boundaries can feel like you're being selfish. But we'll talk about how setting boundaries is something that everyone should do to help eve [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
Speak Woman Speak (audio)
Reminding women that our voices are powerful and deserve to be heard. (2022)
Speak Woman Speak (audio): WESurviveAbuse.com encour [...]
They Wouldn’t Stare If You Weren’t Worth Seeing
✦ [SurvivorAffirmations.com] ✦
Dear Survivor,
You’re not imagining it.Yes, they’re watching.Lingering looks. Whispered side comments. Sudden silen [...]
Blooming Through the Hard Days: Affirmations for Gentle Healing
🌸 Comforting Floral Affirmations
I am learning to be kind to myself, even when my heart feels heavy.
Healing is not linear—it is a garden, and I [...]
Nurture Your Brain As It Heals
"It’s not that I’m lazy or forgetful.It’s that my brain is healing from survival."— SurvivorAffirmations.com
Let that sink in.
You are not br [...]
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 Har [...]
BLACK GIRLHOOD CAME IN MORE THAN ONE SHADE 🤎
Look back at the Black girls many of us watched growing up.
Kim Fields.
Regina King.
Keshia Knight Pulliam.
Tempestt Bledsoe.
Kellie Sh [...]
She Is AMAZING
50 Things to Talk About Instead of Black Women’s Hair (Because Your Concern is Not Genuine)
Let’s be honest—Black women’s hair has been politicized, policed, and prodded at for far too long. We’ve worn it straight, coiled, locked, twisted, [...]
Nell Carter: A Voice That Refused to Break
When I was a child, Nell Carter was one of my favorite entertainers. She still is. I had to share her with millions of other people though.
[...]
Survivor Affirmations: I Am Allowed to Be More than My Worst Decision
Maybe we don't have more talented female singers in mainstream markets these days because we never learned how to treat them?
There was something [...]
18 Things You Didn’t Know were Invented By Black Women
Just because some people try to keep you unsung doesn’t mean your melody is lost. “Innovation is my inheritance, and I multiply it daily. [...]
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. [...]
ART HEALS
🌸 Groovy Affirmations: My Hair, My Glory, My Groove
My curls, coils, kinks, and waves are a love letter from God.
The texture of my hair tells stories my ancestors whispered into my roots.
[...]
You Have Every Right to Be Beautifully Represented
✦ [SurvivorAffirmations.com] ✦
Dear Survivor,
You have every right to speak your mind about how you are represented.
Your story.Your image.Your s [...]
The Cabin Kids: Black Children, Beautiful Voices, and the Joy We Kept Singing Into the World
Black history holds more than what was done to us. It holds everything we created, loved, celebrated, and shared with the world.
Watching old foota [...]
12 Free eBooks to Support Your Somatic Healing Journey
Dear Survivor,
They are playing in your face by making you explain. And explain. And explain. Forget them.
All these folks running around protecti [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
WE Survive Abuse Podcast


















