Survivor Affirmation: For Opal Lee, Who Walked Until the Nation Had to Remember
Some people wait for permission.
Opal Lee did something older, wiser, and stronger. She walked.
She walked with history in her bones and freedom in her feet. She walked for Juneteenth when many people treated it [...]
Black Classics Reading List Created by Chelsea Yvonne
In the spirit of Juneteenth, free your mind!Â
These Black literary classics are worth a read or re-read.Â
Gratitude to Chelsea Yvonne for compiling this list of all-time greats.
🌤️ Clarity After Chaos [...]

Hidden Black Film Herstory: Stompin at the Savoy | Directed by Debbie Allen
Sometimes Black women’s films are praised for being “nice,” “nostalgic,” or “beloved,” while the craft gets undercounted. Stompin’ at the Savoy was not just charming. It was skilled. It was layered. It had emotional architecture [...]

For the Hate Crimes Prevention Act: Affirmations for Black People Carrying Too Much Hate from Too Many Directions
racism chases us down for miles.....
On this day, the anniversary of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009. It expanded fede [...]
Emotional Bandwidth: Why You Sometimes Can’t Be There for People You Love | Dr. Tracey Marks
Emotional bandwidth explained: why cognitive load and stress make empathy harder, and why low bandwidth looks like emotional unavailability in relationships. Take my FREE 3-min Brain Quiz to master focus & [...]

A Juneteenth Reflection for SurvivorAffirmations: Not a Bill. A Bridge.
Some of us grew up hearing about sacrifice in ways that hurt.
“I did everything for you.”
“After all I gave up.”
“You owe me.”
Those words can land heavy in the body when love has been tied to guilt. Survivor [...]

10 Facts About Lift Every Voice and SING!
So my childhood was spent learning this song. We sang this and other songs like it for assemblies. I get out into the world and learn not only have others not heard the song but they see it as "hateful"?
Me: But you don't kn [...]

There Are Souls Beyond the Scoreboard: A History Lesson in Hope, Radio, and Second Wind (podcast episode)
We are not living in the time of afterschool specials, radio dedications, and songs that reached through the static to touch a hurting child’s heart.
So sometimes we have to borrow from the past.
We have to go back to song [...]

Before You Yell “Cocaine,” Learn What 1980s Black Joy Looked Like
The 1980s Were Competitive Joy
A room full of Black people dancing hard.
A Black singer sweating through a performance.
A Soul Train line with everybody dressed like joy had somewhere important to be.
A big Black [...]

Dr. Tracey Marks: People Who Drain You vs. People Who Energize You
Why do some people calm your brain while others drain it? One of our favorite psychiatrists, Dr. Tracey Marks, explains how your nervous system regulates with safe people—plus a simple body check.
[...]
What “Find 100 Ways” Teaches Us About Uplifting the People We Love
There are some songs that do not simply play.
They enter the room.
They adjust the light.
They sit beside you with a kind of grown tenderness and remind you that love was never supposed to feel careless.
James Ingram [...]
The Playlist: Funk, Soul, and Body Release
Some anxiety does not need another explanation. It needs a doorway out of the body.
Sometimes anxiety does not leave through thinking. Sometimes it leaves through the shoulders. Through the jaw. Through the hands. Through the b [...]

The Empty Nest is a Healing Space
The empty nest is not the end of motherhood.
It may be the beginning of a woman’s re-encounter with herself.
Not just a quiet house.
Not just “the children are gone now.”
Not just a season people joke about with sadness, lon [...]
When Dismissal Tries to Turn You Against Your Own Body
“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” Toni Morrison
Mistreatment often tries to make th [...]

Elizabeth Packard: The Woman They Called Insane Until She Changed the Law
Elizabeth Packard was not simply a “wronged wife.”
She was a mother. A thinker. A religious dissenter. A wife under the rule of a husband who believed disagreement was disobedience. She was a woman living under laws that trea [...]
Affirmations for Patients Who Are Afraid They Will Not Be Heard at the Doctor’s Office
There is a particular kind of tired that comes from knowing something is happening in your body, then having to gather your strength to explain it to someone who may or may not listen.
Some patients walk into the doctor’s offic [...]

Different Go-Go, Same Refusal to Disappear into Misery
I just discovered something beautiful.
There are two kinds of “GoGo.”
One was born in Washington, DC.
One comes from Tanzania.
And somehow, both are rooted in survival.
Many of us Black Americans kno [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
Your Gifts Were Never Up for Debate
There is a hard truth that many people resist, especially when it threatens their comfort:
Life is not fair.And giftedness is not [...]
HEALING JOURNEY
Being Silenced Doesn’t Mean I Was Wrong
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
When the world doesn’t want to hear your truth,they may call you "dramatic", "bitter", "att [...]
Wellness Journaling Prompts: I Thrive
Wellness Journaling Prompts: I Thrive by Tonya GJ Prince [...]
đź’ž Co-Regulation: When Safety Is Built Together
There is a sacred kind of healing that doesn't come from being alone.
It comes from someone else's steady breath beside yours.A hand that doesn’t fli [...]
Survivor Affirmation: I Appreciate Me for Being Me (featuring poet Steven Willis w Youtube video link)
Affirmation: I speak to myself in the tone I once searched for in others—
gentle, unhurried, faithful to my becoming.
Oh how I love, adore, and a [...]
You’re Not Healing to Be Liked—You’re Healing to Be Free
✦ [SurvivorAffirmations.com] ✦
Dear Survivor,
This healing path you're on?It’s not about gaining approval.It’s not about being nice or easy to und [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE

The Bold Choice to Live AND Thrive
Tyka said I could, so I did. -Prince (Tyka Nelson was Prince's sister who recently passed away)
Notice how people speak about sacrifices made for art [...]

The Harlem Photos That Were Hidden for 40 Years
These photos are evidence of resilience.
In 1970, New York City was officially collapsing. The media called it "Fear City." But while the world saw [...]
🌧️ Affirmation: The Rain Brings Clarity
I’ve learned to be more grateful for clarity.
I don’t love the storms that bring it — but I honor what they wash away.
I hate hard times.
I hate [...]
MUA Professional Shannon Jean-Pierre Helps Survivors See Themselves As They Truly Are
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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 [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
I Didn’t Come Here to Absorb the Mess of People Who Refuse to Heal
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
There’s a special kind of pain that hits when the world punishes a victim for speaking up [...]
She Quit Dancing for Britney Spears and Janet Jackson to Design Luxury Shoes Janet Wears
This entrepreneur quit dancing for Britney Spears and Janet Jackson to follow her passion for designing luxury shoes - Face2Face Africa
Giving [...]
đź’” When Healing Hurts (And It Will, More Than Once)
For the Survivor who wonders why healing feels heavy, not light.
Nobody tells you this part:
Healing doesn’t always feel like relief.Somet [...]
🔥 10 Survivor Affirmations to Heal from Gaslighting
I trust my voice, my memory, and my experience. What I lived through is real, and no one can erase that truth.
I am not "too much." I am [...]
Bridget Mason From Slave To Richest Landowning Los Angeles Resident
“Like Biddy Mason, I rise from chains to choices.”
“I build wealth not just for myself, but as a legacy for generations.”
“My past [...]
She Is AMAZING
9 Quotes from Maya Angelou to Nourish the Survivor’s Soul (Part 2)
Updated for 2025
🌟 Resilience & Strength
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced [...]
9 Quotes from Maya Angelou to Nourish the Survivor’s Soul (Part 1)
Updated for 2025
🌿 For the Survivor’s Journey
1. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
2. “You alone are eno [...]
Denise Ho: 🌿Once You See It, You Can’t Go Back
“The greatest gift in this life is always more of me—and I am not going back to less.”
Denise Ho was a singer.
A successful one.
She had:
[...]
The Power of Music: Candi Staton’s Anthem
This is one of my favorite songs from girlhood. I LOVE the tone in her voice and listen to her song catalog regularly. She is soulful.&nbs [...]
ART HEALS
🎵 Tennessee: A Prayer for the Weary Soul
“Lord, I’ve really been real stressed, down and out, losin’ ground…”
Those first words from Arrested Development’s “Tennessee” still feel like pr [...]
Vivica A. Fox: A master class in showing up and showing out from her days on Soul Train
Soul Train dancers were not “just dancers.”
They were artists.
People sometimes talk about Soul Train like it was simply a place to party.
But look [...]
The Black Performance Genius Behind America’s “Iconic” Jazz Style
I like Bob Fosse too. He was a brilliant dancer and choreographer. But his style is heavily influenced by Black dancers. You can't even put too mu [...]
WE Gotta Learn to Give People Care, Respect, and Love Before They are Gone (w/video)
We can be so cruel to one another.
We are the reason that we hide from one another and turn away from each other.Â
When the mother of his firs [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
WE Survive Abuse Podcast


















