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Michael Wright Gave Black Audiences Something Hollywood Still Struggles to Give Us
I am genuinely saddened by the passing of actor Michael Wright.
His family has confirmed that Wright died on August 19, 2026, in Los Angeles. He was 70 years old. His remarkable career stretched across nearly five decades, wi [...]

Sometimes Healing Has Four Paws: How Pets Can Help Us Through Grief.
Grief does not always announce what it needs.
Sometimes we think we need answers. Sometimes we think we need to be left alone. Sometimes we bury ourselves in work, exercise, responsibilities, television, or anything else [...]
After Jason Arday: Black People Must Be Allowed to Be Human
βThe question is not whether racism exists, but how it manifests.β Ta-Nehisi Coates
Can you make it past this phrase? I'm having a hard time doing so.
βCambridgeβs diversity poster boy.β
They called that Black man a boy. [...]

Before We Called It Therapy, Black Folks Had the Stage
There is an old kind of healing that many Black Americans know, even if nobody ever gave it a clinical name.
Some of us met it in a church basement.
Some met it underneath hot stage lights in the school auditorium.
Some [...]
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 periods of blackouts. Take heart with these affirmations. Keep creating your [...]

BLACK GIRL, YOUR CREATIVITY HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD ππ€
Look around.
Hair.
Fashion.
Dance.
Music.
Language.
Beauty.
Humor.
Style.
So much of what Black communities have created has traveled farther than the people who first imagined it could h [...]

SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO REPRESENT EVERY BLACK GIRL π€
This may be one of the greatest gifts of having many Black girls in our stories.
Laura could be Laura.
Ashley could be Ashley.
Moesha could be Moesha.
Tootie could be Tootie.
Rudy could be Rudy.
One girl didn't [...]

WE GREW UP WITH THEM π€
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.
Janet Jackson.
Regina King.
Keshia Knight Pulliam.
Tatyana Ali.
[...]

BLACK GIRLHOOD CAME IN MORE THAN ONE SHADE π€
Look back at the Black girls many of us watched growing up.
Kim Fields.
Regina King.
Keshia Knight Pulliam.
Tempestt Bledsoe.
Kellie Shanygne Williams.
Tatyana Ali.
Brandy.
Countess Vaughn.
Reagan Gome [...]

REMEMBER THE BLACK GIRL BEST FRIENDS? π
Not every Black girl on television was the star.
Some were the friend who walked through the front door without knocking.
The classmate at the locker.
The cousin.
The neighbor.
The girl sitting beside somebody at [...]

BEFORE MOESHA: BLACK TEENAGE GIRLS HAD STORIES πΊ
Before Moesha was writing in her journal, other Black teenage girls had been growing up on our television screens.
Tootie had crushes.
Brenda was finding her way.
Vanessa was testing boundaries.
Laura was navigating [...]

THEY LET BLACK GIRLS BE LITTLE GIRLS π
There was something precious about watching Rudy Huxtable.
Olivia Kendall.
Judy Winslow.
And the little Black girls who appeared across the sitcoms many of us grew up watching.
They got to be children.
Not symbols [...]

BLACK GIRLS WE GREW UP WITH πΊπ€
Before many of us knew the word βrepresentation,β we knew the feeling.
We knew what it meant to turn on the television and see a Black girl there.
Penny on Good Times.
Tootie on The Facts of Life.
Brenda on 227.
R [...]

BLUEPRINT vs ALGORITHM: Black Sound, Black Memory, Black Authority
There is a moment when a culture starts arguing about what it already built.
Black Music Month becomes a conversation about whether our icons are βreally icons,β as if the foundation needs permission to be recognized as structu [...]

Survivor Affirmations: Deep Lessons in Resilience
"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." β Maya Angelou
Resilience is not the absence of hardship. It is the capacity to bend, absorb, and keep moving forward without losing the core of who [...]

Survivor Affirmations: Deep Lessons in Self-Assurance
"You alone are enough." β Maya Angelou
Self-assurance is a quiet confidence rooted in knowing who you are. It doesn't require applause, constant agreement, or performing for other people. As a Survivor, you can move through t [...]

Before the Dress Code Debate: 8 Gentle Questions to Ask Yourself If You Never Feel Like Getting Ready
Some conversations become so loud that we forget to ask the quieter questions.
Recently, there has been discussion surrounding Tuskegee University's decision regarding bonnets and durags in the classroom. People hav [...]
Affirmations for the Messy Middle of Healing (Not Linear, Not Perfect)
Somebody sold you a lie about healing. They told you it was a staircase β one clean step after another, moving you up and away from the pain until one day you'd look back and it would all be behind you.
That is not what heali [...]

Reverend MLK Jr. Reminds Us That Comparisons Are Not the Survivor’s Friend: 10 Affirmations
Comparisons Are Not the Survivor's Friend
There's a quiet voice that shows up sometimes, usually when you're already tired. It says: why haven't I healed as fast as they have? Why does my life still feel so hard when theirs loo [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
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 ra [...]
HEALING JOURNEY
Black Music Month, Bay Leaves, and the Pages That Hold Our Stories
Some traditions are loud.
A choir lifting a song.
A drum carrying memory across generations.
A family reunion filled with laughter.
Other trad [...]
Artist Jossie Harris Thacker: Building On Where You Come From β Without Going To War With It
Some of us were taught that βhealingβ means disowning everything that shaped us.
The accent.The neighborhood.The elders.The songs.The faith.The grit. [...]
Survivor Affirmations: I Tend My Own Light (w video)
We might not be able to be friends and that's okay.
β’ Part of my healing is recognizing that not every person deserves access to my spiri [...]
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 othersβ
gentle, unhurried, faithful to my becoming.
Oh how I love, adore, and a [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE

πΏ Dear Woman Who is Learning to Say No Without Explaining
I see the weight you carry when you even think about saying no.The hesitation.The catch in your breath.The flood of reasons rising in your chest, read [...]

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 childβs heart.
[...]

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 ot [...]

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 [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
Youβre Not Healing to Be LikedβYouβre Healing to Be Free
β¦ [SurvivorAffirmations.com] β¦
Dear Survivor,
This healing path you're on?Itβs not about gaining approval.Itβs not about being nice or easy to und [...]
Mindset for a Comeback: 5 Tips (audio & video)
Β
You can make a comeback after a setback, but the battle begins in the mind. Here are 5 tips to prepare your mindset for a comeback.
&nbs [...]
Affirming: Protect Your Power from Self-Doubt Seed Planters
This week, I wish you success in distancing yourself from people who plant self-doubt in women and girls. Many female Survivors from variou [...]
Before MTV: The Hidden Story of the First Black Music Video and the Legacy It Built
Thereβs something powerful about this moment in history.Not just the musicβbut the intention behind it.Movement. Precision. Style. Storytelling before [...]
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 childβs heart.
[...]
I Choose Me Over Their Opinions. Every Time.
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
They have opinions about your story.Your tone.Your timing.Your truth.
But they didnβ [...]
She Is AMAZING
Affirming Television Moments: When the Women Tore Down the Wall
First, giving gratitude to Oprah because this type of programming was very uncommon back in 1989. When you wanted to see television films like this, y [...]
Ketty Lester: Honor the Firsts, Remember the Closed Doors
Ketty Lester deserves more than a passing mention. She deserves the kind of appreciation that slows the room down.
Born Revoyda Frierson in Hope, Ark [...]
Inspired by Survivor Viola Davis: You Donβt Need Perfect Weather to Bloom
Some flowers wait for sunshine.Others learn how to grow toward the light
even while clouds remain overhead.
Gratitude to a shining star....Viola Da [...]
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 [...]
Survivor Affirmations: I Tend My Own Light (w video)
We might not be able to be friends and that's okay.
β’ Part of my healing is recognizing that not every person deserves access to my spiri [...]
Linda Creed: This Song is With You for the Moments You Stop Choosing Everyone Else Over Yourself (podcast/audio)
People make the world go round.... lyrics by Linda Creed
All these issues people are having with the humane practice of DEI (diversity, equity, and i [...]
ART HEALS
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?Β
Now all those years watching Soul Train and I did not make this connection when MC Hammer, who I a [...]
Black Culture is SO Beautiful
Black culture is truly a wonderful vibe. Being Black is a beautiful blessing I wouldnβt trade for anything in the world!
Dear God, thank You for th [...]
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.Β
When the mother of his firs [...]
Playing by Heart: Alberta Hunter and the Power of Soul Wisdom
Alberta Hunterβs life was a testament to the power of the "unpolished" authentic soul. She was a woman who conquered the world's stages, walked away t [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
WE Survive Abuse Podcast



















