open doorâ¦To the grand room of passion hearts, And other lip-smackinâ morsels. For your eyes and taste buds only. Spoon me up, lick the bowl.
This Honey Be yours to eatâ¦A nibble here/thereâ¦liâl tang with a bang. Engulfed all over the place.
Raw, Raw Honeyâ¦
Black ânâ Strapped Molassesâ¦Naturally Nectarâ¦So Naturally So.
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The blessings and grace that have been bestowed upon me leave me amazed. I am thankful forâ¦
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Plights of Passage
B Y M ARIA D ENISE D OWD
T herapists know. Physicians know. Prison administrators know. Spiritual healers know. Drug and alcohol rehab counselors know.
We all know someone who knows.
No, I donât know the precise statistics, but Iâm certain that weâd all be floored if we did. However, people in the healing and empowerment business have worked with enough people and have garnered enough knowledge and insight on just how devastating sexual abuse committed against our childrenâand, primarily, our daughtersâhas been to the black community. Much of our rates of obesity, alcoholism, depression, drug abuse, promiscuity, prostitution, imprisonment, relationship and sexual disorders and dysfunction can be attributed to this single root causeâsexual abuse. And, from what weâve likely witnessed among family members and sisterfriends, these kinds of wounds donât always heal with the neatness of a skinned knee. As sure as one has forgiven, the experience is surely not forgotten. Thus, âgetting on with your lifeâ may not be such an easy proposition, especially when weâve continually dismissed the ordeals as commonplace.
âWell, thatâs life.â (According to whose laws of morality and humanity?)
âIf I got over it, so can you.â (Is this the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?)
âIt could have been worse.â (Says who?)
âAinât no female safe. Thatâs just the way it is.â (So, no one is responsible for protecting the other half of the worldâs population?)
How has it happened that so many of our childrenâs rites of passage into man-and womanhood have been at merciless, fouled hands of pedophiles, rapists or sexual harassers? How has it happened that we have been so engrossed in our own busyness, fear and pride, that we havenât seen our childrenâs anxieties and anguish? How is it that we can put the onus on our daughters to keep their âskirts down and panties up,â when someone much older, more trusted, and certainly more coy might be testing their innocence? This is not a âblame ânâ shameâ crusade. However, we must talk about it to fully comprehend itâ¦and its far-reaching consequences, when left ignored and the pieces disconnected. Letâs consider the aftermath of the achesâmost often subconsciously borneâpassed on to next generations.
We have to talk about the warning signs. And there are always warning signs, if weâre paying attention. A grown woman can conceal an abusive encounter. Children are not so ingenious. Even when they might not shed tears, there are signs that cry for help, and those signs are usually so commonly textbook, theyâre like cold, hard slaps in the face. We must not presume that our children âact outâ because they are bad or are ânaturallyâ quiet or withdrawn. Children donât plummet out of the blue. We need to protect our childrenâs bodies, minds and souls, and not concern ourselves with creating âembarrassing situationsâ or financial hardships. Our children come into our world pure and wholly reliant on us for their safety and well-being. Know that the damage could be irreversible and those demons could follow them to their graves, but first not without many days and nights of living in the hell of the memories. Your assumptions about âsurvivalâ rates and probabilities donât matter. No
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