Read Online Journey to Empowerment by Maria D. Dowd - Free Book Online

open door…To the grand room of passion hearts, And other lip-smackin’ morsels. For your eyes and taste buds only. Spoon me up, lick the bowl.
    This Honey Be yours to eat…A nibble here/there…li’l tang with a bang. Engulfed all over the place.
    Raw, Raw Honey…
    Black ’n’ Strapped Molasses…Naturally Nectar…So Naturally So.
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    The blessings and grace that have been bestowed upon me leave me amazed. I am thankful for…
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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 don’t know the precise statistics, but I’m certain that we’d 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 children—and, primarily, our daughters—has 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 cause—sexual abuse. And, from what we’ve likely witnessed among family members and sisterfriends, these kinds of wounds don’t always heal with the neatness of a skinned knee. As sure as one has forgiven, the experience is surely not forgotten. Thus, “getting on with your life” may not be such an easy proposition, especially when we’ve continually dismissed the ordeals as commonplace.
    â€œWell, that’s life.” (According to whose laws of morality and humanity?)
    â€œIf I got over it, so can you.” (Is this the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?)
    â€œIt could have been worse.” (Says who?)
    â€œAin’t no female safe. That’s just the way it is.” (So, no one is responsible for protecting the other half of the world’s population?)
    How has it happened that so many of our children’s 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 haven’t seen our children’s anxieties and anguish? How is it that we can put the onus on our daughters to keep their “skirts down and panties up,” when someone much older, more trusted, and certainly more coy might be testing their innocence? This is not a “blame ’n’ shame” crusade. However, we must talk about it to fully comprehend it…and its far-reaching consequences, when left ignored and the pieces disconnected. Let’s consider the aftermath of the aches—most often subconsciously borne—passed on to next generations.
    We have to talk about the warning signs. And there are always warning signs, if we’re 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, they’re like cold, hard slaps in the face. We must not presume that our children “act out” because they are bad or are “naturally” quiet or withdrawn. Children don’t plummet out of the blue. We need to protect our children’s bodies, minds and souls, and not concern ourselves with creating “embarrassing situations” 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 “survival” rates and probabilities don’t matter. No