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 [...]

The Wishing Tree With Alfre Woodard: A Beautiful Movie About Finding Your Way Home + Full Movie
Sometimes you want a movie that doesn't demand everything from you.
Something you can put on while folding clothes, answering emails, working on a project, cooking dinner, or finally dealing with that pile of papers that has [...]

How Singing is Surprisingly Good for Your Health
There's a vocal teacher on Youtube that I love, and I wanted to share her with you. Kristel Cherelle's approach reminds me of our choir teachers back in school who had faith in our ability to sing if only we understood technique [...]

10 Lessons Women Can Take From Star Jones, Al Reynolds, and Everybody Who Had Something to Say
There was a time when Star Jones and Al Reynolds seemed to be everywhere.
The proposal came at the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. Then came the enormous wedding, the vendors, the publicity, the photographs, the commentary and eventu [...]

7 Survival Lessons From Eve: Your Life Is Allowed to Have More Than One Act
Some chapters prove you can survive. Others remind you that survival was never supposed to be the whole story.
I love Eve's music.
Let me get that out of the way because, obviously. Tambourine. Love Is Blind. Let Me Blow Y [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
HEALING JOURNEY
💖 You Deserve to Feel Safe
Affirmations for Survivors Learning to Trust Peace Again
There is a kind of safety that isn’t just physical.
It’s emotional.Spiritual.Energetic.
It [...]
Wellness Journaling Prompts: I Thrive
Wellness Journaling Prompts: I Thrive by Tonya GJ Prince [...]
What Song Has Brought Comfort and Healing to You?
In this life, there will be pain, trials, and tribulations. I am truly thankful for the gift of music. High-quality music can sooth [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE

25 Survival Foods of Slaves on Plantations
“I do not wait for permission to create—I design, I build, I transform.”
“Every problem I face carries within it the blueprint of my bril [...]

🌿 12 Affirmations for the Woman Who is Beginning to Dream Again
It is safe for me to want beautiful things again.
My dreams are seeds planted in sacred ground.
I trust the visions rising from within [...]
🌺 Survivor Affirmations Post: “I Don’t Exist to Be Understood by Those Who Harmed Me”
A reminder for the Survivor who’s ready to stop explaining her healing.
I used to spend my energy trying to be understood.Trying to soften [...]

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 [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
My Pain Is Not a Public Spectacle
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
You are not a headline.You are not a punchline.You are not here for anyone’s entertainmen [...]
BLACK GIRL, YOUR CREATIVITY HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD 🌍🤎
Look around.
Hair.
Fashion.
Dance.
Music.
Language.
Beauty.
Humor.
Style.
So much of what Black communities h [...]
MUA Professional Shannon Jean-Pierre Helps Survivors See Themselves As They Truly Are
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 [...]
She Is AMAZING
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 [...]
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.
[...]
BLACK TEENAGE GIRLS HAVE AMAZING STORIES 📺
Before Moesha was writing in her journal, other Black teenage girls had been growing up on our television screens, because Black girls have amazing st [...]
Surving Abuse Daily: Musical Empowerment for Women
elink.io | See Original
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The Story of Kemba Smith Pradia
May we continue to be reminded and never forget that women in prison (most of whom have survived painful abuse and violence) are indeed human beings.& [...]
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 no [...]
ART HEALS
🌿 Meghan Markle: Affirmations for Those Still Standing
I am still here, and that alone is a victory.
What tried to break me did not get the final word.
My spirit bends, but it does not [...]
Surviving Abuse Daily: I Can’t Do This Without Laughing
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Your Voice Is a Lighthouse: Keep Shining Through the Noise (Featuring Amazing Animated Story by BigBoi)
I woke up and encountered this story by BigBoi. Made my morning.
Your story has the power to do that too. Keep living. Keep crafting your storytel [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
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