
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 [...]
Mama I Love You: Women Are Amazing, Unique, and Special!
Tyron Woodley’s mother congratulates Kamaru Usman at UFC 235
Â
"It's all good, baby. It's all good. It's your turn. It ain't his turn."Â
Â
Please, do not ever let anyone convince you of false th [...]

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, Arkansas, she came from a farming family and grew into a singer and actress whose [...]

The 12 Somatic Knots of Trauma — The Complete Map from Sacrum to Jaw (and How to Untie Them)
updated from March 24, 2024
Somatic healing is not just “take a deep breath and calm down.”
Sometimes your body is holding a story your mouth got tired of telling.
Your shoulders may remember what you had to carry.
[...]

Their Words Do Not Name Me. Survival Does.
✨ Affirmation ✨
Their words tried to cling to me like chains,
but I shook them off.
Their judgments do not define me.
Their names do not name me.
I carry the name given by my survival—Strength. Courage. Unbreakable.
I wa [...]

The Lie of “Not Enough Trained People”: What Martin, Motown, and Black Representation Already Proved
There is an old lie that keeps getting dressed up as wisdom.
It says Black communities do not get full representation because there are not enough “trained” people.
Not enough trained actors.
Not enough trained writers.
Not [...]
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 much "heavy" on the "heavily influenced."
American stage entertainment keeps [...]
Survivor Affirmations: Black Women Deserve to Be Believed Without Being Perfect
DARVO becomes even more dangerous when it borrows from racism, sexism, and old lies about Black women and Black girls. We do not honor truth by protecting the most liked person. We honor truth by refusing to let stereotypes test [...]

When Being Yourself Is Labeled “Political”: Why some people are punished simply for showing up
Nat King Cole really was attacked on stage during a concert in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1956.
While performing at the Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham before an all-white audience, a group of white segregationists rushed the s [...]

12 Facts About Sounds of Blackness and Their Uplifting Song “Optimistic”
updated from 2 1 25
In times of struggle, we lean on music to remind us who we are, where we’ve been, and what we’re capable of. Sounds of Blackness has been that voice of encouragement for generations. Their song “Optimi [...]

Sometimes Integrity Gets You Removed: And That Doesn’t Mean You Were Wrong
🎤 Dusty Springfield was a British singer known for her soulful voice and hit songs in the 1960s. Wikipedia
📅  1964: During a tour of South Africa, she refused to perform for segregated audiences under the country’s apartheid la [...]

Keep on Movin: Quotes on Perseverance from Black Women
♥ Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you….....yet, someone survived. You can do anything you choose to do. – [...]

Remember the Time: Memory Remembers Meaning, Not Calendars
Memory does not keep time the way clocks do.
It keeps impact.
It keeps feeling.
It keeps the moments when something inside us recognized truth before our minds had words for it.
That is why so many people remember February [...]

🌤️ Clarity After Chaos, Grief, and Rain
There comes a moment — after the thunder, after the tears — when the air feels different.
It’s quieter.
Cleaner.
You can finally see what was always there, but hidden behind the storm.
Clarity doesn’t arrive with cel [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
I Protect My Peace Like It’s Sacred—Because It Is
SurvivorAffirmations.com | Inspired by WeSurviveAbuse.com
You’ve been through enough.
You don’t owe your peace to debates, hea [...]
HEALING JOURNEY
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?Â
Now all those years watching Soul Train and I did not make this connection when MC Hammer, who I a [...]
An Affirmation for Choosing Active Goodness
Today, I look for quiet, healthy ways to do good.
 because my presence in the world carries weight.
I understand that goodness does not requir [...]
🌿 Josephine Baker: She Found a Place Where She Could Breathe
Joséphine Baker did not just “move to France.”
She left a place that constrained her…and stepped into a place that, for a time, allowed her to expand [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE
Survivors Matter, You Are Not to Be Dismissed (audio)
Throwing it back to wisdom from Zora Neale Hurston, on refusing to be dismissed.
Here are 20 phrases people use to dismiss feelings. (2021)
[...]

The Nose That Changed Everything
I come from a generation that watched our celebrities alter their noses — narrowing, reshaping, and refining — just to be seen, to get work, to surviv [...]
“Why do people’s opinions hit me so hard?” — Learning not to internalize ignorance.
Let them think whatever they want.
Let them run circles in their own heads.
Let them name you, misname you,
draw their crooked sketches of who you [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
The 80’s Was a Great Decade| A Black Perspective
She's right. It was pretty amazing. It was HARD. But that just meant you worked harder to bring in the joy. And we definitely did that.
Gratitude a [...]
🌿 Josephine Baker: She Found a Place Where She Could Breathe
Joséphine Baker did not just “move to France.”
She left a place that constrained her…and stepped into a place that, for a time, allowed her to expand [...]
8 Power Moves to Use When You’re Disrespected from Elle Lacey
I do like that we've moved towards accepting that there will be moments that people may not treat us with the amount of respect that we would hope. Wi [...]
Radical Self-Love in a Miserable World
✦ [SurvivorAffirmations.com] ✦
Dear Survivor,
If they take the time—their time—to step into your spaces just to insult you, your culture, your joy, [...]
She Is AMAZING
Playing by Heart: Alberta Hunter and the Power of Soul Wisdom
Alberta Hunter’s 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 [...]
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 [...]
Why Harriet Tubman Gave the Gift the Freedom on Christmas Eve
Harriet Tubman helped her brothers escape at Christmas. Their master intended to sell them after Christmas but was delayed by the holi [...]
🌺 Marielle Franco: She Spoke. Even When It Was Dangerous to Speak.
Marielle Franco was a Black woman from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
She knew violence.Not from headlines.From proximity.
From lived experience.
F [...]
ART HEALS
Soul Music Connects to Your Soul and Your Spirit
“Soul music is true to its name. It's music that connects to your soul, your spirit. … when people can emotionally connect with something or it helps [...]
12 Reasons Lauryn Hill Deserves More Respect for Her Impact on Music (w/affirmations)
The only reason that men question Lauryn Hill's
accomplishments
is because they can't find a way
to take credit for them.
Lauryn Hill was never j [...]
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?Â
Now all those years watching Soul Train and I did not make this connection when MC Hammer, who I a [...]
🎵 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 [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
WE Survive Abuse Podcast
















