endangered species

The speaker starts with a prayer and then shares a song that resonates with them. They talk about their personal experience of being a woman, a black woman, and a survivor of sexual assault and incest. They discuss the impact it has had on their life and how their family reacted to the situation. They mention the importance of believing and supporting survivors, and the need for therapy and counseling. They also talk about warning others about their abuser and the importance of speaking up and protecting children. Hello guys welcome back this is truly me this is me podcast you're listening to truly me and I hope you guys had a great week great weekend and I hope you guys are doing well and living in your truth so with that being said I want to start off with a little prayer and then I will have a song for you guys that's very um uplifting very uh um it's like it's I want to say close to my heart but I just heard the song yesterday for the first time so I don't want to say that necessarily but it touches my heart so um it made me think of a situation so I want to share that with you guys but before we do any of that I want to take a minute and acknowledge the higher powers that help guide us here so to whomever you believe in whatever you believe in just take a moment and acknowledge their push their support their love their guidance so thank you lord for your forgiveness thank you for your motivation thank you for your grace and kindness and mercy we're ever so grateful for all you do and I pray that you can and I pray that you can continue to use me as a tool to help get your word across to help spread your love your kindness and your forgiveness thank you thank you for using me helping me and loving me amen so with that I just want to play you guys a song so check it out I Woman I am so I'm working the field, I'm working the storm I am you say I'm like a I am so so I am yes yes how was that Endangered Species by Diane Rees that song just spoke to me um in so many ways one being that I am a woman another way that spoke to me is being a black woman and then another way it spoke to me as being molested incest sexual assaulted and things of that nature so I um I can relate on many levels and it spoke to me because those things that I've experienced like those it's a lifelong experience you know once it's done you can't take it back you can't undo it you can't just act like it never happened because I've been there too you know um when I was a little girl my uncle um did inappropriate things and um it still sticks with me today and it still affects how I move it affects how I think and um like I said it's a journey and it's a lifelong journey and because um my family pretty much disintegrated at that time as far as like aunts uncle cousins you know we all used to grow up together like siblings basically and um like sleeping on the floor piled up wherever we can you know it didn't matter piled up wherever we can you know it didn't matter with kids we had fun and once that situation came to light all of that stopped and it stopped because the family divided because they didn't believe um they didn't believe he did it his family his siblings didn't believe that he did it so sorry I just got interrupted by my dog so I'm not sure what happened but um our family disintegrated our um most of the family all the family I can say sided with him they believed him and um I still remember when my mom found out you know had been going on for years and um when she found out how she found out rather my sister had a friend's day over and he tried something with her as well so the next morning she was telling us about it and we shared I shared and um when she went home she told her mom and I'm glad she did who knows what would have happened how long it would continue to have happened but I'm glad she did I wish I knew who she was because I'm grateful to her for her help and um excuse me I'm just I'm grateful but um I remember coming home coming home and we're at the corner store which is just around the corner from our house I remember coming home coming through the door and my mom asking us did this happen and I remember him being behind her saying he didn't do it and saying it's not true and I remember my mom saying get out I'm gonna call the police you know and he kept trying to say he didn't do it so eventually she called the police I remember um the detective coming over I remember sitting in a detective car sitting in a detective car them showing me how to turn on the sirens um so the day before my mom found out he had did it to me again so luckily when she told you know there was proof there was evidence and um I remember going to the hospital and getting a red kit and um I remember you know getting tested and that hurting and things of that nature and I know that I'm not the only one who's been through something traumatic as she has such who's still going through it you know I was threatened as a little girl that if I told I would get whooped and stuff of that nature however I'm grateful that my sister's friend had the courage to tell her mother that he tried something you know and um they gave me the courage to tell my mom the truth when she acts and she believes me you know and uh I'm grateful for that there's so many people out here parents who don't believe their children and it's not really anything to play with you know as I said it's a lifelong journey I still deal with it I suppressed it not knowing I didn't have therapy or anything of that nature but I suppressed it that was my way of dealing with it subconsciously I guess and when I was in high school it came out it didn't come out in a violent way or you know negative or anything like that however I got picked to represent my school in the Young Authors Conference and with that we went to the art museum to be inspired and I didn't see anything that really moved me of sort I didn't feel that but when I sat down I start writing and a poem came out about that incident about how the family turned their backs against us but also about how I was a victim of that how justice was served how I felt a sense of relief I guess I didn't have to go through that anymore so that was um I don't know it was bittersweet because I hadn't been thinking about it or anything and so for it to come out like that and there it was um it was a little traumatic and still no therapy or anything then you know I decided to embrace it like I said it got it's the Young Authors Conference and um everyone's publishings everyone things got published so the poem got published and so I decided to publish in the school paper too because it's already published in a book so why not and when I did one of my cousins went to the school they saw it went home showed their mom their mom had a problem with it didn't call my mom you know and she asked me about it and I stood on what I said that the family turned against us I had no one but my mom and my siblings you know and that's still where it was still true today but at this point I don't even really have them either um that's a story for a different day a story for a different day however it was traumatic and for someone to deny me of what happened to me deny me of my experience that's very hurtful so it's important that if someone comes to you with something like that to listen with an open mind and open heart also my uncle um when he got out which was I don't know maybe like five to seven years ago now I want to say I'm not quite sure I try not to think about him but I try not to think about him however when he got out it was like it had just happened all over again it was just like it was the day before and that's because it was never dealt with so suppressing it helped me through my childhood it helped me get through school I want to say however because it wasn't dealt with it came back like it never left and at this point you know I've been dealing with it myself since he's been out I've been praying on it I've been um I've had I've been seeking counseling I have counseling however we don't talk about that for me that's that's another story also um about seeking a counselor that you can relate to but that's a story for a different day therapy is not bad it's more so finding the right person that connects with your spirit you know the one that you can make a connection with that you can feel comfortable with and open up to about any and everything without judgment and I don't really have that you know so but back to my mother's brother is what I like to call him when that when he got out I posted um his mugshot on my Facebook page with a part of my story and I said for people to keep their kids if they have little kids or kids to keep them away from him and I said what he did to me of that nature and that if I can help any child not go through what I've been through I'm all for it every day of the week and um that same auntie from high school okay wanted to come on my post and say something to the nature was like oh you know you should keep this down her and her son also actually you should keep this down keep family business family business that's not for the internet and blah blah blah first off family business that that's not no family business this pedophile that's what he is he's a pedophile and that's whoever is going to help business whoever sees and hears that's your business to speak up to stand up for those kids who don't know that they have a voice who don't know that their voices matter but she didn't tell me or she wrote on a post um that and I said no if I can help some other kid not go through what I went through again I repeated that um that's what I'm going to do period so then she goes and posts oh that was not true they just believe whatever kid said at the time and blah blah blah what excuse you first off he wouldn't have been locked up for 30 plus years for that just off what a kid said secondly I told her I remember what he did to me so if you want him to do that to your grandchildren then so be it that's on you but if I can warn somebody I'm going to warn them because it's not worth it you know why put kids through all of that when they don't have to they're supposed to be free spirited and just free loving exploring not ingrown people's business and conversation and situations like that's not okay so again if you know something if you heard something speak up you could do it anonymously but speak up because it matters because it matters but me personally because I've had to endure that in some other situations in my life or whatnot I felt my strength so I'm not a victim I'm a survivor and that's why I'm here I'm here to help you help somebody else if you have to help you help yourself know that your voice matters so use it it matters seriously so being an endangered species yes and then so many of us just getting lost vanishing every day we need to be aware and use our voices so didn't mean to get so deep but that's where I'm at and um I just want to say again that it matters you're not a victim I'm not a victim I'm a survivor I survive those things I'm a conqueror yes I'm a conqueror that's why I'm here maybe I should play that song next for you guys because yes because I am a conqueror yes because I am a conqueror let me sing because man that's that's what I am and so are you if you're still here you're a conqueror too because that's otherwise you wouldn't be here you survived so much yeah so you've been through the worst and again that sun's always going to shine so I'm going to see if I can find the song and just hold on a second yep I got it so stay tuned for the song and then I'll be back with closing messages so oh I know it's oh oh oh oh oh is which is is oh oh oh oh oh is oh I am oh yes I stand corrected spirit said that I am more than a conqueror so I am more than a conqueror yes thank you lord for that I just want to close out and just remind you guys that we have open gym and music and movement with the free meal at the boys and girls club for the first Friday of the month and it's free for the community so come on out and indulge meet some new people build a support system and have some fun relieve some stress and yeah so don't forget to come check us out with that also don't forget to check out your local library they have great resources music like I was just listening to movies tons and tons of awesome amazing books so maybe check out a new book today even if it's a audio book they have that too other than that um if you're looking for some resources check out your neighborhood navigators the city of Sun Prairie we have a Facebook page and also website so city of Sun Prairie and um till next time stay tuned for more talk radio sports and other podcasts again you are listening to 103.5k sun underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie in Sun Prairie Wisconsin so till next time love and light