Not all survivors look the same or have the same experience. As a survivor and and advocate, Khuma and Summyya discuss the ways in which healing spaces can be inclusive and fun. Tune in now!

In this episode, Kahmilah and Rose explore what it means to be intentional in creating and fostering an environment for activism and healing by black women for black women. Tap in to hear more!

In today’s episode, the host of the We Hear You Podcast, and the executive director of Harambe Social Services, takes the hot seat. Rose Williams opens up about her life story in the hope that it will offer hope and comfort to anyone listening who is being subjected to domestic abuse. Domestic violence is a pandemic, as much as COVID-19 is, and for various reasons the latter is exacerbating the horrors of the former, making the inspirational work that Rose does ever more relevant. Our conversation today covers so many vital topics, ranging from why there is a need for culturally specific services, to the importance of being sensitive to the difficult decision that mothers face when they find themselves in an abusive relationship and have children to look after. Rose grew up in a violent household and although the road is long and challenging, she has dedicated her life to assisting Black and African American women in abusive relationships, and you’ll hear today about some of the inspiring work she is doing. 

Kelly Thomas has experienced abuse throughout her life; in her family while she was growing up, in her first marriage while she was pregnant, and in her second marriage when she had two young children. Although she felt like she did as much as she could to shield her son and daughter from the abuse that she was being subjected to, she now realizes that they were aware of much more than she knew. Kelly shares the guilt that she feels about putting her children through something that she knows from personal experience, sticks with a person for their whole life. Kelly has done a lot of work in order to understand how abusive relationships impact children, even if the children are not being physically abused themselves, and she advocates strongly for having open conversations about this topic as a way to prevent multi-generational abuse.

Harambe Social Services

Harambe Social Services on Facebook

Harambe Social Services on Instagram

Domestic violence is an epidemic which impacts people of all races, ages, genders and classes. Our society too often puts the onus on the victim to fix their situation by leaving their batterer. However, the reality is that this will not solve the problem of domestic violence; the perpetrators are the ones who need to be held accountable for their actions, otherwise they will abuse whomever they are in a relationship with. In today’s episode we are joined by Ms. Tamu Lane, a survivor who now runs one of the few New Jersey based programs which aims to eliminate domestic violence by working with the batterers themselves. Tamu and Rose discuss the compounding struggles experienced by women of color and how the common practice of victim blaming perpetuates abuse. You will also learn about the lack of coherent policies around domestic violence and the devastating impact this has on victims, why the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the levels of domestic violence and the fact that domestic violence is still not being treated as the nationwide emergency that it is. If you are a victim of domestic violence, even though you may feel alone, you are not, and there are many organizations out there to help you.