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My step cousin was caught attempting to rape his uncle’s girlfriend’s daughter. My father + step mom decided to bring him into our home thinking a new environment would change him. He raped me every day after school my 6th grade year. They trusted him alone with me.

I told my father about a year and a half ago.. his response? “yea, okay, blame me for something I had zero knowledge of.”

My father was a pastor and my step cousin was a deacon in training. Being that I was a PK and sat up front,I would end up having to hold hands with him during alter call. I’d look over at him and he would smile. I cried during the rapes and he would laugh.

My step cousin was only in 8th grade by the way. This wasn’t a grown man. This was an 8th grade boy with a big full of scare tactics that would shove church bulletins down my throat while raping me in the church floor.

My step cousin and I rode the same school bus. One day, he ran to the door unlocked it and locked me out of the house in the rain. I stood there begging for him to let me in. He let me in when I promised to let him rape me.

When he unlocked the door I ran in as fast as I could and ran to my room. The only reason why his plan that day was messed up was because my step sister and his sister came home from school.

I told my ex step mother what happened around the same time that I told my father what happened. She apologized from the depths of her heart and let me know that if I need any help with anything paying for counseling or ever needed to talk that she was there.

I recently told my aunt who acted as a mother while growing up. While telling he, her jaw was on the floor and her eyes filled with tears. The next day, she told me that she cried herself to sleep and had nothing but nightmares. She said that she blames herself…

She said that she wish she would’ve known. She expressed her deepest sympathies for my pain. She did not blame me. She did not fuss. She understood. She loved me. She asked me if I needed any help, mentally. That’s what the fuck I’m talking about.

My aunt asked me if I had healed from it. She expressed to me that if I had not healed from it she would do everything in her power to help me heal. She has supported me and loved me even more ever since I told her what I went through.

She said “sometimes when women go through these things it takes them a long time to digest the pain that is heavy on their soul. I am glad that you felt safe enough to open up me. I love you more than you will ever know. Want some waffles?”

My aunt stood in as a mom for me, but only when my father would allow her to. She wanted custody of me growing up. However she did not know everything that I was going through.

I cried about it in the beginning,but then I became numb. So, I buried myself in my music. I was a choir geek. I cried using my voice. Every solo I had, I cried through my music. Music kept me sane and ultimately saved my life.

Why would I tell my father about my sexual assault when a year prior I told him I wanted to kill myself. I had recently lost both grand parents a month apart from each other & was being picked on by my 5th grade teacher. His response was ..

“Get the fuck up out my face with that stupid shit!! Don’t you ever come to me with no stupid shit like that again. You wanna kill yourself? I kill you if you come to me with some bullshit like that again. Get the hell up out my face.”

Why would I tell anyone else when my father used to tell me all the time “Don’t nobody care about your damn feelings. You don’t have feelings till you pay some damn bills”

I’m fully healed from my childhood. I just wanted y’all to see wtf goes on in the black RELIGIOUS community. They shame the women and feed the monsters.

 

Source: woman.ng

Photo credit: shutterstock.com

I want to quickly share something that limits us a lot as entrepreneurs and even as individuals.

I call it the ”Story Wars”.

Story Wars is not my invention, I just borrowed it. lol

I call it Story Wars because there’s a struggle between your present reality…which seems very real to you and your future reality…which seems like a distant aspiration or dream that you may someday realize.

One way to win this war, is by asking yourself, ”what narrative am I going to believe?”

You can choose to believe the narrative that you are too limited in your present capacity, so you can’t achieve your goals.

Or you can choose to believe that you are more than enough and that by disciplining yourself to put in the work, over time you will achieve your desired result.

Before you choose the second worldview, you need something called ”Mental Assent”

You need to believe in your mind, heart and confess with your mouth your belief and faith in yourself to achieve your desired result.

Failure to do so means you will quit when challenges come or people come and start asking you questions.

You will quit because you haven’t made up your mind to give it all it takes or die trying.

Going all in is how champions win championships.

You need to be a practising extremist with a disciplined work ethic to achieve desired goals.

That’s how you win the story wars as an influential storyteller.

 

About Esohe

Esohe Igbinoba is the Founder, The Global Brand Network. GBN is a brand management organization with a focus on teaching entrepreneurs the art of influential storytelling for attracting visibility and building an engaged audience so they can build profitable businesses. She helps them to achieve this through her unique system: The Influential Storytelling Formula. She has helped over 150 people in 10 countries. She helps them through her online school, GBN Business School where she offers one on one coaching programs, online courses and training programs.

You can connect with her on

Social media @queenesohe

Or send an email to esohe@queenesohe.com

Or on her website queenesohe.com

You will agree with me that we are currently experiencing a rise in temperature, due to the decline in our atmosphere’s natural protection, the ozone layer which protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. We can’t stop going out: the only way is for us to be aware of its adverse effects and how to maintain our health.

NATURE FACTS

  • The sun gives off rays of light called Ultraviolet rays (UV) that can either benefit or harm you.
  • It doesn’t matter your age or skin color, everyone is at risk especially people whose endeavors entail that they work in the sun all day.
  • UV rays reflect off smooth surfaces, such as water, concrete, sand, and snow; you are more at risk in these areas.

HERE ARE THE EFFECTS

  • Skin changes – you begin to see signs like wrinkled, tight, freckles, and dark spots on your skin.
  • Skin cancer – overexposure can lead to the development of melanoma, a severe kind of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body.
  • Premature aging – The more time you spend in the sun makes your skin age earlier than normal.
  • Eye injuries that could lead to blindness – UV rays pose a threat to your cornea, which can lead to blurred vision, cataracts and blindness if not treated.
  • Suppress proper functioning of your body’s immune system and skin’s natural defenses.

WELLNESS CUES

  1. 1. Lifestyle Changes
  • If you reside in the tropics, it’s important you plan your daily movements so as to avoid the direct sun between 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. when the sun rays are at peak.
  • Use Sunglasses😎, sunscreen tanners and tinted makeups.
  • Interval breaks by getting into a shade.
  • Cover up – Wear clothing and hats to protect your skin from UV rays, especially for your kids whose skin are more sensitive🌞.
  1. Nutrition
  • Make a commitment to have these as part of your diet: Fruits rich in vitamins C and E can reduce the sunburns. Citrus (lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits), Carrots, Strawberries, Pomegranates, Green Tea, Almonds, Red Grapes, watermelon, Green vegetables, Turmeric, and Tomatoes🍏🍇🍓🍒🍅🌶🌽🍉🍋.
  1. Dietary Supplementation
  • If you will find it hard to meet up with your daily nutrition! No need to worry, there are whole food nutritional packs you can supplement your diet with.

Recognize these risks and take practical precautions, for this will help you enjoy the sun, and reduce your chances of sun-related health problems.

About Hosanna

I am Hosanna Oyibo, a Public Health Coach. I am an avid reader, personal development enthusiast, network marketing professional and a volunteer. I’m also interested in travelling, gardening, and sports. You can read about me and visit my blog with a click on this link https://about.me/hosannaoyibo. T

 

Princess Shyngle has taken to Instagram page to shower praise on Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham for standing by her side when she had a relapse.

The news of her alleged suicide attempt and hospital relapse broke the internet in November 2018.

In her IG post, she narrated how Toyin left her movie set in Ibadan to visit her in Lagos when the news broke that she was in the hospital.

“I had a relapse and got admitted last month in Lagos, this angel @toyin_abraham saw the news online left location and drove all the way from Ibadan to lekki immediately, rushed to the hospital just to see me and to make sure I was okay ❤️ toyin was literally in tears and was praying for me ❤️ @toyin_abraham I just want to say Thank you for being a big sis to me, thank you for always being there for me, thank you for guiding me, thank you for encouraging me and always putting a smile on my face ❤️❤️ I love you so much and I promise to never let you down @toyin_abraham ❤️ you’re definitely an angel sent from above to watch over me and protect me ❤️❤️ God bless you my gorgeous big sis ❤️❤️❤️ @toyin_abraham please help me thank this gorgeous angel for me Y’all ❤️❤️” she wrote.

It

Sunshine King is not only a model, dancer, actor, CEO, massage therapist teacher and mother — she is a survivor of violence who accomplishes all her tasks while paralyzed in a wheelchair

After a violent incident in 2004 that King said turned her world “upside down,” she was paralyzed from the neck down and had to endure months of recovery to teach herself the most basic of movements.

Hear her story;

My name is Sunshine King and I would love to share my story. I’m a survivor of domestic violence whom became a widow, single parent, and disabled in 2004.”I had to re-learn how to sit up properly, bathe, to dress, and learn how to transfer and operate my wheelchair… just learn how to find normalcy again with this paralysis,” But she persevered, and after months of rehabilitation, she has become an inspirational example of overcoming obstacles through strength and positivity, even taking to the runway during New York Fashion Week — twice.
 I’m now a survivor, wellness practitioner, fitness instructor, actress, and model.  Specializing in iridology, reflexology, Reiki, Qigong, muscle relaxation techniques, aromatherapy, wellness coaching, and more. I assist people with their healthy journey from individuals, couples, families, and corporations for the past 12 years.
Having the pleasure assisting others in and out of the disability community the importance of incorporating a healthier regiment. It starts with our self-esteem, family, and friends support. We must remember that Exercising and getting out into the community is important. If we don’t have the proper balance we can easily gain more weight and fall into a dark season.
I’ve had the pleasure working with amazing people throughout the years and taking numerous workshops, school, to invest into personal growth.
I’ve had the pleasure to be the first adult wheelchair model for Tommy Hilfiger adaptive clothing line in 2017. I’ve also have the pleasure being a fit model for a few amazing designers and companies for adaptive ware too.

“We all have different disabilities, so be open-minded and try new things,” she added. “Anything out there, we can do, we just do it in adapted ways. Don’t limit yourself based on your disability. Your abilities are amazing.”

King believes in finding inner peace and happiness and “to live each day with a purpose.”

“No matter how catastrophic your life has been, you have to keep your dreams alive and stay humble. Dream big and stay awesome because your life is all you have. Live each day to the max.”

Instagram: @sunshineking01

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two years after having injections to turn her into a black woman, German model Martina Big is talking about the procedure, saying she’s changed race.

She speaks on ITV‘s This Morning, joined by her husband Michael who is also taking steps to turn his skin dark.

She believes they’ll have black kids if they procreate.

“My children will be black. We are not having plans, but I am discussing with my doctor to see if my body is okay, will I be able to breastfeed, what the baby will look like,” she said.

She said she’s travelled to a few African countries to learn the culture, adding that right now, she relates better with people of African heritage than white people.

Martina went viral in 2017 after her before and after photos surfaced the internet.

Watch:

Credit: Bella Naija

When Michelle Obama was in high school, a college counselor said she didn’t think the promising teen had what it took to get into Princeton University.

The former first lady details this pivotal experience in her new memoir, ” Becoming.”

Obama says that at the beginning of her senior year at Whitney M. Young High School, a Chicago magnet school, she was required to meet with a college counselor.

At the time, she had her sights set on the New Jersey Ivy League school because her older brother Craig was there.

But she got a blow when the counselor said it didn’t appear she was good enough to get in.

“‘I’m not sure,’ she said, giving me a perfunctory, patronizing smile, “that you’re Princeton material,'” Obama recalled the woman saying.

Obama said she can’t remember details about the woman her race or her age because she “deliberately and almost instantly blotted this experience out.”

She decided to disregard the advice and apply to Princeton anyway.

“I wasn’t going to let one person’s opinion dislodge everything I thought I knew about myself,” she said.

Instead, she “settled down and got back to work.”

Six or seven months later she got her acceptance letter in the mail.

“I never did stop in on the college counselor to tell her she’d been wrongthat I was Princeton material after all. It would have done nothing for either of us,” Michelle writes in the book.

She added: “And in the end, I hadn’t needed to show her anything. I was only showing myself.”

While Princeton initially intimidated her, by her sophomore year she learned that she was just as smart as everyone else there.

“I tried not to feel intimidated when classroom conversation was dominated by male students, which it often was,” she wrote. “Hearing them, I realized that they weren’t at all smarter than the rest of us. They were simply emboldened, floating on an ancient tide of superiority, buoyed by the fact that history had never told them anything different.”

Credit: Business Insider

It’s no news that the rate of unemployment has increased over the years. Fresh graduates are turned down for lack of experience, previously employed individuals are rejected due to unaccounted gap years on their CVs and other reasons. Frustration kicks in, depression might take over and lack of self belief may be the order of the day. I have been in such a nasty situation before and based on my experience I took control of what I could handle and with that, I experienced a change.

Develop your skill:

Every profession is unique and has required skill sets. Identify which is unique to your profession and develop it. Make it known on your CV and be ready to explain it when asked during the interview phase.

Take more courses: 

Instead of having gap years on your CV that only proves you haven’t been in touch with your career since you left your previous job or school, taking courses especially online courses is a great method to bridge the gap and show you have been busy doing more research while searching for a job or tending to some personal needs. This won’t only prove to the employer that you have a keen interest in professional and personal development but it will enable you learn more about your industry

Network and build professional relationships:

Go for events, meet people, let people know what you do, the services you render and how you can add value to them or their company. What I have noticed is the sentence ‘I need a job’ itches the ears but starting a conversation and leading it interestingly towards what you can do and letting the listener know you are interested in starting a new position is a better approach as you’ll not only make the conversation about what you need, you also get to know what the person does, talk about your interests and have the opportunity to pitch your unique skills and application in the workplace (and maybe do a little bragging about your previous experiences).

Develop your CV:

Notice I didn’t make this the first tip? Working on your CV is great but without the right content it is considered disturbing and unprofessional. Your CV should summarize your work experiences, highlight your educational background, unique skills as related to your career, volunteering experiences (if necessary), your contact. You don’t need to fill up your CV with:

irrelevant information like your elementary school details,

in my opinion there’s no need to add your hobbies rather make it your skills,

Unaccountable years of experience,

Lies.

Your CV should be authentic, precise, professionally written and shouldn’t be too long.

Apply online:

I got my first job online via indeed. LinkedIn is another great platform to apply for jobs and network with people in your industry. Actively search online for jobs as you may not know the day you will get a response from the company.

Photocredit: The sister

About Author

Grace Asemota is a Business Psychologist (M.Sc) and a Certified Life Coach. She has partnered with Organizations and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands and has coached students and staff in different institutions and organisations.

She continuously coaches and trains on the importance of goal setting, happiness,personal development and self- confidence in a wide range of organisations and institutions by motivating staff to develop a collaborative culture and identify key factors that can enhance personal growth.

You can follow her on

LinkedIn @Grace Asemota-Orisakiya

Cherry Blossom Intimates, a Black-owned boutique in the Washington, D.C. metro area, is the first-ever lingerie and medical custom prosthetics store for breast cancer survivors and women in general. Founded by Jasmine Jones and Dr. Regina Hampton, the store is unique because they carry a thoughtful collection of oncology products, supportive services, and intimate wear that is not typically found under one roof

Jones, a beauty queen and Miss District of Columbia USA 2016, serves as the chief operating officer for Cherry Blossom Intimates. Breast cancer survivors are close to her heart as she herself has lost her grandmother to the disease.

“I remember her having to go and shop for prosthetic pieces that didn’t properly fit and only came in one color while store employees stuffed her behind a curtain to try them on,” Jones said in an interview. “It got to the point where after a while, my grandmother just stopped wearing them all together… They didn’t fit or make her feel beautiful.”

Learning about her grandmother’s experiences is what led her to do something to help make cancer survivors feel beautiful and “to be able to do it with dignity and comfort.”

Dr. Regina Hampton, a Howard University alumna, with over 10 years in practice, one of the few breast care surgeons in Prince George’s County and one of the founders of Southeast D.C.’s Breast Care for Washington, was the one who came up with the vision. She described her collaboration with Jones in Cherry Blossom Intimates as a “dream come true.”

“Women should be able to feel empowered every day by what they have on, from outer garments to lingerie — and breast cancer survivors are no exception,” Hampton said in an interview. “I mean at our store we have shapewear, push up bras, wireless bras, lace and everything in between.”

Aside from those lingerie products, the breast care store also offers chest wall graphs that mimic natural breast for prosthetics as well as nipple coverings in different skin tones and bra sizes from AA to size Q. The store is made for everybody — from cancer survivors to young girls — and “will for the first time, allow girlfriends with or without breast cancer to laugh and shop together.”

The boutique also plans to provide medical in-house billing for all types of insurance for their products and alternative to those without appropriate coverage.

“Being able to help other people is so important and it makes you feel so good,” Hampton said. “I just want to show women that they are all beautiful no matter the package and make them believe it.”

Source: Black Business

When I talk about women and leadership, I refer to the Ellen Johnsons of yesterday, today and
tomorrow. I refer to Sahle –Work Zewde, I refer to Ilhan Omar, I refer to Michelle Obama and
last but not least! So close to home! Kenyan first female major General Fatuma Ahmed
Gaiti.This women have broken glass ceilings that most thought were impossible goals for
women to achieve.

They didn’t do it overnight that’s for sure but the courage, the perseverance, the name calling
and shaming they must have endured during their rise to success must have been alot.Some of
them are still in the game and some are out of it but not completely out of it.This brings me to
my main reason of putting it down in writing. My main question is, have women been fully
accepted as worthy opponents for their male counterparts in different professional fields? I
don’t want to come out sounding like us women are crying over our seat at the table. At this
point and time, we are not crying or being nice to get what we deserve and have earned but we
are asking for our seat at the table, that which we have worked for.

I know that last sentence in that last paragraph might follow up with sneers from some people
but hey, it’s time people, not only women but also men stood up for what they believe they
have rightfully achieved. Recently when I was having a bit of a discussion with my colleagues on
women in power and their journey to where they are right now, made me realize that men are
still not ready for women in power. Saying it as it is. I can’t blame one of my colleagues for his
ignorance because the society that we are brought up in and that which we are living in right
now, has portrayed the girl child mostly as someone who seeks favors from men because of
their gender.

The perception that people have when a woman is in power is different from that which they
have when a man is in the same position. Quoting Rita Kavashe, Isuzu East Africa MD,who says
she was being mistaken at first for being the MD’s secretary and not the MD during her first
days as Isuzu MD, goes a long way to clearly bring out the fact that people still don’t consider
women as ‘worthy’ of some positions as they do men. The only thing that some people can
think of when they see women making it professionally is that they got there through shrewd
means .This not only disrespects those women who have earned their place at the table
through their own sweat, but it also demoralizes our women!

Its’s time we start bringing up the young generation with better values and ideologies. It’s time
we strengthened both sexes for them to know that claiming what they have worked so hard for
is not a crime neither is it a favor. Women should not cower in fear of people’s perception of
their limits. Be limitless; strive to concur what you set your heart in. As Oprah puts it, ‘Be the
one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only
people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment, own
it.

About Dorothy

She is currently a front desk agent/cashier at Acacia Premier Hotel Kisumu .Passionate about writing articles that has direct impact on women. She is 24 years old,determined to empower fellow women and just shed light on different relevant issues.You can contact her via her  email address ; odhiamboodorothy1@gmail.com.