For Our Sisters Who Are Sad, Afraid, Confused,
Unhappy . . . Hit, Kicked, Punched and Tired of Making Up Stories
(And Acknowledging Some Brothers Who Endure Same)
A Black on Black Crime
There is not much to say here about Domestic Violence beyond all that has been stated so beautifully below. That is, except that in these critical socio-economic times, amid grinding struggle and hardship - a Sister who is being assaulted, and hasn't yet left the scene of the crime is really catching hell now.
This is in an effort to lift her up, educate her, and help her find her way.
Women Fight Back: Southall Black Sisters Raise a Fist, 1997
A Racial Justice Perspective on Monitoring of Domestic Violence Offenders Using GPS Systems
"As an initial matter, studies of domestic violence in the black community have revealed that there are unique factors associated with black male
offenders:
"The situational context in which intimate partner violence occurs among African Americans is, in many ways, a product of the various structural forces (e.g., institutional racism, cycles of chronic underemployment and unemployment, poverty, etc.) that constrict the lives of African Americans."
"While Morrison comments in this scene upon a redemptive sisterhood that bridges the Harlem community's color and class divides (Kubitschek 150), she also tellingly captures an historical tie between female subjectivity and domestic violence stories in the weekly black press."
Men Experience Domestic Violence, With Health Impact
"Domestic violence can happen to men, not only to women, according to Group Health research in the June American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
"Domestic violence in men is under-studied and often hidden--much as it was in women 10 years ago," said study leader Robert J. Reid, MD, PhD, an associate investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies.
"Coleman grew up thinking domestic violence meant black eyes or broken bones. Then she found out people who weren't allowed to see their relatives, choose their clothes or leave their homes."
A Critical Legal Study of Solutions to Domestic Violence Among Black Male-Female Couples
"The demographic features of race and class undermine the specified purposes of the law and interfere with its original functions when invoked to protect the African-American female.
When directed at the African-American male, it serves a divisive function which further alienates him both from society and family."
"All women, regardless of class, ability, age, race, ethnicity, education, immigration status, sexual orientation, and religion can be affected by violence."
Children of Violent Parents Hurt Peers' Test Scores
"Across all students, having a troubled student in a class reduced classmates' combined test scores by nearly 1 percentile point and increased their likelihood of getting into disciplinary trouble at school by 6 percent."
(Troubled is defined here as children in families with court restraining orders filed in domestic violence cases.
However, the real numbers are embedded in children who suffer in households with domestic violence where domestic violence has not been reported).
Symposium on Law, Colonialism, and Domestic Violence in Africa and in Comparative Perspective, 2007, Stanford
"Sooner or later, colonialism intruded into the social organization of households and families.
Occasionally, it empowered women to claim more legal rights. Usually, colonialism enhanced men's power and authority over their wives and children.
Not surprisingly, asymetries of power and unequal access to resources within households led to incidents of domestic violence and cases involving domestic violence found their way into colonial courts."
Black African Nurse, Working Against Domestic Violence
"A report about a a nurse in South Africa who initiated an organization to make the issue of domestic violence visible and influence the way in which institutions deal with it. "
"After his death, his widow, Liza Rios, chronicled their stormy relationship and the physical abuse that began when she was 16 years old in the 2002 documentary, "Big Pun:
Still Not a Player," which she co-produced and which included footage of Pun pistol-whipping her."
Black Women Murdered by Men are Most Often Killed with a Gun, Almost Always by Someone They Know
"The number of black females shot and killed by their husband or intimate acquaintance (132 victims) was nearly three times as high as the total number murdered by male strangers using all weapons combined (47 victims) in single victim/single offender incidents in 2006."
"The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) has redefined the term 'domestic
violence' and uses the preferable, more specific
'intimate partner violence' (IPV), which includes
violence between same sex partners and male victims of violence."
"The AmASSI Health and Cultural Center hosted approximately 150 youth elementary students, pre-teens, teenagers and young adults - at the FAME Renaissance Center Aug. 10 for a first of three rap sessions to promote awareness about domestic violence among youth."
Proposed legislation asks athletes to fight domestic violence: NCAA, others worried about stigma associated with sports figures - National Collegiate Athletic Association
(1996)
"Sports play such an important, positive role in our society and in the education of our children. Its stars are our children's heroes and role models and our national icons," Morella said, explaining her reason for introducing the legislation.
But, she added, the media is constantly full of reports of athletes accused of domestic violence."
Wounds of the Spirit: Black Women, Violence and Resistance Ethics
(Abstract)
"While West asserts the collusion between intimate and societal violence, including white supremacy and patriarchy, this is not a book that focuses on blaming, or finding causes, nor on the victimization of black women.
It is the experiences of black women "victim-survivors" that she wants to place at the center . . . "
Deny Funding For Programs That Are Not Culturally Competent
Policy Recommendations, Including: "It is destructive and wasteful that non-responsive and ineffective social programs continue to receive federal, state and local funding.
Programs that continue to provide insufficient and culturally insensitive services should have their funding withheld until they demonstrate the proper execution of culturally relevant services."
The Effect of Racism on Domestic Violence Resources
"A manifestation of racism within the domestic violence movement appeared in the last quarter of the twenty-first century when domestic violence among minority and marginalized populations was ignored while white domestic violence issues were emphasized.
One example of how the dismissal of non- white domestic violence occurred is exemplified in the television program 48 Hours.
In discussing the Violence Against Women Act of 1991, 48 Hours presented the stories of seven women who experienced domestic violence.
All but one of the women were white. The white women were humanized for the audience with personal stories of their lives.
The one black woman was left nameless and only depicted with a picture of her beaten face. The audience was not given a chance to relate to her violence."
Differential Shelter Treatment and Lack of Cultural Competence
"While most of these programs emphasize the need for the man to take responsibility for his actions, they do not recognize the violence associated with America's peculiar institution of slavery nor do they recognize the violent societal impact of institutionalized discrimination (Williams, 1993)."
Race, Domestic Violence and New York's Ineffective Family Court Law
"For many people of color who live in communities that fear police abuse, inviting the police to arrest a boyfriend or girlfriend may carry such serious consequences that they would rather suffer dangerous abuse in silence.
For immigrants who live in fear of deportation, calling in the police is also often unimaginable, even when the abuse is horrific. Though victims want the abuse to stop, most do not want to put the abuser - or themselves - at risk of deportation."
And also Same Sex Attracted and Transgender people have fears "that the police will not understand their relationships, or, worse, will doubt that domestic violence can occur between same-sex partners."
"Black women face similar hurdles, but additionally they must overcome the presumption that their race predisposes them to engage in and enjoy violence.
"(P)olice trainees are frequently told that physical violence is an acceptable part of life among .ghetto residents."' In other words, blacks are "normal primitives," or violence-prone."
"WOCN works to eliminate violence against women and families.
WOCN provides women of African, Asian, Latin and Native descent with access to information and ways to challenge systems and institutions to enhance their ability to achieve violence-free lives."
"My father, on the other hand, was around 6 feet 2, 220 pounds, a former Golden Gloves champion, ex-Marine, and a Vietnam Veteran.
Therefore, as a child, I simply could not picture what it was like for a man, particularly this man who appeared to be a giant to me, to hit a woman, let alone my mother."
"I have come to call this the "Act Like a Man Box" because it feels like living in a box.
One reason we know it's a box is because every time a boy tries to step out he's pushed back in with names like wimp, sissy, mama's boy, girl, fag, nerd, punk, and others even more graphic.
Behind the names are the fights.
Most men were in a fight sometime in their youth to prove they were in the box..
We need to realign ourselves so that we are on their side, instead of trying to get them to be on our side and accept our values."
"African-centered social work offers a set of principles upon which to develop a culturally competent response to domestic violence as experienced by African American families."
" . . . an unrestrained, honest, informed, poignant, disciplined, and a challenging analysis of the representation of the violence against Black women and the misogyny that defines rap music. Transformative reading. - Dr. Joyce A. Joyce, Professor of English, Temple University
(Note, this website fully loves and promotes Hip Hop and recognizes the distinguishing features of Hip Hop vs. Rap.
"I had never spoken to a group of men about sexism and violence against women before and the fact that I knew just about all of the guys in the room made my first experience doing so even more nerve-racking."
"Cut it off, let it go . . . and find someone who love you . . . there's nothing domestic about it."
Great post from Nkrumah Lucien.
Black Men's Responses On When to Intervene With a Black Man Who Batters
No Link
Outcomes of Case Management for African-American Men in Batterer Counseling
"Re-assault and re-arrests during a 12-month follow-up, along with program dropout from the 16 required sessions of the batterer program, were compared for 202 African-American program participants under case management and a sample of 482 African-American participants previously in the batterer program."
Eradicating Domestic Violence in the African American Community
"Domestic violence poses a grave threat to the preservation of African American families and communities.
In an effort to create an agenda for further discussion, this article provides a critical analysis of the current literature on domestic violence in the African American community, identifies gaps in knowledge, and discusses an action agenda to help eradicate domestic violence."
When a heteroattractional woman's partner is employed, "the rate of violence is 4.7%. It is 7.5% when the male partner experiences one period of unemployment.
It increases to 12.3% when the male experiences two or more periods of unemployment."
"Some people are choosing to only understand this subject as one which is specific and unique to Islam, a faith to which they do not belong; that these are Muslim crimes against the female population, when in fact "honor killings" are an arm of gender violence, rather than Muslim violence."
"Make sure there are places to stay when we are all sad at home." (age 9)
"Take daddy to the police station for giving mom so many bruises." (age 10)
"My little brothers and me are safe now. We don't want to see daddy anymore." (age 12)
"I saw a couple fighting and the boy slapped her in the face. Another boy threw his girlfriend into a locker.'' One day in the cafeteria a couple got into a fight. She poured milk over his head. He smashed her head into the window a couple of times,'' (age 18)
"If you see it on TV, you think it's okay.'' (age 13)
"I wouldn't put up with any type of abuse from a guy. I'd get rid of him in a second.'' (age 15)
"When you hear your mother cry, that's violence." (age 18)
South African-born, Tanzania-based singer Khethukubonga “Khethi” Ntshangase Expressing Self Love
(This site does not support any embedded ads in this or any other video).
At Peace With Woman
(This is the second post of his video at this site, and it is well worthy).
Latina Anti Violence Group Open Arms to Men
"The march goes into the community, versus an auditorium or university.
When you take it into the streets of Washington Heights, the Bronx and East Harlem, people turn their heads, stop, listen and ask questions."
Resources below are an effort to ensure that a critical dilemma in our community doesn't get twisted to suit the needs of ravaging forces.
Domestic Violence in "Stable" White Families
"A new study of white, working-class women in relatively stable families has revealed what researchers call a horrific picture of lives saturated with serious domestic violence."
"These reports follow a familiar pattern of depicting black men, especially black athletes, as animalistic and more aggressive. Alternately, stories about abusive white athletes are, on the whole, lacking in the mainstream press.
Though rates of domestic violence are roughly equal between races, seldom are reports of white abusive athletes distributed in the mainstream print media."
Although we engage in philosophical discussion about what "blackness" is, there is no doubt . . . it involves an uncritical appreciation for its men.
The consequences of being pronounced a race-traitor are cultural isolation, crippling for a person already marginalized. Of course, the flip side of this is that proving my allegiance requires a toxic silence." - Tayari Jones
Women in particular commonly cover-up their injuries - including scrapes, bruises, pains, swelling, sprains, and broken bones caused by their abusers who are their dates, partners and spouses by claiming they "fell down the steps."
Closeup image is of Mt. Sinai's "Stairs of Repentance" in Egypt.
Thumbnail is of a little one's rendition of what he sees when his Mother is being assaulted including his memories of her blood dripping to the ground.
Note, this is one of several panels that were not presented in succession at this gallery, and that are included in this list of panels that are being refurbished or made anew to make this gallery more rich from pole to pole
(Mention which box, and your comment will hyperlink people back there)
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