In My Own Words

Synopsis: The author's story of domestic violence including testimonies from women sharing their stories of survival. It features other women who are brave enough to share their personal stories of survival in their own words. I did not edit their words grammatically incorrect or not, it remained as stated. It is raw, but all very real. Some women chose to use their real names and others a pseudonyms.

Autobiography: Upon the windowsill of her room, looking out at all the people coming and going, city buses that went by on the street where she grew up, she listened to the sounds of the children playing below her window. At night, she would gaze at the stars from the view of her window and imagine herself in a perfect setting of Bedford-Stuyvesant, where she grew up roller-skating around the circle of the projects, then relaxing in the circle on the benches, listening to smooth jazz on her favorite radio station. Music, jazz, and calypso were deep within her spirit. Shereema was not like the other neighborhood children; she loved music and writing. Shereema loved listening to her great-grandmother tell stories of growing up in Barbados. Shereema's grandmother was born in Barbados but grew up in New York City. At sixteen, she won a scholarship to the Julliard Music School.

Shereema would write stories of peace and harmony as a child, imagining the world to be a better place.