Once An Orphan

Incest Faces: Aziza's Law

Aziza was just 8 years old when she remembers being touched by her biological father for the first time. By age 16, she was carrying their first of five children and he got on one knee, asking her to be his wife. Homeschooled with little to no interaction to what normal life was, she didn't have much to compare this behavior to. Our generation appreciated music by The Fugee's, not knowing the video director behind the infamous, Kiling Me Softly, was softly killing the innocence of his daughter.

What Does the Mirror Show Me? Brown Girl World

@GenieJoniqua [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCo55F9cYVYrYUrrIe4A5dVA] is a child advocate and author. In her book titled, What Does the Mirror Show Me? Brown Girl World, she talks about her young life of being exposed to sex by her parent and being sexually abused by her brother. Now an advocate for young girls who are being victimized, she found her voice in becoming theirs. On Instagram, she's @joniquathegenie, showing what it looks like to put your boots to the ground and fearlessly fight to protect young girls who are now living the life that caused her trauma. This is her story and her fight.

Tarcia Smith's Adoption Story

Host of @theadoptionjourneypodcast [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC-RKWkfaNXCijkUbELArNFA] and co-founder of The Black Adoptees Meetup, Tarcia Smith sat down to share her own adoption journey with me. Tarcia started talking about her story as a "ted talk", thinking she would share her story and be done. What she thought and what God wanted were two different things. Not knowing what this would become, she's spoken with adoptees from ALL OVER THE WORLD, leading her to connect with Dr. Kathy Garland. The two of them would start a movement. As an adoptee, we dig and investigate until we can't anymore and in her own work, she discovered parts of her story, that were true and different from what she was told from her biological mother. HA! So often, we believe our adoptive families are the ones who tell lies and keep secrets, but....the truth prevails. Subscribe to @theadoptionjourneypodcast [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC-RKWkfaNXCijkUbELArNFA] to see and hear so many stories of adoption and find out how many ways we connect.

The Redemption of Bobby Love

He was young and poor growing up in Jim Crow south. A 13 year old Walter Curtis Miller had eyes for clothes and nice things he just couldn’t afford. When his father passed away, leaving his mother to raise the kids on her own, the only thing that mattered were their necessities. Young Walter wanted more and knew he could get it. Even though getting it meant stealing from time to time, he put his plan into action. What he didn’t know was that his new career wouldn’t last long before he was caught and incarcerated. With his criminal life starting at 13 years old, it finally caught up to him by the time he was a 19 and prison became his home. From a few small thefts, pick pocketing to grand larceny, steel bars became his front door. He was doing his time until he couldn’t take it anymore and figured out a plan that would make him a fugitive of the law. Escaping from a crew work assignment, Walter ran through the woods, got to the Greyhound bus station and headed to New York. On the ride, his new identity became Bobby Love. Bobby Love made New York home. He made an honest living, met and married his beautiful bride, and started a family with four children. Life was good for the first 38 years in New York but what happened next? On a cold January morning, NYPD and the FBI came looking for Walter Curtis Miller. Completely shocked, Mrs. Love had NO clue of the life her husband left behind.

Part II of From Hidden to Healed with Alicia Williams: Finding Out at 53 Years Old

Outside of her reunion, the continuation doesn't get much better. Alicia continues to heal, learn, grow and teach. What's she's learned as an adoptee AND an adoptive mother will help all adoptive parents in the process. For starters, let's not rewrite the narrative of who the child came from and what they should know.