My aim is true.: SafePath Empowerment Luncheon→
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What an honor it was to have the opportunity to meet and speak to everyone at the Empowerment Luncheon hosted by SafePath in Marietta. The reaction to my hour-long talk was superb, but it was the dialogue of the incredibly thought-provoking Q & A (scheduled for about 20 minutes, but…
Honored to be an honorary SafePath Pal. You can have a look at some of the incredibly important work that they do at www.safepath.org
From East Cobber Magazine:
26 Male Survivors Of Sexual Assault Quoting The People Who Attacked Them →
/From Grace Brown’s Project Unbreakable , an online platform that strives to “increase awareness of the issues surrounding sexual assault.” Trigger warning for sexual assault.
On October 10th Coached into Silence director Chris Gavagan will be in Marietta Georgia to speak at the SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center’s Empowerment Luncheon.
For more info or to sign up, you can check out Safepath’s Events page, under Happenings. http://www.safepath.org/events/happenings%20
Webinar taking place right now with USOC Director, Ethics and Safe Sport Malia Arrington & Kayla Harrison
“My perpetrator’s words are the deepest, most insidious part of my abuse.
I wrote them down, I read them, I saw them in black and white on the paper. And I saw them reflected in the looks on the faces of people in the street that day.
For the first time, I got those words off of me and out of me. It loosened my grip on the lie—the lie that somehow all of this was my fault, that somehow, at five years old, I caused it.
I held that sign, I bore its weight and I walked away lighter.” - Maile Zambuto in her introduction to Grace Brown; Joyful Revolution Gala 2012
Googling yourself while still in your pajamas at four-thirty pm on your birthday (this project is no longer run by a teenager!) is perhaps the lamest thing you can do. And I usually abstain from posting anything other than portraits on the website. However, Maile’s story about being photographed portrays exactly why I do this & I really wanted to share this one with you guys.
Also, side note: about a year ago, I was graduating from high school. It’s amazing to me how much has changed in a year. Thanks for your continued support of both the project and of the survivors who participate. I can’t tell you what it means to me to see everyone come together.Grace
Looking at my project unbreakable photo makes me feel proud. That is powerful, especially since my trauma is so encumbered with feelings of shame and regret.
This Sunday I will be headed to Colorado Springs to attend the Safe Sport Leadership Conference, hosted by USA Swimming. In addition to taking part in a panel discussion Monday morning, I will have the honor/opportunity/responsibility of giving the keynote (!) address Monday night.
Attendees will include leaders from the United States Olympic Committee and Olympic sport National Governing Bodies. I have been preparing the presentation of a lifetime (my lifetime anyway) for two weeks now, and I know that all that I can ever be or bring to any situation is the truest version of me, and I am certain that–if nothing else–it will live up to the Thoreau quote that I posted the other day, “that I will give them a strong dose of myself.”
Given the opportunity to speak to the most influential decision-makers in amateur sports, with many other leaders from national youth serving organizations in attendance…a captive audience for thirty minutes…what would *you* want to say to them? What would *you* need them to know?
