From Tracie: Have You Found Angela Shelton??

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Have You Found Angela Shelton??

Don't worry...Angela isn't lost....anymore. A few years ago, she went searching for all of the Angela Sheltons as a way to interview women in America, and in that time she found herself. But it wasn't just a personal journey for her, she took us all along with her. You can watch the amazing trip that she took in her groundbreaking film, Searching For Angela Shelton. The official version of the movie is now available on DVD, and I would suggest that everyone get a copy and watch it.

The day that I saw this movie, my life was changed. When Angela talked to all of the Angela Sheltons, she discovered a disturbing fact - 70% of the 40 Angela Sheltons she talked to had been either raped, beaten, or molested. She was able to relate to all of these women, because she had been sexually abused by her father and other family members as a child. The journey of this film led her straight to her father's door (on Father's Day) to confront him about the abuse.

The first time that I saw this film, I was a sexual abuse survivor in hiding. I hadn't wanted to admit to myself, much less anyone else, what had happened to me as a child. After I saw the courage Angela had to come out to the world, honest and unashamed, I realized that the silence that surrounds this issue enables perpetrators to continue their crimes against children. It started me on my own journey of honesty and healing.

Now, I pause here to admit that so far this movie may not sound like a barrel of laughs, and you may be wondering why you should see it, won't it be a real downer... Let me assure you that although this is a serious subject matter, this movie is inspiring. All of the Angela's come from different places with their own unique story. And even if you aren't a survivor yourself, I guarantee that you know someone who is (even if they are in hiding the way I was) It is the type of movie that you will want to watch again and loan out to your friends so that they can see it too.

5 comments:

  1. Hey! How's it going? I am so glad you're back. This is a wonderful post. If you really want to get back into the swing of things, you could submit this for the next Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse. We've got one edition running now and another scheduled for the end of this month. Details/links are on that handy widget on my sidebar.

    And, speaking of sidebars, I'm going to go into my template right now and put up a link to you. (I take 'em down when they're inactive for a long time). Again, welcome back! :)

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  2. Amazing post - likely any 'searching for insert-name-here' would result in the same percentage of women with abuse in their personal histories.

    However, women are more likely to report these assaults nowadays. A major step forward, as men who were abused as children are still under-reporting the events.

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  3. Stopping by from SITS and I have to say, wow! I too was a victim of sexual abuse as a child and come from a long line of women who have suffered. Thank you for sharing this!

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  4. Truly inspiring. I would say that we all have our issues and demons to work through, but I know that this isn't really true. I have met some people who do not know what it's like to have to survive something.
    Stopping by from SITS for Saturday Sharefest.
    ~ AquarianJwl

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  5. Interesting post, I wondr how many kim kath's there are in the world. I wonder what they have experienced that is the same as me? Interesting thought. Thanks for stopping by my place too.

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