Own My Life Today

Abstract

This poem explores mental health from the perspective that victims/survivors of violence’s ability to narrate, make meaning of, their experiences and have them acknowledged is central to healing. Violence continues to plague the world in different ways from socio-political ethnic wars, terrorist attacks, structural and racial violence, to gender-based violence. In places with a history of socio-political violence, truth and reconciliation commissions have been set up in different contexts to mediate these transitions and give space to victims to tell their stories. The premise is that speaking out about the atrocities of the past is psychologically beneficial for the victims and to create a new world where perpetrator and victims can coexist. Victims’ ability to own the narrative for their lives and have it acknowledged is thus important not only for healing but also to ensure that victims/survivors hold the power to craft their future lives. As a Black woman, my ability to speak about and name experiences of exclusion and silencing has been central to taking up space, power, and resisting the gendered, racial, and structural violence that I encounter in academic institutions and the world at large.To view the original version of this poem, see the supplemental material section of this article online.