Saturday, June 03, 2006

Words of Wisdom from a Young Survivor

Greetings.

This afternoon/early evening, I watched the TIVO recording of Oprah's recent shows with Elie Weisel. In case you haven't heard about them or seen them, she did two shows on Elie Wiesel's book (one of 34!) Night. The book is about Wiesel's experience in the Nazi Death Concentration Camp Aushwitz. Weisel allowed Oprah to accompany him to Aushwitz and film their experience (Oprah's site on this extraordinary show). The second show covered an essay contest Oprah held on the meaning of Night in our time. The winners (one from each state) wrote eloquent, powerful things.


One of the winners of the essay contest is a survivor of Child Sexual Abuse. She said that the book helped her know that she must speak out, for if she doesn't she can't expect others to do so. So true. I'm glad she said it, and I'm glad I had a chance to see it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would like to share a link with you to a video that was created by my girlfriend, Traci Ballard. This is a video that she created as her culminating project for her Bachelor's Degree in Women's Studies...it is based on her own life's experiences of abuse and healing. I am hoping that you will watch it and possibly post a link on your site.

Thank you for your own brave work on a topic that is too often swept under the dirty carpet of society!

Sincerely,
Jason Malo
jasonmalo74@netscape.net

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=58389046470990082&q=dudeular

P.S. I am posting this because Traci is a huge fan of Elie Weisel and agrees 100% about the survivor's duty to tell their story.

P.P.S. Traci can be contacted directly at maeb@charter.net