The Victim Assistant 🐼

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Wrong place, wrong time?" Forty years ago crime victims, especially sexual assault victims, were viewed as passive targets. There were a lot of societal views that placed responsibility and shame on crime victims. This weekend, I watched three episodes of a documentary on HBO, I'll Be Gone In The Dark. This documentary chronicles the East Area Rapist in the seventies and eighties, later identified as the Golden State Killer, and is based on a true crime book by Michelle McNamara. This documentary highlighted what was absent in crime fighting forty years ago: cooperation, inclusiveness, equality, compassion, and understanding of victimization. I'm a crime story buff; however, I was specifically drawn to the interviews and experiences of the survivors. I listened to survivors share their pain, trauma, and secondary victimization. Secondary victimization refers to "victim-blaming" and behaviors that members of society engage i...

On the eve of our country's independence day, I write this. Reading about people using racial injustice and the misfortunes of others to commit crimes, destroy statues or learning about young adults purposely challenging each other on social media to infect each other with COVID-19 makes me question humanity.  I feel the need to reflect and question our societal plight, poor condition, and instability. No better time than now to think about our pursuit of happiness. It leads me to ask the question, Where the f*ck is humanity? Did someone lock humanity up in a closet somewhere? YO, let humanity out please! Have we completely lost our minds? The human race is mankind; the understanding and kindness towards other people. Where is benevolence? Where are our qualities that make us human: love, compassion, and understanding towards others? As a collective, we have completely lost touch with humanity. Instead, we have become a culture of selfishness, malevolence, brutality and hostility. ...