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00:08 Jackie Strohm: Welcome to PA Centered, a podcast designed to help listeners be a part of the solution to end sexual harassment, abuse and assault. Each episode we will take on a topic or current event to help spark conversation and break down barriers to building communities free from sexual violence.

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00:31 JS: Hi, I'm Jackie Strohm, the Prevention and Resource coordinator at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. I'll be your host today as we're joined by LaQuisha Anthony, the founder and CEO of VOICE, Victory Over Inconceivable Cowardly Experiences. Welcome, LaQuisha.

00:47 LaQuisha Anthony: Hi, Jackie, thanks for having me.

00:50 JS: Yeah, I can't wait to hear about the work that you do and your organization. So do you wanna start by just telling us a little bit about yourself and the role that you play in the antisexual violence movement? 

01:03 LA: Yes, well, as you know, my name is LaQuisha, I am a survivor. I am the educator at Philadelphia's only rape crisis center. I am the founder of VOICE, which is Victory Over Inconceivable Cowardly Experiences. I am a sexual assault counselor. I'm a mentor. I am an advocate. I hold ultimately many, many titles and I'm ultimately trying to dismantle sexual violence in every area that I possibly can.

01:33 JS: Great. I know you play a lot of roles, which is why we wanted to have you on the podcast because I think you have such a unique experience to share with everyone. And I wanted to start by having you tell us about your organization, VOICE.

01:48 LA: So VOICE as I said stands for Victory Over Inconceivable Cowardly Experiences. It is a sexual abuse survivors network. Our mission is ultimately to dismantle the stigma and the silence around sexual violence, to uniting survivors and empowering them, and ultimately empowering those who have been impacted and affected by sexual violence. And how we do that is by connecting survivors to different resources, amplifying their voices and ensuring that they know that they have support and helping them to do life after sexual violence.

02:27 LA: Oftentimes, many people go to rape crisis centers and other centers where they have therapeutic services. And then after those services are over, they're left on their own to do life. And we know that at multiple different phases in life, people who've experienced or encountered sexual violence, still need support. And that doesn't mean they can't go back to those agencies for support. But oftentimes, we need someone who can identify with what we're going through, and we don't need a full out counseling session. We just want someone that can actually talk with us, that understands exactly what we're going through. And that can say, "Yeah, I understand and I know what that feels like." And that's what we do, we create that space for survivors to come together with one another and to say, "Hey, I actually do know what that feels like, I was there before and this is where I am now. And this is how I actually handled that process."

03:22 JS: So when did you found this organization? What made you want to start it? 

03:27 LA: So VOICE was founded in 2014. And the reason why I started VOICE, I believed that it was a bad idea, it wasn't something that I set out to do or my own, through me going through my own personal experience with sexual violence. I then, at the end of my counseling sessions with WARIF. I then had a moment where my counselor encouraged me to speak at a particular speak-out event that WARIF was hosting, it was their annual event. And she said, I think this would be really great for you. And I think that your voice actually can make a difference. And I was like, "No, I'm okay. I don't necessarily wanna do that." But after we talked through it, I ended up doing so. And I never forget the moment when I saw people who looked like me, were impacted by the statements that I made. And all I was doing was sharing my truth.

04:31 LA: And then two years later, I decided, with the help of God and my pastor and a couple other individuals, to push out and start this organization, and it really wasn't my intention to start an organization. My intention was to just share my truth and to let people know that there are black women who have experienced sexual violence and have overcome, and are living their abundant life and I just really wanted to share that with the other individuals. And as I began to do that, I realized that there was a space that was needed, that we needed to see other people who look like us, that representation mattered, and that, by that representation, we could actually come together and help heal one another to a certain extent.

05:20 JS: I love the idea of working together to heal ourselves. I think that's a fantastic part of your mission. So can you tell us a little bit about what kind of activities and events that you do? 

05:34 LA: So we do strategic events, and our events are focused on healing, and focused on the totality of life when it comes to an individual. So it's emotionally, spiritually, it's physically, it is how we show up in the world, how we're seen in the world, how we are seen amongst ourselves. And one of the events that we do every year is a vision board party and oftentimes everybody does vision boards, everybody makes goals for their life, and goals for their year like resolutions.

06:05 LA: And what I realized is that nobody actually plans to heal, or plans how they want to feel throughout the year. And I think as a survivor, sometimes we have to take inventory and we need to process our feelings and our emotions in ways that other people might not. And I wanted to encourage survivors to think about, let's start planning that, "What are those things that brings me joy? What are those things that are standing in the way of my dreams and my aspirations?" And with that event, what we do is we do vision boards and we declare what we wanna see over our lives over the year. But we also talked about what are those obstacles? What are those things that are holding us back? What are the barriers that is impacting why we're not reaching our goals and whether those things are systemic, whether those things are personal, whether those things are things that have a stigma attached to them.

07:00 LA: Those are the things that we talk about, amongst one another in a safe space, and that we kinda dig up. And we then connect those individuals to different resources, if in event that they need further assistance and help through those processes, because a lot comes out in safe spaces. And that's one of our strategic events. And we... Now, something we started this year was to have those people who attend our vision board parties to write themselves a letter, that way midway through that they would receive their letter about what their goals were, and what's the things that were standing in their way, so they know kinda what adjustments they need to make throughout the year to making sure that they can get to their particular goals.

07:46 LA: We basically wanna send those out that way they can get them at halfway mark of the year. And that they can see different points of how they've grown or where they need to grow. And knowing that sometimes even in making a plan that there might need to be some adjustments within the plan. And it doesn't mean that the plan isn't working, there might just be one thing that works better than the other. And we haven't kinda thought about that, and just created a space for community healing, and creating a space for sisterhood. And then the other event that we do every year now, which is the newer event is called Solace. It is a retreat that focuses on, how do I live life after sexual violence? And where do I find solace? 

08:37 LA: So some of the activities that we do are workshops that are surrounded around, maybe sex after sexual violence and being intimate with yourself like, how do I feel about my body? We did belly dancing at our first retreat, which was a way to get in touch with moving your bodies in ways that you probably aren't comfortable with moving your body or that you weren't comfortable. We also did mental health workshops that talk about, "I'm not crazy," because oftentimes the experiences that we have, we question ourselves and wonder like, "Am I crazy?" No, you're not crazy. You're not the only one who experienced this particular type of trauma, and in this particular way. And then other different activities that just help us to do life, and that is really outside of the box, and outside of the traditional realms of what we see survivors and agencies offering to individuals during their traumatic experiences. So that's kinda what we do. We want people to be able to live abundant lives.

09:48 JS: That's fantastic. And I think what's so cool about it is you working at a local rape crisis center in Philadelphia, that your organization does these additional activities and creates space for people who want to heal and continue to work on themselves and their lives. So I just think it's really neat. And I'm going back to you saying about the letter that you send halfway through the year, and recognizing that sometimes things are gonna change or that all of our plans don't always go the way that we want it to. And it's really making me think about how healing isn't really a linear process, like we often would like it to be. So I just wanted to know if you would wanna speak to that at all? 

10:39 LA: Yeah, and I think when we talk about healing, I look at healing as a lifestyle. We all endure different things in life that we need to heal from. And healing is ultimately a level of where we're growing. We're shedding different dead pieces of ourselves and growing into the next level of who we are, or moving the debris that has hindered who we can be and who we are at the moment because of traumatic experience. So I think that... Or whatever experience that we might have in life, I think healing is a lifestyle, and we need to begin to see that as such, because we all need healing in some way, shape, or form. It could be as much as healing from the traumatic events that are happening in our world today. It can be healing from the loss of a loved one, it could be healing from the loss of a job or whatever it may be, there are everyday natural experiences that people have.

11:35 LA: So when we think about healing, I think that sometimes we when we think about sexual assault survivors, we limit it to that healing is just associated with this particular experience, when healing is actually a lifestyle. And it's something that we need to do. And it's not something that happens overnight. It's a process. And we continue to shed pieces of ourselves. And what we also like to think is like, "Oh, well, healing is, I arrive at this one place, and I get to this place, and everything is just fine." No, healing is setting boundaries. Having and enforcing those emotional boundaries. Those boundaries change over time. So that is something that will probably be ongoing because we're human.

12:27 LA: Then it might be that part of unpacking the trauma and I think that's the part that many people think about healing, that part, that's one of the major parts of healing, unpacking your trauma. Yes, that's an important part, but there are steps beyond the unpacking part. Once you've unpacked, how do I live healed? We might have done the work emotionally, spiritually, physically, whatever way that we have done this work to get ourselves to a place where the traumatic experience does not impact us in the same way. But we still now have to live that way. And how do we do that? And that's through our coping skills, our coping mechanisms. That's through having difficult conversations, that's through taking radical responsibility for our actions, that's implementing healthy routines, all of these things that are part of everyday living.

13:23 LA: And I think that we put this onus on healing that makes it seem like it's a negative thing, that you have to go through healing, when yes, what happened to you was negative, but healing is a lifestyle that we all should be going through at some point in our life, for whatever reason it may be, because we all experience things in life that hurt us, things in life that impact us in a certain way, things in life that change us and I keep going back to that I just believe that healing is a lifestyle and that's the lifestyle that I'm living personally, a lifestyle of healing, where I'm recognizing there are areas that need to heal within me and areas that need to be shedded off because of growth, and because of change, because of transition, all of these things happen.

14:16 JS: I absolutely love that. I had never heard the idea of healing as a lifestyle, and so, I know I definitely wanna learn more about the work that you do around healing. Are there ways that people can get involved with VOICE? 

14:32 LA: Sure, they can visit our website and join our mailing list. You can edit yourself to our mailing list, we send out e-blasts on a regular, where we're talking about all of the things that we do or you can follow us on social media @asurvivorsvoice on Instagram as well as Facebook, or you can follow me personally @Iam_thevoice on Instagram. That's where you will see most of the content that we have and many of the events and the things that we do, like book clubs that we offer. Oftentimes we have different events for individuals to be able to live life, like we said, to live this healthy lifestyle, and yeah, so that's how you can reach us. Or you can email us at info@asurvivorsvoice.org, we are available via email as well. 215-792-3163 is our phone number.

15:40 JS: Great, thank you, and we'll definitely make sure that all of that is included in the notes for this episode, so that you can really easily find VOICE and get involved. I did wanna spend a little bit of time talking about intersectionality and how that shows up for you in your work. You talked specifically at the beginning of this about one of the reasons you founded VOICE was because you wanted to create a space for other black women who have been through the same experiences that you've had, and I just would love to hear about how that has impacted you as you've gone through your own healing journey and also as you've made the decision to share openly and share your truth with other people.

16:29 LA: Yeah, so as like you said, I have a unique position when it comes to this journey that I'm on and I ultimately live at the crossroads of intersectionality, and at the intersection of being a black woman, being a survivor, being a Christian, yeah, all of the many identities in which I hold and oftentime, we think about intersectionality in a way... Ultimately, my life resides between the intersection between race, gender, religion, and gender-based violence. And when we hear the term intersectionality, it becomes this buzzword in the field of sexual violence and social justice work, but what we don't necessarily understand is really what it means. So I think we would have to go visit that first before we can even talk about what it is. So most people know and for those who don't, Kimberly Crenshaw which was a Columbian UCLA law professor, ultimately said it's basically a lens, a prism for seeing in which ways various forms of inequality often operate together and exasperate each other.

17:55 LA: We can talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality and immigrant status. So, what's often missing in that is how some people are subjected to all of these things and the experience is just the sum of its parts. Intersectionality describes the way in which people's social identities ultimately overlap. So many look at my life and ultimately presume that I'm not faced with the difficulty of living a life across intersections, because I'm walking into different realms where, because I have sat and testified before the Senate or because I attended Harvard or because I've given lectures at Dartmouth and all of these different places that you would think that my black-ness doesn't matter. But those things exist regardless and being at the center of all of those things, I'm often faced in a space where I have to choose which identity I want to represent at any given time. And I think that's what many people don't necessarily recognize about those who hold multiple identities that are... Had been [19:20] ____.

19:22 LA: That when we show up in different spaces, I try to show up as all of me but many times, because of the individuals or because of the systemic things that are present, I'm challenged with, do I wanna be black, do I wanna be a woman, do I wanna be a Christian, do I wanna be a survivor, when in all actuality, I hold all of those identities simultaneously and equally, like there's not one day that I want, that I can take off being black, there's not one day that I can take off being a survivor and those challenges are there and I think that when we talk about sexual violence and we talk about the impact that the lack of intersectional lens being within our work, how that impacts those individuals who we serve.

20:20 LA: And for me it is important that the agencies across Pennsylvania realize that they need to cater to all individuals and not have individuals choose between their identities and recognize that there are different forms of oppression that comes with those identities which impact how we're able to heal and how we have access to the care that they normally provide. So those barriers are there and we need to recognize that and ensure that we're creating prevention programs and that we're creating services that are available, based upon what people truly need and what they actually can take advantage of the... Because oftentimes we see people creating different things and it's not that they aren't doing great work. It's like you're doing great work, but oftentimes what's missing is the voices of those individuals who actually need the work that you're actually offering. Does that make sense? 

21:36 JS: It absolutely does. And I think, I've said this in other podcasts that we've recorded, that this is the reason we wanna be having more of these conversations because it hasn't been on the forefront of people's minds. My colleague and I, Tatiana Piper, we created this graphic that shows the connection between racism, and sexual violence which we'll talk about in a future episode. But we've been talking about it at rape crisis centers for the last year and a half and sadly, some people haven't ever had this conversation before, about trying to understand that we don't wanna have to have people choose one identity over another in order to be served and receive the services that they need and deserve to have. So I am just really grateful for you for shedding a light on this for everybody.

22:35 LA: Thank you and I'm trying my best. I think that because it's a lived experience, it is something that I am truly passionate about and wanting people to know and ensuring that I amplify the voices of other black women. And even when we talk about people of color, oftentimes, black women are the forgotten survivors. And we loop all the people in together and say, "Yup, this fits all of them." But there are different things that we experience as black women and there are different risk factors that have impacted how we actually show up as survivors. And I think that those things need to be taken into consideration, in order to help survivors that are black, not just of color, but that are black to actually heal and actually take advantage of the resources and the services that are available. And I think we hear statistics all the time about black women and black girls, but we don't talk enough about how black women and girls are not believed. We don't talk enough about the perception that black women or black girls don't need protecting, that they don't need saving. Well, not saving, we should be... We're not saving anybody but they don't need protection, right? 

23:58 LA: We don't talk about how black girls are sexually assaulted at alarming rate before the age of 18 and how that actually carries into adulthood. Oftentimes, that that idea and that notion that we don't need protection, that we're strong and that we're resilient. And yes, we are strong and resilient, but that doesn't mean that we don't deserve for those... That we don't deserve to be protected, that we don't deserve to have access to the things that everybody else has access to. Yeah, I just feel like black women are the forgotten survivor. Even if we think about into the Me Too movement and how that has gone viral, we haven't seen a lot from black women. I know for me growing up and being in a... Living with my own lived experience I did not have individuals that I thought represented me, to show me as an example that I can overcome my experience.

25:15 LA: For me I felt alone in my experience. I felt that it's event nobody else that is a black young woman has experienced. If we look at the statistics, we know that it's happening at an alarming rate amongst black women and girls. And how oftentimes the black women's voices aren't heard or they're not believed? We think about the R. Kelly situation where that blew up and it took black women to raise their voices and to gather their resources together and to put out a documentary for their voices to be heard and to be amplified. But many black women and girls were talking about and saying, "Hey, this happened to me. I need help." And there are so many black women and girls who are within our communities who do not have celebrity... Whose perpetrators, predators are not celebrities, that their voices... They're saying, they're speaking yeah, but nobody's hearing them. And I think it's time out for us to ignore the voices of black women and girls, and to ensure the intersectionality is a lens that we utilizes within our work across the board. It is necessary.

26:39 LA: And oftentimes people say, "We want to end sexual violence." Well, if you want to end sexual violence then you need to end all of these things that come with contributing and it helps to perpetuate sexual violence like racism, systemic racism like homophobia. All of these things that come and add to the idea that certain individuals don't matter. And I think it's necessary for us...

27:09 LA: I think about it like this. If there was a pond that the fish kept coming belly up in, and as the fish keep coming belly up in this one pond and then we look over a couple miles down, we see the fish coming belly up in that pond as well. Eventually we're gonna begin to look at what's happening in the water system underneath. We're not gonna just say, "Oh well, this just happened in this one pond and we'll fix it." In order to fix the solution we have to look at the tapestry that is connected, and how those particular instances are connected and overlap one another that draws the outcomes that actually are present. And I think that we as a society and those who work in the field of sexual violence need to begin to look at the tapestry. Look at what are those things that are underneath that are contributing to sexual violence being able to continue to breed its ugly head within our communities. And we say we believe in ending sexual violence, and if we believe in ending sexual violence then we need to end the things that contribute to sexual violence.

28:21 JS: Absolutely, thank you so much for saying all of that. And unfortunately, we are out of time for today, but I think that's a perfect note to end on because it's a great call to action, that we can all be doing better and that we need to be trying to not just end sexual violence but end all forms of oppression that contribute to that tapestry that you're talking about. So LaQuisha I wanna say thank you so much for joining us to talk about your organization, your work, and telling us your truth.

28:51 LA: Thank you so much for having me, and I look forward to seeing how people actually use the call to action.

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29:07 S3: If you or loved one needs help a local sexual assault center is available 24/7. Call 1-888-772-7227 for more information or find your local center online at pcar.org. Together we can end sexual violence. Any user opinions expressed on PA Centered by staff or their guests are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of PCAR or PCAR's funders.