Reading Resources
9. No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal...
No Secrets No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal from Sexual Abuse
Author: Robin Stone
With a foreword by Joycelyn Elders, M.D., No Secrets, No Lies is a powerful and daringly honest resource guide for families seeking to understand, prevent, and overcome childhood sexual abuse and its devastating impact on adult survivors.Through compelling personal accounts from everyday people, Robin D. Stone, a sexual abuse survivor herself, illuminates the emotional, psychological and hidden consequences of remaining silent, and provides holistic, practical steps to move toward healing. No Secrets, No Lies candidly speaks to survivors, telling them they are not at fault, not alone and how they can seek help; parents, guardians, and caretakers, explaining how they can keep children safe and help survivors recover; and family, friends and other loved ones, showing ways to lend support.
No Secrets, No Lies demystifies the cultural taboos and social dynamics that keep Black families silent and enable abuse to continue for generations. Among them:
- Fear of betraying family by turning offenders in to "the system"
- Distrust of institutions and authority figures, such as police officers
- Reluctance to seek counseling or therapy
- A legacy of enslavement and stereotypes about black sexuality