I spent New Year’s Day racking my brain about a resolution that I will not only stick to, but will bring about real change—for me, my family, my community. But I don’t want to just do something typical, like join a gym, or embark on a pipe dream, or commit myself to frivolity. I want to really give, and give back BIG. I was so inspired on New Year’s Day watching the launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network. I sat there thinking, if Oprah can do that, what is it I can NOT do?
Absolutely nothing!
I can do all that I put my mind to—and this year, as in past years, my mind and heart are invested in one thing—making a different for those who will not get to see a new year, whose voices have been silenced. The forgotten ones—women, men and children—whose lives were lost at the hands of domestic violence.
More and more women, men and children are dying! Yet, we never talk about it. That is until it’s too late. We never utter a word until some perfectly spoken journalist reads those horrible words from a teleprompter. And even then, we only talk about it for as long as the news fascinates us.
In Gaston, Texas, the number of people who died from domestic violence in 2010, many of which were children, more than doubled from the previous year. In December, in a matter of eight days, three people were killed in domestic violence related crimes in Rhode Island. In October, the state of Oregon reported that 49 people were killed by domestic violence, and the year was not yet over. It did not take long in 2010, for the first fatality to occur in Utah—On January 4, 2010, Norma Leticia Villalobos-Guzman walked into her kitchen covered in blood and asked a roommate to call police. She later died, only to be followed by countless other women and children across America—from the corners of Maine to the tip of Texas, to the outskirts of Oregon, who died at the hands of domestic violence. And the stories, and the fatalities, and the utter sadness goes on . . .
We need change!
As the founder of Saving Promise, I have not only made a New Year’s resolution, I have made a life commitment to see to it that we bring about that change—real change. I am often flabbergasted that we have so many resources, legislation and funds, and still all we have to show is a slew of shelters, courtrooms, and more fatalities. Perhaps some would argue to disagree, and to those I would say… don’t disagree—Join me!
Join me in making a lifetime commitment to become the voices whose voices have been stripped away. Join me in saying NO MORE! Let’s not just hold up a candle, let’s become the candle.
Join me in building a movement that will foster real change.
Join ME! Visit http://www.savingpromise.org/ to learn how.
L.Y. Marlow, Author/Founder,
Saving Promise
http://www.colormebutterfly.com/
