Hush Hush: An African American Family Breaks Their Silence on Sexuality & Sexual Abuse - A Collection of Personal Interviews
In Hush Hush, DeShannon Bowens has created an innovative tool for spurring conversations about sex and sexual violence in the African American community. Kudos to the Peterson family, along with Bowens, for serving as a mirror to show us how we fall short when it comes to providing our children with the information they need. This book is encouragement for everyone to educate ourselves and learn to talk openly and intelligently with the young people in our lives. --Lori S. Robinson, Author of I Will Survive: The African-American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and AbuseOne doesn't have to be African American or a sexual abuse survivor to benefit from reading Hush Hush. The Peterson family has their story told via a series of personal interviews with therapist DeShannon Bowens. The title was inspired by the shame-based patterns of denial and nondisclosure frequently occurring after an African American child has been sexually abused. If you have ever wondered why sexual abuse isn't always reported and why so many sexual predators go unpunished, Bowens points out that far too many sexual abusers are protected by family members. Providing a culturally diverse multimedia resource section that will be of great value to activists, educators and survivors of sexual abuse, Hush Hush challenges readers to understand what thoughts and beliefs give rise to the way we express our sexuality, where those beliefs come from and if the sexuality programming and conditioning we get helps support a culture that seldom breaks the sexual abuse silence. --Tri-County Woman Magazine, Summer 2008