A Journey To Forgiveness: Disowning 3 Generations of Violence

This book is an endeavor of love orchestrated by the brutal

murder of my mama, Dr. Vergie Rasheedah Muhammad.

It is about violence, death and rape,

Love and Forgiveness.

Mother and daughter relationships,

and institutional and womb trauma.

It’s about my grandmama,

Pearl Jackson, convicted of murder in Alabama in the 1920’s,

raped by the warden and gave birth to my mama.

She died in prison at the age of 36.

It’s about my mama,

killed by her husband at the age of 80 in 2013.

My mama was raped by my father

and gave birth to me at the age of 15.

It’s about my best friend Faye,

murdered by her husband in front of me.

It’s about mother and daughter relationships that are toxic

and influenced by life circumstances

that in many ways are traumatic.

It’s about being raped by a man I knew and dated.

A rape that was called

“a misunderstanding between consenting adults”

by our community leader.

Lastly, it’s about how I found my way back to myself,

and the tools I used.

It’s about healing through the Fire.

It’s about leaning into our stories and

sitting inside of our experiences.

It’s about retelling our stories

with the intention of reconnecting with our best selves.

It’s about connecting with the ancestral wisdom, prayer,

meditation, yoga and writing, in my case,

A Journey to Forgiveness.