Weekly Rant

There have been many instances where rape goes unreported because often the women feels as if she put herself in that dangerous situation and blames herself, therefore she felt that it would be wrong to report such a monstrous act. How about another incident where a women is too scared to say no to her rapist and "plays along" thus making her a victim of violence? Seriously, when does this type of thinking end? Sometimes I wonder if I am guilty of such thoughts.

Unhappy closure in the Annie Le case

Feelings of wretched disappointment washed over me this morning when I read the major headline on CNN. I felt my belly do a 360 flip and my heart stopped beating for a mere second. I'm aware that violence happens everywhere but what I did not know is can individuals be immune to such violence? I've spent my childhood in the most dangerous, poverty-stricken areas of Los Angeles where I was exposed to hate crimes, gang violence, random attacks, and even child molestation and rape on a day-by-day basis. I know that violence is something that I am unable to escape, no matter where I reside now, despite my residential history, I just assumed that I have become used to the fact that violence happens. Apparently, I have been contradicting myself for years and today I'm now facing that truth. I've been following the Annie Le case ever since she was reported missing with the highest of highest hope that she was kidnapped for ransom and would later be found alive and well but with scrapes, bruises, or maybe some broken joints (this is reality folks, I doubt kidnapped victims are ever found unscathed) - but alive is what I was aiming for. There's a heavy air over me and I can't seem to shake it off. Headlines of child brides deceased after giving birth, homeless and pregnant foster girls thrown out of foster care, the disgusting DuGard case that reminds of the Fritzl guy in Austria case, are swirling around me. I feel so helpless and hopeless. I'm just ranting again. I know there are many like myself out there who had huge hopes that she would be found alive, rather than the way she was found.