If you spend more time on the internet than you do watching T.V.; if you get a major chunk of your media input from YouTube, you have no doubt heard of Internet sensation Antoine Dodson.
Dodson (up until recently) lived in the projects in Huntsville, Alabama called Lincoln Park. One night, while he was minding his own business hanging out on Facebook, he heard his sister scream. He ran to her room and saw her struggling with a bed intruder, a man who was trying to rape her. The rapist was scared away before he was able to carry out his sexual assault.
When news cameras arrived at Dodson’s doorstep, he was still angry, scared and worked up over the ordeal. He was very animated on camera and it was entertaining to watch. So entertaining that the Gregory Brothers, who are known for auto-tuning the news made a song of it and took it viral. At this point in time the Antoine Dodson Bed Intruder song has about 14.5 million views on YouTube. At one point, it was #3 on the iTunes popularity list.
Bed Intruder Song (Remix) (feat. Kelly Dodson) – Antoine Dodson
Today I heard a little bit of the story that put a twist on things for me. Dodson’s sister has a 2-year old daughter. The daughter is aware of the trauma and tragedy and she is scared. She is scared for herself and she’s scared for her mom.
I am currently teaching a class about Victimology at Long Beach City College and we talked about sexual abuse just last Thursday. We watched a video by Marilyn Van Derbur called “Once Can Hurt a Lifetime” and we talked about all the ways sexual abuse impacts the survivor. Here’s what we came up with (click on image to enlarge):
Despite all these known consequences for sexual assault survivors, resources to help people are a very low priority on our list at voting time. The impact of lack of funding is evidenced by the closure of Sexual Assault Crisis Agency in Long Beach. For those who need support with overcoming the impact of sexual assault, a good place to start is RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network).
In class we also talked about some of the ways abusers wield power and control over others. Here’s our list (click on image to enlarge):
We discussed how gaining personal power was a positive step to avoid falling prey to victimizers. If you want help to strengthen your mind, visit icreatehabits.com for a free hypnosis MP3 titled Create The Life You Want. Or, visit Start a Master Mind Group.com to find out how to use group energy to strengthen and improve yourself as a person.
Does the story about your past hold you back? Do you sometimes believe that you can’t possibly break free? 
Last night, I did a presentation at the Whole Foods market in Torrance titled: Become Your Own Superhero – Slay the sabotuer and reclaim your life. 
Somewhere along the line I got the message loud and clear, it’s better to be cool than uncool and somehow, my concept of cool was equated with a James Dean type character – rebel without a cause. My life choices and relationships reflected this value. I thought the rebels were cool and I wanted to be like them more than I wanted to be like the “uncool” people. This had it’s upside and it’s downside. 
The downside is, I did all those self-destructive things associated with the rebel, including smoking, drinking, drugs and generally disregarding the rules and defying authority whenever possible…sometimes to my own detriment.
Do you have a creative idea brewing in your mind, just waiting to be expressed? Have you sensed or been told that you are standing in your own way of making it happen?
