I was born with healthy lungs and strong personality 

My parents chose Melinda Melody 1963. Melody was my fathers idea. To this day, my mother calls me Melody. I thought it was emotional abuse. In truth, She hated my father and used the name he chose.

Emotionally  broken down to unconditional love of my grandparents. God Blessed me with my grandparents, I can’t repay you with words. What I can do is support others. I became a Minister and started a charity. God give me the strength to mentor children.

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Living in a household with child abuse and domestic violence, the days without violence can disappear. The memories, faded memories can trigger deep pain if the door is open. My trigger thru me in the abysses from listening to a song listened to hundreds of times.

I felt like a bomb landed in my lap, the arrival created complete chaos.  The memories were part of the chaos in my life. Shortly after the divorce from my father, my mother married shortly and my father married later. My brother and I called him the Nazi. He was an alcoholic, possessive and we marched to his beat. The verbal abuse started and shortly escalated to domestic abuse. We walked on eggshells constantly.

A couple years into marriage my mother finds out he was married before with two children. We starting going to Houston regularly without knowing why. He was fighting the mother for custody of the kids. Sure!  My brother and I were told our step brother’s were moving in. It was a shock trying to figure out what would change? Would we like them?

Mony Mony by Billy Idol brings back memories of my step-brother Paul. Paul and his brother came to live with us because of neglect. Their mother was a drug addict and would leave them at home for weeks at a time. Paul the youngest, regressed to a baby, learning to talk again was difficult. My mother has called me Melody, my middle name all my life. He called me Mody. Paul died in a tragic accident to young. His older brother Keith was abandoned at age 14 yrs old.

My step brothers lived in fear, years later we find out step father had several wife and more kids.

Xx  M

International Womens Day celebrate Empowered women, mentors, great leaders. I chose women who are empowered in the tough music business. Great songs I like to dance to. When Lyme lets me go, no problems losing weight, dance off.

Enjoy this weeks tunes, be sure to leave your feedback in comments section. Thanks for dropping by! Let’s get our groove on.  Xx  M

 

 

https://youtu.be/mn4g28fisz0

 

NO MORE Excuses: The Male Survivors Series

We recognize that male survivors are met with persistent and harmful responses: That sexual abuse can’t happen to guys. That they just need to get over it. That guys wouldn’t “let” that happen to them.

In 2016, Joyful Heart partnered with Viacom and 1in6, a leading organization that provides support and information to adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse, released a new series of video and print ads—adding to a suite of print ads released in 2014—specifically addressing the myths and excuses that male survivors hear. They invite men who have experienced unwanted or abusive sexual abuse in childhood, and those who care for them, to visit 1in6.org for help.

In case you missed it, I wanted to share our new series in Joyful Heart’s groundbreaking, celebrity-driven NO MORE PSA campaign developed in partnership with 1in6, a leading organization providing support and information to male survivors of childhood sexual abuse, produced by Viacom and created by Rachel Howald and Young & Rubicam. The PSAs are already airing across Viacom’s networks, and tomorrow, you’ll be able to see them during the eighth #NOMOREexcuses marathon of Law & Order: SVU on USA Network, starting at 1pm/12c.

WATCH THE NEW VIDEO

http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/programs/education/no-more/psa-campaign/no-more-excuses-male-survivors-series#sthash.cIxU9PCn.dpuf

Today, I wrote on our blog about why we’ve been partnering with USA for these marathons since 2014. We already know that television and media have the power to shape and change attitudes. And SVU is one of the few far-reaching platforms that has, for so long, brought sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse into the light. Recent studies have confirmed that watching it promotes healthy ideas around sexual assault: less victim-blaming, an increased understanding that anyone can be a survivor, that there is no “perfect victim.” And the show’s platform to reach survivors is something we have long known. It’s why Joyful Heart is here today—because when our Founder & President, Mariska Hargitay, first started playing Olivia Benson, she heard from thousands and thousands of survivors, sharing their stories, many for the first time.

Through this partnership with USA, we’ve leveraged SVU ‘s 17 seasons of episodes to drive a conversation forward online and on social media—reducing isolation and stigma and connecting individuals to support, information and community. The video messages that air throughout each marathon share information with viewers on topics like consent, expressing healthy masculinity, assault and abuse in the military, campus sexual assault—connecting them with organizations like Joyful Heart, that have deep and clinically-sound content, that are service providers or first responders.

We are very proud to host tomorrow’s marathon in honor of NO MORE Week, following on the heels of the release of our new Male Survivors PSA series. So please join us tomorrow. Watch out for the videos during the day. Join us on Twitter to follow the conversation at #NOMOREexcuses. Share the new series in the PSA campaign on social media to help deliver a message to the 21 million men who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse—to all survivors of violence and abuse—you are not alone.

With gratitude,

Maile Zambuto
Chief Executive Officer
Joyful Heart Foundation

Throw Back Thursday started over two years ago. Thank you for following me and leaving comments. I enjoy the comments, it’s also an education as I look for tunes each week. The 24 hour request line is open. I’m dedicating  “Don’t Let Me Down” to Tangled Up In Music (by Ovidio Boar). We met today and his blog is awesome, most everything you want to know about music. Check him out.

Time to get down and loud!  Xx  M