"Tyler Perry's Open Letter to Penn State 11-Year-Old"

[tblue]

Tyler Perry's Open Letter to Penn State 11-Year-Old

Hollywood’s Tyler Perry writes to a young boy involved in the Penn State scandal to tell him he isn’t a victim at all—he’s a survivor.

I don’t know your name, but I know your face. I don’t know your journey, but I know where you are. I am your brother!

I must tell you, what you have done is so courageous. The strength that it must have taken for your 11-year-old voice to speak out about such a horrible act is something that I didn’t have the strength or courage to do at that age.....

I was enduring a lot of the same things that you’ve come forward and said happened to you, and it was awful. I felt so powerless. I knew what was happening to me, but unlike you, I couldn’t speak about it because no one saw me. I was invisible and my voice was inaudible.

So to think that you, when you were only 11 years old, spoke up—you are my hero! I’m so proud of you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I want you to know you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault. Please know that you were chosen by a monster. You didn’t choose him. You didn’t ask for it and, most of all, you didn’t deserve it. What a huge lesson that was for me to learn. Your 11-year-old self was no match for wicked, evil tactics of this kind. You were hunted like prey. A pedophile looks for the young boys he thinks he can manipulate. The ones who have daddy or mommy issues, the ones who are broken, and the ones who are in need. But this wasn’t you.

Do you know that at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down?.....

You know, now that you’re older you need to be aware that the aftermath of abuse may affect you for a very long time. But that’s OK; just know that the strength it took for you to talk about it then will help you get through it now. I often tell myself that if I made it through that experience as a child, then surely as a man I should be able to get past it. It still may take you a while, but that’s OK too.....

No matter what happens next, just know that the hardest part is over. I wish the coward and very sick individual who hurt you would have the courage to admit his wrong and not put you through a trial. But he will most likely profess his innocence until the bitter end. And probably, all the while, yelling at the top of his lungs about all he has done to help troubled young boys.

You may have to go through with that trial, and you may feel all alone when you’re on that witness stand, but just know that there are millions of young boys and grown men who are standing with you—including me. If every man who has ever been molested would speak up, you would see that we’re all around you. You may not know all of our faces and names, but my prayer is that you feel our strength holding you up. You will get through this; you’ve already endured the worst part at age 11. Now fight on, my young friend, fight on! We are all with you.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/11/27/tyler-perry-s-open-letter-to-penn-state-11-year-old.print.html

[NYC_SKP]

1. "....only 11 years old, spoke up—you are my hero! I’m so proud of you. "

Awesome.

K/R

[shanti]

2. oprah winfrey

i remember the show that tyler perry was on with an entire audience of grown men who had been molested as boys. his pain was palpable. he's a brave man!

[tblue]

5. oh my gosh!!!!

That gives me chills. Oprah was good at having those 'healing' shows. Tyler Perry! But look how he turned out. Thanks for sharing. I didn't know that.

[shanti]

12. you might want to check out oprah's website

for a video of that show or any other info on it. it was riveting.

[redwitch]

3. How great that he did this!

I hope it gives some strength to these young people who have been so sadly used.

[JI7]

6. and how there are many who continue to attack this boy and the others

who spoke out.

[DirkGently]

4. Well done.

[lamp_shade]

7. A powerful letter. Wow.

[TygrBright]

8. This is extremely cool.

I don't know who Tyler Perry is (other than someone famous) or what he's done (other than write this letter,) but he can definitely park himself in the "done something worthwhile" column in my book.

appreciatively,
Bright

[justiceischeap]

9. He writes, directs and acts in all those Madea (sp) movies. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

33. The only good parts of his movies...

is the Madea character. This is not intended, however, to take away from his letter.

[Tumbulu]

19. I'm with you TygrBright well said! (nt)

[Codeine]

10. More effort in that letter than every single shitpile film he's ever made. nt

[joeybee12]

11. I am so not a fan of his work, but now I'm a fan of Tyler as a person..

:toast:

[ashling]

32. Exactly what I was going to say

What a wonderful letter

[awoke_in_2003]

34. I am with you on that...

other than I really love the Madea character. I have known a woman or two like that in my life- you don't mess with them.

[firehorse]

13. "at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down?"

Wow!

Well said. Powerful letter, hope the message gets out.

[Whisp]

14. it's heart wrenching...

'''Do you know that at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down?.....''''


:cry:

[redqueen]

15. K&R

[bertman]

16. REC. nt

[loudsue]

17. "but just know that there are millions of young boys and grown men who are standing with you"

"You may not know all of our faces and names, but my prayer is that you feel our strength holding you up."

This brought tears to my eyes.

It's not just the men & boys, either...there are millions of survivors of all manner of child sexual abuse that stand behind this very special young man.

[backtoblue]

18. kick and rec

[radhika]

20. Brave and Heroic - thank you, Tyler n/t

[chervilant]

21. Thank you, Mr. Perry

Child abuse is rampant in our species, in large part because so many of us are in deep denial about both the actual occurrence of child abuse AND about how pervasive is this horrific crime. Think how much more denial occurs when the perpetrator is a trusted friend or family member.

For those of us who are SURVIVORS of childhood sexual abuse, the pain of these experiences remains with us for the duration of our tenure on this earth. Survivors must find their own measure of recovery, often without the support of family or friends. In fact, here are a few of the messages I got after my baby sister outed our abuser (and, I had no idea he had abused my two younger sisters):

"I cannot BELIEVE that Homer would do such a thing!" (name changed to protect his adult children)

"Did you like it?"

"Why did you let him do that to you?"

"He says you seduced him."

"I never let Homer get to me!" (this from my other baby sister, also a survivor, because our abuser never raped her vaginally)

To this day, many members of our family--and some of our family's friends--blame me, my two sisters, and virtually ANYONE else other than the abuser. This is common, and it MUST stop.

For those of you who pontificate about "who's to blame," or what you might have done if you had witnessed the rape of a child: you can channel all of your anger and disgust to a positive end: be an advocate for ALL children. Learn to recognize the signs of abuse. Be a Big Brother or a Big Sister. Most importantly, ALWAYS BELIEVE a child who tells you that Uncle Homer "makes me do yucky stuff."

[malaise]

22. What a beautiful letter

Thank you Tyler Perry :yourock:

[Dont call me Shirley]

23. Thank you Tyler. Good for those who speak up.

[Armin-A]

24. Did not mention god....

HE DIDN'T MENTION GOD!!

Sorry about the trolling, but it's nice to see people caring about other people in this messed up place

[tblue]

25. Haha! That's cute!

Welcome, Armin-A! :hi:

[Armin-A]

30. thank you

[Riverman]

26. I Stand With my brothers

[RainDog]

27. k&r n/t

[duhneece]

28. We had a man tell his story at Take Back the Night march

I so admire the courage of anyone who speaks about being assaulted, even if it's 40 years after the fact. Tyler Perry just rose in my estimation.

[Maraya1969]

29. "Do you know that at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down?"

Man that one is a kick in the butt. A real lesson for us adults.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

31. powerful.