“Girlfriends” creator Mara Brock Akil is opening up about a truly devastating personal truth from her childhood. The revelation came as a part of Akil’s newest interview on the Oprah Winfrey podcast, where she discussed her debut novel, “The Revelation of Dionne & Daphne.” Without giving too much away, a major part of the storyline revolves around the main character dealing with being sexually abused by her stepfather.
The story, while fictional, was also a representation of past trauma Akil experienced in her own life. During the interview, she told Winfrey that an adult man molested her for three years when she was a child. However, she was somehow able to transmute the pain from the abuse into fuel, which she used as an opportunity to develop her connection to a higher power.
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“It was a time in my life from nine to 12 that I was molested. And what was interesting to me at the time—and this is where the book comes into play—is how well I managed. And I managed by one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever had, [which] was—that’s where my relationship with God truly began,” Akil explained.
She continued: “My relationship is rooted in that, and sometimes, I even think about if that had never happened, where would my relationship with God be? And so, thus and such, it happened to me. And God loves me, so I’m supposed to do something with it. And now all these years later, I believe this [the book] is my ‘something to do with it.’”
Akil went on to share even more details about the horrible molestation, explaining that the man who harmed her was a “full-grown man. Not a teenager, not a 20-something.” She also revealed that she was told that if she spoke out about the abuse, she would be taken away from her mother. As a result, she kept quiet.
Later, she reflected on how seeing her own children at the same age she was when she was molested set off a cathartic release of tears and caused her to question how someone could behave in that way.
“How could they even see?” Akil asked. “How could anybody touch a child at that age? And of course, we know it happens all the time and earlier. Much earlier and for longer periods of time.”
According to The SAFE Alliance, roughly one in four Black girls will be sexually abused before the age of 18. What’s even more staggering is the fact that 40 to 60 percent of Black women have reported being subjected to coercive sexual contact by age 18. Per the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, there are ways for others to get involved and do their part in minimizing this harm, including becoming more informed about Black women and sexual assault and advocating for the importance of survivor services geared towards Black women and girls.
