title: Hush Hush: An African American Family Breaks Their Silence on Sexuality & Sexual Abuse - A Collection of Personal Interviews
author: Deshannon Bowens
description: In Hush Hush, DeShannon Bowens has created an innovative tool for spurring conversations about sex and sexual violence in the African American community. Kudos to the Peterson family, along with Bowens, for serving as a mirror to show us how we fall short when it comes to providing our children with the information they need. This book is encouragement for everyone to educate ourselves and learn to talk openly and intelligently with the young people in our lives. -- <i>Lori S. Robinson, Author of I Will Survive: The African-American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse</i><br /><br />One doesn't have to be African American or a sexual abuse survivor to benefit from reading Hush Hush. The Peterson family has their story told via a series of personal interviews with therapist DeShannon Bowens. The title was inspired by the shame-based patterns of denial and nondisclosure frequently occurring after an African American child has been sexually abused. If you have ever wondered why sexual abuse isn't always reported and why so many sexual predators go unpunished, Bowens points out that far too many sexual abusers are protected by family members. Providing a culturally diverse multimedia resource section that will be of great value to activists, educators and survivors of sexual abuse, Hush Hush challenges readers to understand what thoughts and beliefs give rise to the way we express our sexuality, where those beliefs come from and if the sexuality programming and conditioning we get helps support a culture that seldom breaks the sexual abuse silence. -- <i>Tri-County Woman Magazine, Summer 2008</i>
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  Copyright © 2021 by Rachel Leigh and Sara Cate
  
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  This book is dedicated to our BTB.
  
  Just this once, we’ll call her by name.
  
  Thank you, Amanda. We love you.
  
  
  # Trigger Warning
  
  _Four is a Dark Reverse Harem Romance that contains explicit sexual content,
  graphic language, and situations that some readers may find uncomfortable,
  such as dub con, murder, torture, and abuse. The Black family men are rough,
  controlling, and a little bit crazy, but don’t worry...she puts them in their
  place. Enjoy!_
  
  
  # Contents
  
  [ Chapter 1 ](text00005.html#chapter-1)
  
  [ Chapter 2 ](text00006.html#chapter-2)
  
  [ Chapter 3 ](text00007.html#chapter-3)
  
  