The Woman who Could Not Be Silenced: Tina Turner

If there’s one thing we can learn from the life of Tina Turner it’s survival. Not only did she have to figure out how to survive as a teenager when her and her sister were abandoned by their parents on their cotton farm in Tennesee but she went on to survive an extremely abusive 16 year relationship. That relationship with Ike Turner was ultimately the thing that would shed light on what domestic abuse was like and bring it to the attention of so many people who may have never known before.

Ultimately she would revive her career so well that most of the people in my generation think of her as an 80’s singer instead of someone who actually had a 20 year career before then.

The story of her escape from an abusive relationship and ultimate comeback still has impact today. Unfortunately domestic abuse still exists in millions of households around the world and goes unnoticed in many cases. It is a crisis that involves a persons physical, mental and emotional health and often includes multiple addictions. It is a testament to how strong she really was that she was able to escape, hold onto the drive to keep her career and fight for the rights to the name that made her famous and raise two children while she did all this.

I hope that her music and her life are never forgotten and that she can always be a beacon of hope to all who need it.

If you want to know more about the statistics of domestic abuse read this article. If you are in an abusive situation call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline: 800–799–7233