Regaining My Voice, Reclaiming My Body

Joyous Windrider Jimenez opens up to host Janie Terrazas about the sexual abuse she faced at the hands of her father and all the ways it robbed her of her voice as an adult. The multiple violations and the isolation she endured over the course of her childhood and adult life was a lot to bear, yet she’s managed to find her way out of the dark.

Writing has been a healing outlet for her to express the wounds left behind. Joyous understands to fully recover victims must regain their voice and reclaim their bodies. Her work titled: These are the Things I Never Told You, gives you a glimpse into the world of a traumatized child who’s voice is ignored and silenced.

Joyous Windrider Jiménez is a multi-disciplinary artist, poet, educator, and mother of one son. She’s been gathering the lost pieces of her identity and voice for many years, and has found the healing power of the arts to be an integral part of that work. She is a explorer of emotional landscapes, a gatherer of new experiences, and a natural born dreamer. She, along with poets Mandy Lynn Lara and San Juana Guillermo, co-founded Raise The Whisper, a collective of survivors cultivating healing from the effects of family rape and sexual abuse. FB @JoyousWindriderJimenez #RaisetheWhisper

Read host Janie Terraza’s A Sacred Story in The Owl magazine.

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