Power of Women Expecting Results (P.O.W.E.R.) hosted its second annual Domestic Violence Awareness Forum on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 in the J.D. Boyd Library Auditorium at 6:30 pm. The event’s aim was to enlighten students on the realism of Domestic Violence. To achieve this purpose, speeches were given by Evangelist Debbie Blossom and Officer Eros Smith. Both speakers are natives of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
P.O.W.E.R. was founded on September 21, 2016 by Alcorn students Carlisa Jenkins and Co-founders La Bria Barnes, Kiaa K. Donald, Iesha Jackson, Ruby Winters and Ebonie Liggins. The purpose of P.O.W.E.R. is to empower women to be the best version of themselves as possible. Its mission statement is to support the betterment of women, promote unity, education, confidence, health awareness, community service and leadership.
The event’s purpose was heavily fulfilled by the speakers through statistics, motivation and real life experiences. Evangelist Blossom’s half of the presentation focused on knowing your worth and never settling for less. At the beginning of her presentation, she gave the students a paper to fill out entitled “Who Am I?”. She encouraged them to read it every day to motivate them to keep pushing. Officer Smith’s half of the presentation focused on his experiences with domestic violence cases. He shared that although most cases consist of men abusing women, women are also reported as being the abuser. He concluded his speech by encouraging students to always be aware of who they engage with and to report any domestic violence acts.
Deborah Shows, a Sophomore Agricultural Economics major and second year P.O.W.E.R. member stated, “As female college students, we are surrounded by different types of individuals and some are dangerous. As a single female I want to continue to learn about relationships so that I can discover a healthy relationship in the future. This event enlightened me to the symptoms of an unhealthy relationship and how to avoid or get rid of the disease known as domestic violence.”
Kristen Nichols, a Junior Health Science major and P.O.W.E.R. member stated, “I thoroughly enjoyed the P.O.W.E.R. domestic violence seminar. I enjoyed both speakers but Evangelist Blossom supplied me with knowledge that I will forever cherish. She shared with us how men work and as women we need to set ourselves to a higher standard. Just because he loves us doesn’t mean he can take advantage of us. Her speech encouraged me to always stay true to myself first and someday the perfect guy will come along.”
For future P.O.W.E.R. events, you can follow them on Instagram @powerofwomen_expectingresults.