LAS VEGAS, May 21, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- There is more than just lack of sound education that holds some children back. Child abuse affects the lives of thousands of innocent children. Leola Silas Johnson rose from underneath this shroud of abuse with the help of God, and she recounts her tale in her new book, Nobody Remembers Me (now available through AuthorHouse).
Inspired by actual events, Johnson's book tells the story of her childhood, beginning at the moment of her unwanted birth. Her single mother was unable to care for her. So, she was carted off to her relatives' homes, where, despite their intentions, she met a life of abuse and harsh treatment. Nobody Remembers Me details how Johnson was unable to call attention to her plight. Her relatives were respected in the small town, and her reputation as a bad seed was widespread. She endured her pain in silence.
"(Nobody Remembers Me) discloses the many kinds of abuse and violence inflicted at the hands of family members. This was a child whose eyes often filled to the brim with tears, whose heart was leaking drops of blood. She was not able to obtain the crumbs of affection that fell from their lips or arms," Johnson says of her childhood self.
The book shows how Johnson held onto "the nightmares of her life" due to shame. She became unfeeling and quick to lash out with violence when confronted as a result of the years of abuse and silence. Although, with the help of God, she says she was able to let it go and lead a productive life.
"Everyone I met thought I lived in a perfect world and had a model childhood. I want the world to know out of all of the abuse I suffered, I came out like fine gold because of God. ... My experience is to help others heal. ... Please know that writing this book is not about my family, or me. It is about suffering and knowing that God heals all ills, if one allows him to," she says.
Johnson graduated with a bachelor's degree from Mississippi Valley State University. The mother of four children, she worked as a social worker in Protective Child Services in Tennessee, as an advocate for the prevention of child abuse in the Department of the Army at Fort Ritchie, Md., and in public school systems in Tennessee, Maryland, Nevada and Mississippi. Nobody Remembers Me is her first book.
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