"He pulled me down the stairs by my hair..." A domestic violence story (via @pixiwoos)

Everyone is talking about the Ray Rice elevator domestic abuse case and elevator footage. The feedback in the media has been overwhelming full of many opinions, judgments, explanations, excuses... the only person not chiming in is his wife Janay. This is another reminder of how little voice the abused typically have.

Two of my favorite makeup artists, sisters Sam and Nic of Pixiwoo, recently sat down with their mother who was a survivor of domestic abuse. In the video she shares her experience being in an abusive marriage, why she stayed, why she left, and her advice to others.

I think it's very important to create a positive conversation around a very unfortunate situation that is all too common. I also wanted to share the voice of a survivor and someone who experienced the struggle because so many people clutter the web with their opinion (myself included), but have not walked a day in the shoes of someone who is actively going through the situation. As an added bonus, it's not common to see open conversations between parents (abuser or abused) and their children. This is a stellar video by the Pixiwoo duo and their amazing mother for being to brave to share her story.

Domestic Violence and Reality TV: The Court of Public Opinion

A while ago I grew increasingly tired of Reality Trash TV. Between VH1 and Bravo, it seemed like I couldn't go 15 mins without seeing women acting crazy, fighting, yelling, and making fools of themselves for the sake of a reality check. I decided to put down the remote and stop watching. I didn't want to sit around complaining about the way they were representing women (black women in particular), yet continue to watch - - so I stopped watching.

Everyone knows Evelyn Lozado from VH1's "Basketball Wives" series and can attest to her feisty, immature nature... always ready to curse someone out or go up someone's head... with her hand or a bottle. It's a mess. When she made news for getting involved in a domestic dispute with NFL husband Chad Johnson folks were surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) jumping to his defense and painting her as the bad person. Now, nobody was in the car so who knows how things actually went down... and in all honesty, who cares! She has a 3 inch gash on her forehead. Period.

What I care more about is her recently issued statement regarding domestic violence and wanting to take a stand against it... be the voice of women. I think that's all great, but how about taking a stand against violence in general. Don't be the chick that's ready to crack a chick's head open, then cry victim when your man cracks yours open. Violence really is violence. Keep your hands to yourself and treat people the way you want to be treated.

I found this ESPN coverage of the incident refreshing and I liked their stance. It's nice to hear real opinions and not the overly constructed, typical coverage most news organizations present. Violence and domestic violence is a very sensitive subject, but I'm curious to know everyone's thoughts on this.