Donna Hylton is a powerful women’s rights activist and author of "A Little Piece of Light," sharing her journey from trauma to transformation. In this discussion, she reflects on her childhood abuse and incarceration, highlighting the importance of addressing painful stories to foster healing. Donna emphasizes the resilience found in compassion, especially for incarcerated women, and the impact of therapeutic dialogue. Her narrative serves as a poignant reminder of hope, self-love, and the strength it takes to reclaim one's voice.
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The Good Wolf Within
Donna Hylton reflects on her childhood trauma and abuse, recognizing a persistent inner "good wolf."
Despite not knowing how to navigate her difficult situation, she held onto this light within.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Early Childhood Trauma
Donna describes her early childhood in Jamaica with a mentally ill mother who was both abusive and loving.
After being brought to America and adopted, she endured years of sexual abuse by her adoptive father.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Betrayal by the System
At 12, Donna confided in a school counselor about the abuse, hoping for help.
Her adoptive mother denied the accusations, leaving Donna feeling silenced and betrayed.
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A Little Piece of Light tells the story of Donna Hylton's journey from a childhood marred by abuse to her incarceration and eventual transformation into a powerful advocate for women's rights and criminal justice reform. The memoir explores themes of survival, redemption, and the power of community and sisterhood in overcoming adversity.
Donna Hylton is a women’s rights activist and criminal justice reform advocate. Donna speaks publicly about the issues facing incarcerated women and girls and the significant impact the significant increase in the female prison population is having on families, children and our communities. Her book, “A Little Piece of Light: A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound” tells the story of the childhood abuse she endured, the spiral of events that lead to her incarceration and how she learned to live, love and trust all over again. In this episode, Donna shares some deeply personal stories of her traumatic past and how she found her voice to help other victims of violence and abuse.
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Navigating the good times and bad times of her early childhood.
Finding the courage to ask for help.
How she ran track in high school as a way to “run away”
How we must talk about these painful stories to get to the root causes.
How dealing with trauma does something to our psyche.
Believing we don’t have value can be reinforced by those around you.
Dealing with the difficult relationship with her daughter, who was the result of rape
Years of therapy and healing helped find that place of light inside herself.
How talking about the trauma releases the pain instead of holding on to it.
How we need to face the trauma, try to understand it and then try to stop it.
When you’re young, you believe that what happens around you is your fault and therefore often make the same mistakes because you don’t know how to rationalize what is happening.
How she became a wounded healer.
How she started healing and forgiving herself when she went to prison.
How she became an advocate for the sick women in prison after losing a close friend.
Realizing she could no longer stand by or stay silent when something bad happened to others.
How she helped bring counseling, educational and other care programs into the prison system.
Saying goodbye to the little girl inside who was silent
Embracing the little girl inside who found her voice
We are not the worst moment in our lives, we’re not our mistakes
We are human beings who have been through something
Being part of the newly passed Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) which considers alternative sentencing or intervention for those convicted who have been victims of severe abuse.
When a body is put under pressure, it’s going to react and do whatever it takes to survive
Her source of unconditional love and truth, Sister Mary, who helped her to become the activist she is today.
How “we can connect deeply with humanity if we look through the eyes of love and compassion”
We were created in love and beauty is all around us if we can just recognize it.
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