Jackie Nhashae

It's Written Across My Face

This is my story, in my own words. My name is Jackie Turner and I have overcome so much already in my young life. A woman like me isn’t supposed to dream. I am suppose to be another statistic. I was born to a 17 year old mother who lived in the projects. By 8 months I was sold for 1,000 dollars for drugs. I was then given to a woman who locked me in closets beat me, and would occasionally starve me from the time I was 5 years old until I was 9. At the age of 9 I was abandoned, left on DYFS stairs for two hours with a garbage bag of clothes. By age 11 I moved in with my birth father who beat me every single day I lived with him. Living in that home was like having your worst nightmare as your reality. From age 11 to 16 I lived in my nightmare. By age 17 the state took me away from my birth father, and sent me far away from home. I moved from the East Coast to the West Coast, to start life once again. This time I lived with an aunt and uncle who quickly unraveled after my uncle was caught cheating. I ran to the streets, after the loss of family again, and the death of a young family member. I was searching for hope. I went to a program in the woods of Northern California, where I confronted my past. It was hard work to tear down the walls you’ve built to protect yourself and begin to live again, but I fought every step of the way and I did it.