In I Will Survive Lori Robinson has created a valuable resource for African-American survivors of sexual assault (as well as their families, friends, and communities), incorporating personal stories, civil rights history, and a call for community activism. An award-winning journalist and a rape survivor herself, Robinson walks readers through the ways survivors can experience emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual healing, offering her firsthand knowledge on the particular difficulties African-Americans face on their journey toward recovery. She also explores why black women are more likely to experience sexual crimes—an insightful discussion framed in the context of the American slave system and modern institutionalized racism. This groundbreaking guide for African Americans contains an abundance of culturally specific and compassionate advice and information that includes accessible instruction on navigating police, health care, and legal systems, as well as an extensive resources section. The book’s sympathetic, informative, and ultimately hopeful advice will resonate with African-American survivors and all those who wish to support them.
Lori S. Robinson is the author of I Will Survive: The African-American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse, published in March 2003 by Seal Press. Since then, she has been speaking at colleges, community organizations and churches across the country and abroad about sexual violence.
Robinson is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, Essence, the Detroit Free Press, The Crisis, Heart & Soul and The Source, among other publications. Also an educator, most recently she taught media at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. A former editor at Emerge magazine, her honors include National Association of Black Journalists awards and Unity Award in Media prizes.
She has also been recognized by women's organizations and service provider groups. Robinson received a 2006 Visionary Award from the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the 2005 Champion for Change Award in Media and the Arts from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, a 2004 Fruit of Her Hands Award from the Black Church and Domestic Violence Institute, and the 1997 Inspirational Award from the International Black Women's Congress.
In February 2004, she was selected to serve as one of five judges for the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma's national Award for Excellence in Reporting on Victims of Violence. She has been interviewed by CBS Evening News, the Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle and the Washington Post about sexual violence.
Robinson earned a master's degree in journalism from New York University in 1994. She graduated from Spelman College with a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish in 1990. She is blessed to be married to an extraordinary husband, Ollie Johnson.
