Thank you for that. You've told us a lot that the white corporate press didn't present as part of the story. Tawana was acting out of a desperate need for rescue: what she did didn't really harm anyone, and it points up the fact that, as a society, we weren't really addressing what young women who'd experienced what Tawana had at home had gone through or providing the help they needed. In many ways, we still aren't- and quite frankly, too many people who went through that sort of personal hell are still disbelieved, shamed, and turned away from help.

We have to ask ourselves: in those times, in the place and life that were Tawana's, what choice did she have? What other options were there for her?