The We Stand Up Coalition (www.we-stand-up.org) is an organization in Delaware that is working for the awareness and prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. They recently collaborated with a publishing/media group to create a song, publish a book, music video, and Public Service Announcement  (PSA) to bring awareness to sexual molestation. The founder of the We Stand Up Coalition, Terrance Tykeem, published a book about child molestation called “TOUCHED.” The book acknowledges the work Dreamcatchers for Abused Children does on page 105.

Visit the WE STAND UP website here

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Purchase the TOUCHED book here

Touched: When Innocence is stolen the pain last forever

by Terrance Tykeem (Author)

There will be 500,000 babies born this year in the United States in alone that will be sexually molested before the age of 18 (http://cachouston.org/child-sexual-abuse-facts). This means there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the U.S.( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). So you can imagine what the numbers are now, the global figures are even more staggering. Children of every gender, age, race, ethnicity, background, socioeconomic status and family structure are clearly at risk. It isn’t strangers our children have to fear… (italics, and spaced so this sentence stands out, maybe larger font too) Most child sexual abusers are respected members of the community drawn to settings where they gain easy access to children like schools, clubs and churches. Even worse to comprehend is when the abuser is a parent, foster parent, or relative. The two individuals that allowed me to share their heartbreaking stories of molestation are part of a fraternity of millions whose lives have been forever changed by individuals that were entrusted to be their protectors but instead would become their tormentors. “What I do know is that sexual abuse is completely preventable. We, as parents, educators, siblings, and caretakers should bear the responsibility to take any and all measures possible to keep our children safe. When we allow our children to have their innocence stolen it saddles the victims with feelings of shame, self hatred and pain. The long term consequences can be devastating” – T. Tykeem

Author, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, and Businessman, Terrance Tykeem was born in Atlanta,Georgia, spending equal time between Atlanta and Philadelphia, before becoming an NFL walk-on. Unfortunately, due to injury his dream of playing in the NFL was short lived. He, deftly, transitioned from pro-athlete into a career in the entertainment industry. A creative spirit, Terrance has tried and true experience in the music industry [as C.E.O.] signing a number of artists to Top Flight Records, assisting with signings of NAAM BRIGADE to Electra Records and R&B Group UNPLUGGED to Cash Money Records. He participated in two major tours. The cash money/Ruff Ryder and the Cash Money tour which combined to covered 72-markets, followed by the Paid in full tour which covered 22-markets. As a Recording artist, he released several singles and videos, two were placed in rotation on BET, which led to him landing a deal with national distributor INDIE, he followed that with signing a deal with 125th street records a label that was owned by Eric B, of the legendary rap group “ERIC B & RAKIM. He then acquired a deal with Brandon Records, a label that was distributed by Warner Brothers. He developed a TV show called the Players Club, a show whose name he eventually sold to Rapper and Director “ICE CUBE” for his 1st feature film of the same name. His most recent project as an artist was recording a song and video with the late LAMONT BENTLEY from the TV show MOESHA, which aired on UPN for a little more than 8-seasons. As an author, Terrance released his first book in 2001, titled “More than One Flavor”. In recent years Terrance’s focus has shifted to philanthropic endeavors and social reform which resulted in the 2013 release of his second book, “Guilty by Reason of Arrest”. His third book, ” Touched”, is scheduled to be released mid 2014. In both his second and third books, Terrance deals with issues plaguing our communities, mass incarceration and child molestation, respectively. He uses each novel to promote awareness and demands a call to action. As a writer, Terrance is not afraid to challenge the system and does not shy away from asking or answering difficult questions on either subject matter. I’m sure we can anticipate more books that call for social change from this renaissance man that is a perfect mix of street smarts and southern charm.