Essence magazine highlights work of Flint's own Cherisse Bradley

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FLINT, MICHIGAN — Flint native Cherisse Bradley is one of seven women nationwide featured this month by Essence magazine for their work to raise awareness of sexual assault.

The founder of “I Found My Voice” is honored alongside women working in Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Brooklyn in the online article “On The Ground: These Women Are On The Front Lines Combating Sexual Assault.” (Read the Essence article here.) It is included in the November edition of Essence, for which Me Too Movement founder Tarana Burke served as a special guest editor.

“As a black woman, Essence has been an inspiration to the woman I’ve become and the woman I am yet becoming,” Bradley said in a Facebook post about the article.

Bradley founded I Found My Voice five years ago, first as a personal outlet as a survivor of abuse and then as an opportunity for other survivors of sexual assault to heal through performance art. The annual show moved this year to the Capitol Theatre and featured national headliners including Lakisha Jones, Kimberly Nichole and Harold Green in September.

In the Essence article, Bradley says, “After entering recovery, I felt a yearning in my spirit to help empower other survivors and to remove the stigma attached to them. I was already deeply entrenched into arts, so I drew from my creative power as a singer, songwriter, tap dancer, choreographer and director to create a platform to help others.”

Bradley dreams of expanding I Found My Voice, hoping someday to make the local concert a nationwide tour.

For more information, visit IFoundMyVoice.org or I Found My Voice on Facebook.