Julie Benson is an author, an advocate against domestic violence, and a Yellow Brick House supporter.
Growing up, Benson and her family faced endless abuse at the hands of her father. She describes her father as having an “evil streak.” When living with him, Benson, her mother and her siblings would endure broken bones, hospital visits and verbal abuse.
When Benson tried to take action and call the police as a child, she was left with a broken jaw, denied the opportunity to speak out and thereby silenced.
“My parents seemed to cope less as we got older, my father became more volatile, my mother more robotic,” Benson wrote.
Though Benson’s family dealt with her father’s abusive patterns for years, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Benson left home at 15, as a ward of the court. After a fateful phone call with Benson years later, her mother was able to leave as well.
“You could hear it in her voice, she just couldn't deal with life anymore and I was very worried about her and I said I'm going to give you a phone number, you need to call the Yellow Brick House,” Benson said. “And she never looked back after that.”
Benson’s mother was able to escape due to the support of Yellow Brick House and its donors. Though it was hard, her mother persevered and was eventually able to reach financial, emotional and physical freedom.
Benson’s life experience, growing up with an abusive father prompted her to write her first book, F*ck Fear, a #1 International Best Seller where she wrote about the importance of "removing the mask" of domestic violence.
Her most recent book, Lonely Kings and Queens, tells a romantic tale of idyllic love through a series of poems.
“I just wanted to write something that really showed women for all their beauty and strength,” Benson said about her latest poem, She Is. “I believe very much in women's rights, and I've always been an advocate for human rights [...] and I’ve always campaigned throughout my lifetime to improve lives.”
When Benson’s friends found the juxtaposition between Lonely Kings and Queens and F*ck Fear odd, Benson would say, “Yes, one is the one I believe in. The other one is the experience [I] live in and [my] journey.”
In part, the She Is poem shows the great journey Benson and her family have made to reach a place of safety since her treacherous childhood.
To women in her mother’s position, Benson says that it may not be easy, but things will get better. “There's light at the end of that dark tunnel that you're in, you will come out a happier, more peaceful, loving person.”
