1. Johnnetta McSwain,authorand life developmentcoach,speaks to students at KubasakiHigh Schoolon October26about
overcoming childhood sexualabuse and neglectto furtherhereducation.(DoDEA Photo byKylie Rupe,KubasakiHigh
SchoolJunior)
Will triumphs over all
OKINAWA, Japan — Students at Kubasaki High Schoollistened to a harrowing story of childhood abuse and
one woman’s miraculous ability to overcome repeated trauma during her visit to the schoolon October 26.
Life development coach Johnnetta McSwain delivered a speech that deeply moved students in the audience.
Two of those students, Taylor Welch and Jessica Meno, wrote an article describing their experience. DoDEA
Okinawa District is pleased to share their work, titled “Will Triumphs Over All.”
by:TaylorWelch and Jessica Meno
Kubasaki High School
published:November05, 2012
Getting an education is something students often take for granted, but nearly 700 Kubasaki
High School students may be singing a new tune after a heartfelt, gut-wrenching testimonial
by life development coach Johnnetta McSwain, a survivor of childhood abuse and neglect,
on October 26 in the Kubasaki auditorium.

2. “You think you’re being cute? I’ll tell you what’s cute! Getting an education is cute!” said
McSwain, describing the importance of an education in breaking the cycle of abuse. Her
shocking personal experiences and amazing victory over her circumstances both horrified
and amazed the audience.
Many students who attended the event were personally and emotionally affected by
McSwain’s powerful testimony.
Lianna Bourdony, a sophomore at Kubasaki, said, “Even though you have everything she
didn’t have, you still get inspired and can relate in some way.”
“It definitely touched me. I was emotional,” said junior Estuardo Caceres.
In a room filled with attentive students, faculty, and staff, several people in the audience
appeared to be personally affected by McSwain’s testimony.
Throughout the room, comments like “that’s unbelievable” and “somebody should do
something about this” rippled through the crowd.
McSwain was raised in a family where emotional and physical abuse and neglect were the
norm for generations. She talked about being tied to a chair, being sexually abused over and
over again by her mother’s boyfriends and her uncles, and how her older sister Sonya, now
in a hospital recovering from years of addiction and depression, would beg them to take her
instead.
“I’m going to protect you from those monsters,” Sonya said night after night, as they clung
to each other in the bed that they shared, waiting for the dreaded doorknob to turn.
The last time McSwain saw her sister, Sonya was in a straightjacket. McSwain swore to
Sonya that she would “be her voice” and would tell the world their story.
McSwain is now the Founder and CEO of Breaking the Cycle, Beating the Odds, an

3. organization that counsels women into leaving the self-destructive cycle of abuse and
neglect behind.
Looking at the classy and professional McSwain makes it hard to imagine that she spent
years of her life covered in bruises and scars, neglected and unloved. Her confidence and
sass on the stage masked the years she spent being silent about her horrific childhood. Her
body language and powerful voice almost hid the scars on her arms.
Kubasaki students first met McSwain last year when she was invited to speak to students by
Lisa Levin, an adolescent substance abuse counselor at the time. McSwain spoke to students
via Skype in a speech that culminated the school’s Red Ribbon Week, a week in which
students promoted the importance of living a drug-free lifestyle.
Former KBHS teacher Victoria Holland took the core of McSwain’s message of getting an
education, helping others, and staying drug-free, to her own classroom.
“My students were doing a unit on why we should reach out to others,” Holland said. “It was
a good opportunity to write letters and respond to how she reached out to them…I really
admire her courage, her strength, and her sincerity.”
Towards the end of her personal appearance before Kubasaki students this year, the
previously upbeat and dynamic McSwain became emotional, practically in tears. This was
the moment she’d been waiting for all afternoon. Columbus Wilson, a graduate of Kubasaki
who wrote McSwain last year in class, mounted the stage to receive a personalized copy of
her book, “Rising Above the Scars,” and a tearful hug. Many students in the crowd were
touched beyond words. As Wilson exited the stage, book in hand, they applauded
wordlessly, many with tears streaming down their faces.
Hearing about McSwain dropping out of high school and working minimum wage jobs in
restaurants and diners astounded the audience when she said that she is only one year away
from her PhD, further cementing her focus on the value of an education.
McSwain’s motivation to pick up the pieces of her life was her two sons. She was 30 years

4. old when she made the decision to move from Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia.
“I looked at my baby boys, and I thought: is my boy going to be a [molester]? Is he going to
go to jail? Is he going to sell drugs on the street corner?” She knew that she had to break the
cycle of abuse and neglect, the cycle of a stalled or abandoned education, of jail time and
unpunished crime, for the sake of her children.
“Failure was not an option!” she stated repeatedly, often emphasizing her words with a
stomped foot and a shaking fist, many students echoing her words and applauding as she
made her point time and again. She posted the phrase everywhere in her house as a
constant reminder to never give up. Her goal was to get an education so that her boys would
be proud of their mother. “I didn’t want them to be ashamed of me.”
McSwain is a hard person to imagine having ever been abused. While she was up on stage,
she was beautiful and confident, someone who deserved love and who gave love freely. On
and off the stage, her mere presence calls for affirmative action, and motivates people across
the globe to be aware, and in control, of their own destinies, a lesson which the Kubasaki
students and staff will proudly put into practice.
Tags: Education
http://okinawa.stripes.com/education/will-triumphs-over-all