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The Rockbridge Regional Library last month hosted author and activist Laveeta Branche, a Glasgow native, for a reading of her new book on surviving domestic abuse.
Branche’s book, “Metamorphosis Interrupted: A Journey of Loving Yourself from Beauty to Battered to Beloved,” speaks of her childhood in Glasgow, her time as Miss Rockbridge as a teenager, and her survival of an abusive marriage.
“No matter where I go or how far or how long, there’s still no place like home,” Branche told those gathered for her reading.
“There are so many fond memories, and I am so honored that I had the opportunity to represent Rockbridge County in the Miss Virginia Pageant,” she said. “It was the things I learned here that made me the woman that I am.”
Through her book, Branche works to raise awareness about domestic violence, choosing to share her own experiences after years of keeping quiet.
“There was a part of my journey that was painful, and it was embarrassing, so I didn’t talk about it. I kept it to myself. I thought if I didn’t talk about it, it didn’t happen, and I wouldn’t want anybody to know that it happened,” she said.
“But now I know that that part of my journey is what I am supposed to share to help somebody else. I am a survivor of domestic violence. I’m a survivor.”
Project Horizon, a local non-profit that works with survivors of domestic and sexual violence, had a booth at the event.
“We find that events like these tend to spark very productive conversation, especially as they allow folks an accessible outlet to ask questions that they might not normally bring,” Mikhala Stafford, director of community outreach, told The News-Gazette.
In the past year, Project Horizon has provided services for 541 domestic violence survivors and 262 sexual violence survivors in Rockbridge, and served many more through its shelter.
Debi Radcliff, adult services manager for the library, also said that she hoped Branche’s story would help others.
“I was grateful to have Laveeta here to share her experiences in hopes that others who might be at risk could get some good information and learn about resources from someone who had survived the ordeal of domestic abuse,” she said.
“The room was full and Laveeta’s daughter and granddaughter drove up from Richmond for the day, and I must say it was reassuring to talk to them and to feel that all is good in Laveeta’s life now.”
Branche currently lives in Atlanta, Ga., where she spent seven years working for a U.S. congressman. Leaving that job to turn attention to her book and her advocacy work was a difficult decision, but she believes the risk paid off.
“In order to grow we have to step out,” she said. “There a story in a book that I like a whole lot, about a man who had to step out of the boat, and exercise his faith, and that’s what I had to do. And, as I mentioned earlier, I have been blessed to have an organization called Absolutely Amazing You.”
Absolutely Amazing You is an organization Branche founded in 2021, which “endeavors to serve women, help embolden them to be the very best they can be, while empowering them to craft the lives they truly want,” according to its mission statement.
Based in Georgia, the organization sets up inspirational and religious events and retreats for women.
Through this organization and her book, Branche has gained a public platform to spread her message, inspiring others to know their worth.
“I’ve been blessed to have interviews and book signings, and God has done exceeding abundantly about all that I thought. But before that I had to recognize my worth and believe that there was bigger and better out there for me,” she said.
She encouraged her audience to do the same.
“I’m on a mission to save some people, to help people to know their worth. And today not only do I have a mission, you have a mission,” she said.
“To take you from an admirer to an ambassador, I’m deputizing you right now to carry the message to others, and help them to know their worth.”
Branche’s book is available for purchase on absolutleyamazingyou.com.
Information on Project Horizon and its services can be found at projecthorizon.org.
