Blackflash

Thirty years of repressed memories and a family separated now reunited. An amazing story of a world of perversion and violence to a life of resilience and restoration.

I want and need to tell my story. I’m compelled and driven from within beyond reason to tell. This story screams from the inside to be told. I want you to know what I have seen, thought and felt from being an abused and abandoned child. I am a child who has been sexually, mentally and physically violated by the very adults I thought I could trust; my birth mother, stepfather and chief of police. I am the daughter of seven different parents. I am angrier about what they have done to others than for myself. Taking a human life is just plain wrong. The manner in which it was done is heinous and sick. I want justice. I want to be able to right a wrong, to know who died and why. More importantly I want the world to know what the Ku Klux Klan did not only to African American’s but also to Caucasian children by subjecting them to witnessing their crimes of violence. This is not an easy thing to tell, write or read about. I make no apologies for the things I’ve seen, heard and felt as a result of involuntary involvement. I am compelled to tell you what I remember, feel and believe I experienced as a child. For the first time in my life since I first witnessed the atrocities of murder and abuse I have found my voice.

stella funk Butler I was born in Shreveport, LA, had a traumatic childhood living through historic events of the Ku Klux Klan. A normal and stable life began at age eight in Spokane, WA. I have spent nearly my entire married life in and around Portland, OR. In the mid 80’s I began journaling. By 2003 I self published my first book documenting through prose my recall of my journey through those early childhood days before adoption. My passion for people have led me from the Portland streets working with homeless youth, in prisons, and to other countries as Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Czech Republic and I seem to have left my heart in Kenya. I helped build buildings in other countries to speaking about ending violence. I have coordinated fundraisers and events, facilitated workshops for domestic violence shelters, proms for homeless teens, job seeking and transfers of street skills to viable employment. I stay active in my community as a leader as a volunteer, play handbells and love to sing. I took up watercolor in 2000 and I find music and arts are great mediums for healing through the Holy Spirit. Currently I am a special educational assistant substituting in various school districts.