​The first big, purple elephant represents the dynamics of domestic violence which are (e.g., physical

and sexual violence, power and control, intimidation, isolation, minimization, denial, blame, male

privilege, coercion, threats, children, finances, scriptural texts, etc.,) which are used to silence the victim. 

The second big, purple elephant represents the state of African Americans as disproportionately

represented in the following categories (e.g., poverty, high school graduation rates, living-wage

employment, contact with law enforcement, single-parent families, intimate partner violence, family

violence, child abuse, parenting their children, children fighting in school, school suspensions,

school expulsion, etc.,).  African-Americans appear to have disengaged from many roles such

as marriage, parenting and gainful employment and have shifted to pleasure seeking behaviors

like substance use, need sex and violence.

The third big, purple elephant is the one-size-fits-all approach to domestic violence as encountered by African American families - victims, perpetrators and child witnesses.  This approach lessens the response to create an atmosphere of safety, hope, resilience, resources, accountability to recover from trauma and begin to move forward.  Just as there are tactics to blame and silence the victims of domestic violence (e.g., the dynamics of domestic violence), there are also tactics that blame and silence the African American's response to domestic violence (e.g., the dynamics of domestic violence), the cultural expectations (e.g., be strong, fight, keep your family together, do not show weakness or vulnerability, etc.), and co-occurring societal oppressions (e.g, racism, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, biases, incongruent niceties, inequalities, and while listening to the lion tell the giraffe's story).

The fourth big, purple elephant is the silence of African Americans.  After all that has been implemented to create a systemic response to domestic violence,  silence and the big, purple elephants remain.  Therefore, the AADPP is vitally necessary, but will not likely be accepted, in the Gainesville area to identify response differences that break the silence and remove the big, purple elephants.

Why should a funder contribute to the AADPP?

Because the one-size approach does not fit all.  Funders who support the vision wherein at least 10 different restaurant chains who in our society sell hamburgers, yet each hamburger is prepared differently, can also see that the cultural context wherein domestic violence occurs must be included in the systemic response that considers differences will support the vision of the AADPP.