Kriquette Davis to be featured in Redbook
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 26, 2007 2:05 AM
Kriquette Davis, associate director of the Family Y, has parlayed a tragedy into a means for encouraging others -- and now she is going to be featured in a national magazine.
When friend Karen Crawford died at the hands of her boyfriend in Chatham County in late Dec-ember 2005, the effects of domestic violence hit Ms. Davis hard. But she found she couldn't hide behind the grief and with other friends found ways to speak out on behalf of her friend.
They sponsored a motorcycle ride in Raleigh/Durham last year, raising $10,000 for a resource center in Durham, the Karen C. Crawford Memorial Library. A second event, Ride Without Fear, is planned for Sept. 22.
Mrs. Davis also became affiliated with the N.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence, taking classes so she could become part of its speakers' bureau and carry her message farther around the state.
Such efforts caught the attention of Redbook magazine. About a month ago, she was approached to be part of a story that will appear in the October issue.
Since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, she said she is one of three chosen to share her experience. A photographer from Redbook also flew to Goldsboro to take her picture for the magazine.
"I'm just glad that I could tell my story," she said.
Even though the court case has concluded, resulting in the boyfriend being sentenced in April to 24 years without parole, Mrs. Davis said she could never be fully satisfied with the punishment.
Nothing will make up for the loss of her friend, she said.
But that is all the more reason she is so passionate about taking up the mantle and speaking up, since, she said, Karen cannot.
Her own awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence has been heightened since it hit so close to home, she said. While the problem might have been around a long time, she noted, too often people tend to make excuses or shy away from the topic.
"It's one of those things people don't want to talk about. It's not anything people want to have a conversation about, but it's everywhere you look."
"I'm just trying to get on a mission to help somebody. To me, if one person steps forward and gets help because of what I have said, then that will be worth it for me."
The October issue of Redbook appears on newsstands mid-September.