…your show [“Braxton Family Values”] has chosen to show the absolute worst side of a strong, independent and successful African American family; a show that I created to showcase a strong Black Family as a beacon of hope for all the young black girls and boys out there; instead you coached and cajoled us into finding the worst in each other.”
She referenced the network to “cruel white slave masters who once chained our forefathers, and the oppressive police forces that now terrorize our communities,” she added, “I hope those ratings were worth it because you succeeded in destroying a great black family.”
Meanwhile, she said that “the final stake into the heart of my family” was “the day you dug up a secret I’d never shared with anyone, a secret I was so ashamed to talk about that I hid it even from my own mom: the fact that I had been assaulted and raped repeatedly from age 6 to age 16, sometimes multiple times a day.” Braxton said that producers had “exposed it on your show in front of my entire family and 100 crew members.” She added, “You broke me that day and I considered ending my own life then for the shame I felt!”
She ended the email, “I have news for you! Today, I take my power back. I will no longer tolerate being oppressed. I am asking you to break the chains NOW and LET ME GO I am suffocating! I CAN’T BREATHE!!”
“I lost my family, I lost my dreams,” Braxton, says in one scene. “It’s time to give myself a shot.”