A group of women want to welcome together the ladies of Greater Rochester to celebrate each other’s triumphs and allow everyone to declare—I'm still standing.
Tamesha Beckford says she was driving home from work when the song by Elton John came on the radio.
At that moment, she flashed back to moments of her life where she struggled through being a child abuse survivor, a domestic abuse survivor, and living as a single mom.
“I know a lot of women feel like, including myself, that there was a time where I felt like, nah, nobody wants to hear my story," Beckford shared with WXXI's Mikhaela Singleton.
"Like I kept saying, ‘Oh man, you know this is really hard. This is really tough.’ However, I never really took time saying, ‘You know what? I overcame that. Yeah, that was hard, but I'm victorious over that now.’"
That’s why she decided to start the "I’m Still Standing" movement to encourage women to celebrate each other’s triumphs. Working together with her friends and former coworkers from a nonprofit, they planned an inaugural event where attendees can share their stories, network, and take a photo in matching I’m Still Standing T-shirts—cementing proof of what can be accomplished when women stand together.
Cassandra Ramos says as soon as Beckford shared her aspirations, she felt it click in her soul that this most resonated with her dedication to community outreach.
"When things—traumatic things—happen to us, it's really out of fear and shame we shut down and we stop telling our stories and we feel alone. I'm the only person in the world if this has happened to. I'm really miserable. My life's a wreck. I don't know where to turn for help, and it doesn't really matter because there's nobody that could really help me because nobody understands," Ramos said.
"We want to celebrate, and we also want to let our sisters know that they're not alone, and they never will be as long as we're here."
The “I’m Still Standing” event will be held Thursday, August 20 at 6 p.m. at MLK Park. The location has changed since the time of reporting when the location was initially planned at The Village Gate.
