Women wish for other women to live the best lives possible, yet women do not always share their personal stories of womanhood. In fact, one of the greatest strengths of womanhood may reside in a woman’s ability to protect young women from the pains of being a woman. In this calculated abyss of silence–a marked testament of resilience and strength–women remove an essential component of a young woman’s grooming by preserving secrets. Assuming that other women don’t understand is a faulty judgment that keeps women separated from one another, and from self, simply because women choose not to voice misfortunes. In assuming that too much sharing is harmful, ladies do not share in ways that will help the community overall.

Too often, women pass one another as if living different lives in different spaces. However, wisdom teaches that women largely live the same lives in different bodies. Women live through insecurity, depression, and being overlooked and misunderstood. Whether women share identical experiences or not, the goal of being loved, included, and supported is common among many. Sharing gender in a world that treats so many women the same means that women’s experiences align even when their social context does not. Whether rich or poor, black or white, African or Asian, ladies share a connection that transcends demographics. By appreciating this value, women will finally behold the beauty of sharing sisterhood beyond racial, generational, and geographical bounds.

With Letters to My Sisters: Pain, Poise, Pride, and God’s Promise, a group of 10 African-American women have written letters from their hearts that expose intimate life details that all women will be able to relate to in some way. As readers engage this material, the hope is that the sharing of these experiences provides a gateway for other women to do the same. No longer should women keep their herstory private. As women increasingly share with one another, they create a pattern that rewrites a tragic history of silence.