Sacred Divas

Words by Peter Asebiomo
Images by Akintola Hanif

At age 12, Nyeesha Williams was sexually assaulted twice on the same day. The crimes were separate, each involving a different relative from her stepfather’s family on a visit to South Carolina.

“I was traumatized, I couldn’t even admit to myself what had happened,” Williams remembers.

Her denial persisted until she was 17. During a stop at the supermarket, she grew convinced that one of her attackers was in a nearby aisle. Although she couldn’t see him, she could smell his scent hovering nearby.

“I panicked—ran to the car and broke down.” she says.

The experience awakened memories that were dormant for five years. After Williams came to terms with her assault, she was determined to never again be a victim but an agent of change. Now 30 years old and a resident of California, Williams has spent a significant portion of her adulthood trying to help girls become stronger and find their voice.

In 2007, she created Sacrit Devas Incorporated, a non-profit organization that empowers girls ages 11 to 19 through the performing arts—a medium she herself used as an escape from the hardship she faced growing up. “Sacrit” is Williams’ alternate spelling of “sacred.’’ A “deva” is a Hindu term for “deity.’’

"When I was sexually assaulted, I had no way of explaining how I felt, what happened, the pain I endured or even the betrayal,'' she explains. "I was alone and had no idea who to run to. My power was gone and so was my confidence. Performing arts allowed me to express myself through sound, movement. I felt free and not judged. I could sing someone else's words and weep so someone knew I was aching. I could dance to a rhythm that portrayed me escaping and attempting to gain my strength. As an artist thats what we all do. Our power is in our skills, whether its singing, dancing, drawing, or writing."

As a young child, William took dance classes with teacher Marie Wildey and later danced competitively with Maria Priadka’s group in South Orange. Eventually she went to Arts High School in Newark to study dance.

But even before she was sexually assaulted, life was hard for Williams. The daughter of a drug-addicted teen mom, she grew up in Newark with eight siblings. At 17, she gave birth to the first of two daughters.

Speaking out about her sexual assault at age 19, in Irvington High School’s Bridge program and other venues, motivated her to pursue her education and find ways to help others. At 23 she graduated from Phoenix University with a major in Organizational Psychology and at 24 she began the process of starting Sacrit Devas.

“This was just something I felt needed to be done in the community.” Williams comments. "I just wanted young women to have someone there for them in a way I never did.''

Sacrit Devas offers lessons in singing, dancing, photography, arts and crafts, and drama. There are nine chapters across the country and beyond. The program is located in New Jersey, New York, Delaware, California, Atlanta, and even Kampala, Uganda—the last of which Williams is especially proud.

Although dancing was William’s first love, she has not performed or danced competitively since she was 16—prior to her pregnancy with her first daughter Zaniyah, now 13. But she’s happy to help Devas discover the joy of dance and the power of their own potential.

Her passion has now become her family and her extended family at Sacrit Devas . Zaniyah has been a member of the group since age 11 and Williams’ youngest daughter Melody, age four, will most likely join when she is old enough.

“My favorite thing about Sacrit Devas is trust,’’ says Williams. “There’s a trust these girls have in me and I in them. In many ways I am the little girl I’m trying to save.”