Of Notoriety: Documentary with Indiana roots recognizes April as ‘Sexual Assault Awareness Month'

Chicago Tribune

26-03-2025

Reader Ron Blake sent an email alerting that as April approaches, the month is also recognized as 'Sexual Assault Awareness Month.'
'I'm sharing my journey for this time that is timely and impactful for April's Sexual Assault Awareness Month,' Blake explained.
'I now live in Phoenix, Arizona, but grew up most of my life in Northwest Indiana. I was a Hobart city councilman and a longtime head coach at two high schools back in the region. Much of my family and many of my friends and former colleagues still live in Lake, Porter or LaPorte counties.'
Blake explained that during the past year, a new documentary was produced about his recovery from PTSD following his near-deadly incident of sexual violence. He explained the film is being shown now in a limited release this month, and the final cut features some of his life and timeline in Northwest Indiana.
'I think this will be a powerful film that connects with many folks throughout the Region. Hopefully impacting especially the boys and men. Guys very often stay silent about experiencing sexual abuse and violence, and we struggle badly because of that silence.'
Blake said it was twin brother producers from Liberty High School in Peoria, Arizona, who approached him with the idea to visually tell his story of surviving sexual violence. The brothers, Ethan and Aidan Sinconis, were recently awarded the nation's best film for all high school students in 2024, beating out more than 2,000 other films.
This latest documentary, titled 'I Am,' officially began limited previews and screenings on March 22.
'It's really about my odyssey of overcoming the brutal rape and beating I sustained at the hands of three men in my downtown Phoenix home,' Blake said.
'As a result, I needed years of physical therapy, mental health counseling and surgery from the extensive injuries, dissociative amnesia and even a suicide attempt.'
He said the film addresses the trauma as well as 'the ongoing, uplifting nine-year cross-country journey' he's been on as a survivor to recover from post-traumatic stress disorder and to reach a symbolic goal.
'I'd like to one day tell my story and talk about the documentary as a guest on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' It was an unexpected moment of laughter from that TV comedy talk show, which fortuitously stopped me from dying by suicide at 10:44 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2015.'
Blake said that same continued heartfelt 'saving laughter' sparked what he calls an 87,000-mile 'Hero's Journey' that included advocating for trauma victims.
'This latest campaign and promotion with the documentary is also creating a massive, vibrant display of social practice artwork along the way from the contributions of 34,066 complete strangers I've engaged one by one,' he explained.
'Those individuals have shared incredible written stories of support in 94 languages with 32 Sharpie marker colors on 515 giant foam boards for all of my determined efforts.'
Blake said the producers have spent recent months submitting the documentary 'I Am' to various film festivals and it is also now released on YouTube.
'I describe this project as a film of one blue-collar man's determined, artistic, exhilarating journey to move beyond rape, extensive injuries, anti-LGBT bias, despair, hate, anger and PTSD,' Blake said.
'This is a film to inspire sexual violence victims, especially men and boys, to head out on their very own 'Hero's Journey.' '