(light music)

- I wanted to make adifference for the people.

I hadn't even thought about making history

'til people brought it to my attention.

- [Narrator] In 2017,North Carolina native

Patricia Uzzell made history,

becoming the firstAfrican American elected

to her town's Board of Commissioners.

She says she wouldn't have made it there

without the support andprayers of her mom, Mamie.

- I have a love for her that I don't even,

I just love her.

I wouldn't trade her fornothing in the world.

- [Narrator] But for years,it was hate, not love,

that defined her feelings towards her mom.

Patricia grew up in the '70s, the oldest

of three sisters.

They spent more time with other family

than with their mother,who would often disappear,

sometimes for weeks at a time.

Meanwhile, Patricia was singled out

by a male relative, who emotionallyand sexually abused her.

- Being called fat,saying that I was ugly,

I was being fondled over,I was being talked down to,

I was beaten.

- [Narrator] Too afraid tospeak up, Patricia would cry

and beg her mom not to leave.

- I'm pretty sure she feltthat she was leaving us

in good hands, and my other sisters,

they was happy, but theyweren't going through

what I was going through.

- [Narrator] Though her familysometimes went to church,

Patricia rejected theidea of a loving God.

- Do you care about me?

Where is this God that would protect me,

'cause I feel so rejected?

And I was like, there has tobe somebody that loves me.

Has to be.

- [Narrator] By the time she was 12,

Patricia was able to avoidthe relative's abuse,

but it had alreadyshredded her self-esteem.

- You start beating upon yourself in your mind.

I mean, you gotta think that you're ugly

for somebody to touch you orfor somebody to mistreat you.

You feel like you donesomething to deserve this.

- [Narrator] She also blamed her mom.

- I felt that we wasjust left in the hands

of a predator.

I had so much hate, hate.

- [Narrator] But Patricia didn't realize

her mom was dealingwith demons of her own.

Mamie's father left when she was four.

- I remember that well,because it hurted me so bad.

And I said, well, if hewas here, things would've

been a lot better for me.

I used to just blame him for that.

I really did, and I hated him.

- [Narrator] Mamie was inher 30s when she found hope

and healing in Jesus Christ.

- I was just tired ofthe life I was living,

so I gave my life to the Lord.

And things began to looka whole lot better for me,

'cause I said, Lord, Idon't want my children

to go through what I've been through.

- [Narrator] Mamie startedtaking her daughters

to church regularly.

Now in her mid-teens,Patricia still couldn't accept

what she heard.

- I was told that if youwanna make it to heaven,

in order to accept JesusChrist in your heart,

you have to walk in love.

If I have to love people,

and I said, especially my mom,

I would rather go to hell and die.

- [Narrator] Even asPatricia carried that hatred

towards her mom, she wouldshare her same demons.

At 16, she was an unwed mother

who was rarely home.

At 19, she married thefather of her second baby,

who turned out to be aviolent, abusive man.

- I had 21 trips to the emergency room,

and I was in the court system 11 times.

- [Narrator] Hanging onto even the slightest hint

of being loved, shestayed for seven years,

despite her mother's pleas.

- I'd just be prayingand pouring out my heart

to the Lord and fall on my knees

and begin to cry sometimes.

Didn't even have words, you know?

- [Narrator] One night when he was away,

Patricia woke up in a panic.

It was then she heard a voice.

- Get up, get your children,and get of the house now.

I got my kids and I left.

Of course, I went to my mom's house.

- [Narrator] Shortly after,her husband came home in a rage

and ransacked the house.

Patricia felt the voiceshe had heard was God's.

- [Narrator] I believeit was You, okay, okay.

You might be real.

You may exist, because mylife was spared tonight.

- [Narrator] Patricia got a divorce,

but still harbored a lifetime of hatred.

Now living with her mom,

Patricia occasionally went to church.

One Sunday, something thepastor said got her attention.

- The preacher wastalking about how you had

to forgive in order to be forgiven

and all of that stuff.

I'm so busy trying to hate my mom

for what she's done,

but what about the things that I'd done?

I believe it was the Lord speaking to me.

He was letting me know,but you never stop to think

what maybe, what she'dgone through as a child.

And it's like, now I'm getting it.

We have to learn to forgive.

That day, I receivedJesus Christ in my heart.

- [Narrator] Having accepted God's love,

Patricia was able to let go of her hatred

and forgive her mom.

Today, she and Mamieshare an unbreakable bond.

- It's like a love forher that I cannot explain,

because if it was not for her prayers,

I would not be where I am today.

- [Narrator] The healing in their family

didn't stop there.

Mamie reconciled with her father

and cared for him during thelast two years of his life.

- God mended that between me and him.

God did that.

Nobody but Him.

- [Narrator] Today,Patricia is happily married,

and in addition to her work in government,

she and her husband pastor a church.

She strives to tell everyone

about the God who saved her from herself.

- I know the God that I hated,

the God that I didn't knowwhether or not He existed,

I know He exists, because He lives in me.

He's changed me.