Last night, my dad was watching Democracy Now, and it caught my attention. They covered the sexual assault charges on Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump, as well as the blow-up of an amazing movement – ‘Me Too’.
Although Alyssa Milano started the viral uproar, during the weekend, it was Tarana Burke who started the movement, back in 2007. Burke is the Senior Director of Programs of Girls for Gender Equity (GGE). She has been working with the youth for about 25 years and herself a survivor of sexual assault.
(Courtesy of Facebook)
In JustBeInc, she goes more into the reason why she started the movement. She talks about being a youth counselor and having a young girl come to her for help, but her feeling unable to and sending her to somebody else, basically. She then says, “I watched her walk away from me as she tried to recapture her secrets and tuck them back into their hiding place. I watched her put her mask back on and go back into the world like she was all alone, and I couldn’t even bring myself to whisper … me too”.
In the Democracy Now interview, she continues to talk about ‘Me Too,’ saying that it “was about reaching the places that other people wouldn’t go, bringing messages and words and encouragement to survivors of sexual violence where other people wouldn’t be talking about it”; “empowerment through empathy.”
In essence, the movement serves the purpose to both encourage and help the healing process and just talk about it. Survivors, both celebrities, and non-celebrities took to Twitter and Facebook to write ‘#MeToo’ and share their stories, reaching out to each other, showing the magnitude of the problem. As did I; I was sexually assaulted, earlier this summer. That is why I plan on following and keeping up with the movement, and I encourage anyone else at UIC, too, as well. The site for the movement is reconstructing, but you can enter your email for a subscription and keep up, or follow Tarana Burke on Twitter or Facebook. I’m also available to talk if anyone would like to: dcontr8@uic.edu [I check this, religiously, so you will get an answer!]
To all and any survivor out there, whether you read this or not: I believe you. You are beautiful. You are strong. And you are not alone. Much love!
(Courtesy of Pinterest)