A year ago today I thought my world was falling apart. I woke up to find out that the hashtag #metoo had gone viral and I didn't see any of the work I laid out over the previous decade attached to it. I thought for sure I would be erased from a thing I worked so hard to build. +
I remember calling my friends frantic and trying to figure out what to do. I didn't know whether to go online and say - THIS ALREADY EXISTS! Or to just let it go, but then I realized letting it go wasn't an option in this moment.
Enter - the Sisters. Black women who knew my work and supported me over the years raised up in arms - namely @bevysmith @BritniDWrites @Luvvie @KWestSavali @MyBrownBaby @fiyawata @afrobella and many more! They activated a network and the support came from everywhere.
I didn't know that @Alyssa_Milano sent out the first tweet until the following day. And that is when she found out about @MeTooMVMT and reached out to me. She tweeted an apology and posted our website and asked how she could amplify our work. +
The most interesting thing happened over the next 24 hours. I posted a video of me giving a speech about #metoo from 2014 and that went viral. And then people began to get confused - had "white hollywood" tried to steal this from a Black woman?!?
The short answer, No. But I was definitely in danger of being erased if YOU ALL Black women and our allies and friends, didn't speak up. But something else happened too. I watched for hours that first day as more and more stories poured out across social media from survivors. +
One story in particular hit me hard. It was a woman's story or being assaulted on her college campus and it resonated so deeply with me. I was on the one hand fielding calls from my girls like "whatchu wanna do??" they were ready for a fight to make sure I wasn't erased. +
On the other hand - I was watching thousands of survivors pour their hearts out across social media with no container to process, no support and no one really helping to walk them through disclosure or uplift the power of community for survivors. +
My work has always centered Black and Brown women and girls. And it always will - but at the heart of it all it supports ALL survivors of sexual violence. And I committed to that work a long time ago so watching people open up with what felt like no covering online was hard. +
The whole time I was fretting about saving my work and I didn't realize that 'my work' was happening right in front of me.
I have wondered a lot this year why God chose to give me this platform and why I was trusted to shoulder this responsibility and every time I ask the question the answer shows up in a different way. I am not questioning anymore I am just grateful.
Thank you to everyone who has shown me so much love and support this year. I hope that I represent and stand for survivors of sexual violence in a way that makes you proud. Please know that our work is never ending. In fact its just beginning. +
I am so excited to show you all what we've been up to for the last year!! This week we will be rolling out some of those things to share with you. I hope you are excited too!! #MeToomvmt
