The Movement Of The Future

Tarana Burke, Creator Of The ‘me Too’ Movement, Sings A Black Girl’s Song, Serves Up Marching Orders, And Wraps Black Women In Light, Love And Joy.

- Denene Millner

OF ALL THINGS, JOY... This is what Tarana Burke—the Bronx-born activist and architect of the ‘Me Too’ movement—wants for us: the daughters and mothers and aunties and friends who suffer sexual violence. Back in 2006 she dedicated her life to helping sexual assault survivors in marginalized communities get the services, support and encouragement they need to move past sexual trauma and heal. The chords she struck were wrapped in a simple but radical concept: Instead of seeking punishment of the perpetrator and retribution, focusing on commiseration with and empathy for the victim are two of the most powerful tools to help survivors of rape, incest, sexual assault and sexual harassment pull themselves out of the darkness and look toward the sun. What survivors need most, Burke insisted, is to know that they are inherently good and that they deserve to be happy. That joy comes in the mourning—and in the morning.

For the longest time, few danced to Burke’s tune. The advocacy organization she cofounded, Just Be, Inc., through which she launched the ‘Me Too’ mantra, was playing mostly to a crowd that was already intimately involved in assisting survivors. She recalls having to practically beg to be part of programs that would help her reach the women and girls who weren’t part of the choir—specifically poor Black women and girls.

In Burke’s Harlem apartment rests a box of letters she personally penned in 2007 to celebrity sexual abuse survivors—Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Gabrielle Union, Fantasia, Missy Elliott—requesting their help to engage with young girls who look up to them and need to hear how the stars ultimately triumphed over the devastation of their assaults. Support was scarce—critical funding needed to underwrite her work was nearly nonexistent. Burke kept singing that Black girl’s song, even though it seemed no one was listening.