Tarana Burke, Founder of “Me Too,” Is Working on a Memoir

Despite the Me Too movement having its origins around over ten years ago, the modern incarnation of it has propelled many women into the spotlight and telling their stories. Tarana Burke, who started the original Me Too movement in 2006, will be coming out with her own memoir in 2019.

Simon & Schuster imprint 37 Ink told the AP that Burke’s book is entitled Where the Light Enters and is slated for publication in early 2019. They described the book as a recounting of Burke’s “ordinary, extraordinary journey from victim to survivor to thriver.”

Burke, who is co-writing the book with Asha Bandele, said in a statement that the book’s project is to “help readers understand the often overlooked historical connections of the role sexual violence plays in communities of color, specifically black communities, even today, while exploring ways the same communities have been both complicit and resilient.”

I am completely excited to see what Burke writes about. From the beginning, her journey has been about creating a sense of community for all victims to feel safe about telling their stories and destigmatize rape survivors.

What is also important is that we need a book about this from someone who is not a celebrity. A lot of the pushback that surrounds Me Too—at least in its most publicized form—is that it does not focus enough on the average woman. Before people on Twitter brought it to everyone’s attention, people thought Alyssa Milano, the glamorous television actress, created Me Too, ignoring the black civil rights activist originally behind it.

When it comes down to it, Me Too is bigger than any one person, but it matters, as a great musical once said, “who lives/who dies/who tells your story.”

For Me Too to continue as strong as it has been, it must include all voices, not just the ones it’s comfortable hearing.

(via Jezebel, image: Screengrab/Youtube)

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