Me Too Movement founder Tarana Burke took another step toward reclaiming the movement’s narrative yesterday (January 28) with the release of a series of public service announcements at the Sundance Film Festival. She discussed on these Survivor Stories on Twitter:
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Friends,
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rnttWe have an exciting announcement!@MeTooMVMT has always centered the survivor’s journey. It’s how we begin the hard work of transforming a culture where sexual violence is permissible into one where bodily autonomy is universal. We must shift the narrative.rnt— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) January 28, 2019
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Today, I’m excited to launch our Survivor Stories on a number of digital platforms, a suite of powerful videos produced with @DeutschInc that feature the journeys of individual survivors. See the announcement on Refinery29 here: https://t.co/5Y63RvsUEy
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When you hear #metoo often people envision a powerful perpetrator ducking accountability. Instead, we should imagine a survivor on their path to healing and what we all must do to clear the way. If we are more invested in following scandals, we will never truly SEE survivors.
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We asked survivors to talk about their own journeys to healing. And they generously agreed. We’ve taken care to limit graphic depictions. We don’t produce trauma for consumption. We’re proud of the work, but please don’t feel obligated to watch (or watch alone) if it’s too much
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rnt"What has become painfully clear is that the world doesn’t really understand the life cycle of a survivor," Burke told the Los Angeles Times. "The PSA [series] is a great way to help people get rid of any preconceived notions and understand what survivors are actually feeling and thinking."
In the series, four survivors of sexual violence—Emily Waters, Daniela Contreras, Terry Crews and an anonymous speaker—narrate their stories of healing from their trauma. Burke told the Times that she chose the storytellers to represent the breadth of survivorship across genders, races, ages and power dynamics.
Visit Me Too Movement’s YouTube page to watch the PSAs.
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