When the #MeToo movement achieved mainstream visibility and global reach last year, the entire team of So to Speak wanted to be a supportive and active part of the campaign. Our goal was to provide a platform for the victims of sexual assault and harassment, something with a little more room than Twitter’s initial 140 characters to continue their stories.
We can honestly say this series …
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How might we turn a hashtag into lasting social change?
The revelations keep coming, descriptions of sexual harassment and assault both disgusting and horrifyingly familiar. Amid the ongoing maelstrom of political gaffes and natural disasters, we are witnessing a wave of women coming forward to share stories of sexual assault and harassment. An endless row of survivors, lining up like lemmings to reveal private ordeals.
And yet …
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I still remember my lessons.
I don’t have enough earthquake
to break apart these
fault lies,
shake off the charm school quiet.
The first time I told my parents I wanted to kill myself
I was five.
I got slapped,
sent back to bed,
told never to say that again—
I never
said it
again.
I asked my mom why it was okay for dad to hit me,
she said
he was right
because what
I said
upset him.
In third grade, when a …
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Oh father how you crowd so close
in this cold barn. How you sweat at fences
and your breaking ice for horses.
The driver’s gaze waits in anticipation for it. We look away. We speak for the one who has no voice.
The hula dancer bobbles on the dash of a four-wheel-drive Ford truck. The dancer’s arms stretch open above her head, seeming to lounge, but she is stiff, and if the wind could blow, we would all see what only her lei and thin grass skirt are …
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