HARI SREENIVASAN: But first: In recent weeks, millions of people have taken to social media
to share their personal stories of sexual assault and harassment, using the hashtag
#MeToo.
The woman behind the original MeToo campaign wants to make sure marginalized voices aren't
lost in the current conversation.
Tarana Burke created Just Be Inc. more than a decade ago.
It's a nonprofit focused on giving resources and support to young women of color grappling
with sexual trauma and harassment.
Tarana Burke, welcome.
TARANA BURKE, Founder of MeToo Movement: Thank you.
HARI SREENIVASAN: First, why did you start this 10 years ago?
What was behind it?
TARANA BURKE: Well, I'm a survivor of sexual violence, and I was working with young women
who were disclosing their experience with sexual violence.
And my friend and I started an organization called Just Be Inc. to work with young girls,
and we realized we needed to shift and start dealing with the issue of sexual violence
in the community we were in.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Was there a particular case that spoke to you?
TARANA BURKE: Well, there were several cases.
But, you know, some years before we started this work, there was a young woman who had
come to me with her story at a time in my life when I really wasn't equipped to handle
it.
And I felt a real debt to her and wanting to do some work that would cover the work
that I didn't do at that time.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And that you didn't say me too to her at that time.
TARANA BURKE: I didn't.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And so this is an offshoot of that.
So, when you see this conversation, when you saw this conversation go national, go viral
in this way, what came to mind?
TARANA BURKE: Well, at first, I wondered how our work would be uplifted in that moment,
right?
And I realized that I needed to insert myself in the conversation for a few reasons, one,
to make sure that the marginalized voices I represent weren't erased, but also to provide
people some context for the use of MeToo.
We have a theory called empowerment through empathy, which is the basis of how we do the
work.
And I felt like it was necessary to ground the conversation in a body of work.
HARI SREENIVASAN: You have said before that sexual violence doesn't see race or class,
but the response to it does.
Tell me what that means.
TARANA BURKE: That means that when we see things like Harvey Weinstein having dozens
and dozens of accusers, and the only person he responds to is Lupita Nyong'o and -- the
black women, that means something.
It also means that, when you have all of these powerful, rich, wealthy men who are white
and attacking or are victimizing white women, it gets all of this attention, but you have
somebody like R. Kelly, who has been a known sexual predator for two decades, but his victims
are all black girls.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Why do you think that disparity exists?
TARANA BURKE: Well, I think it's rooted in the oppression that we,that people of color
face in this country.
I also think it's rooted in the way we're socialized to think about black girls and
women of color, right?
We're socialized to not believe black women.
We're socialized to believe that we are fast and sexually promiscuous and things of that
nature.
And so, when people look at R. Kelly's victims, they don't see girls, little children.
They see women.
HARI SREENIVASAN: So, what comes next in this conversation?
How do you take it from a hashtag to the real work that has to be done?
TARANA BURKE: Well, that's one of the reasons why I inserted myself, right, because the
work was already being done, and we want to expand on that.
I think what we have seen over the last month is mass disclosure across social media.
And as much as that is empowering, it is also problematic in some ways.
People don't have a way to process.
People don't have a way to think about what happens after they disclose their experience
with sexual violence.
And so one of the things we want to do is really support survivors.
We want to find ways to give resources to people in communities that don't have resources.
And we also want to activate folks who are ready to do the work of ending sexual violence.
HARI SREENIVASAN: But you have also said that you want to look at the structural kind of
inequities, deficiencies, not just the edge cases.
Let's not just focus on Harvey Weinstein, but the forces at work behind it.
TARANA BURKE: Right.
I think that it's a mistake for us to keep creating boogeymen.
Every day, literally, there's a new better than person that comes out, and everybody
has shock and awe: Oh, my God.
I can't believe so-and-so did this.
And the reality is that those people operate within systems that allow them to flourish.
When we look at patriarchy, when we look at capitalism, these are systems in place that
allow men like Harvey Weinstein, or Bill Cosby, and even R. Kelly to exist, because people
are more invested in those systems than they are in human dignity.
HARI SREENIVASAN: But what is necessary, especially by men?
TARANA BURKE: You know, men keep asking that question.
(LAUGHTER)
TARANA BURKE: I think men need to be proactive.
I think that they don't need to wait for women to lead the way, because this is really -- the
thing that troubles me is, oftentimes, men say, well, I want to be better because I have
a daughter, because I have a wife.
And, really, it should be, I want to be better because I'm a human being and I recognize
that women are human beings, and I should be honoring their dignity and their humanity,
and not just because I'm connected, have a familial connection.
So, men need to be proactive.
They need to do research.
There are tons of organizations who help men understand patriarchy and privilege, and they
need to start dismantling those things.
HARI SREENIVASAN: You know, speaking of inserting yourself in the conversation, there's a piece
of legislation on Capitol Hill right now that has the title -- MeToo in the title.
But this isn't something that you're behind?
TARANA BURKE: No, I'm not behind it.
And I don't -- I don't know what to make of it.
So there was a MeTooCongress hashtag that came about, and I thought it was powerful
that people in Congress were stepping forward and talking about the sexual harassment that
they face in Congress.
But the way this bill is being framed, I think people are thinking that this is something
for survivors of sexual violence across the board, when it's not.
Just using the name MeToo feels like it's trading on the popularity of the moment, which
is fine, because everybody's doing that.
But I think they need to be more clear that this is not a bill that's going to support
survivors of sexual violence.
It's very specific to the people who work on Capitol Hill.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Do you think all of this attention is an actual tipping point, or are
we going to get caught up in the next movement, the trends?
TARANA BURKE: It's definitely a viral moment, and I think that we should acknowledge that,
and that's fine.
I think that people are really caught up in what's going to happen and, you know, is this
going to be a viral moment?
What is going to happen is what we allow to happen.
And so the work already existed.
The work will continue.
And I feel like this is a tipping point.
This is a place where this is a cultural shift.
And I'm going to do the best I can to take advantage of that and continue this work far
beyond the hashtag.
HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, Tarana Burke of Just Be Inc., the creator of the MeToo
movement, thank so much.
TARANA BURKE: Thank you.