a black woman created the “me too” campaign years ago to support sexual assault survivors

Over the weekend, Tarana Burke’s “Me Too” awareness movement, used to demonstrate the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual abuse faced by women, went viral across social media. Like so many great things on the netz, #MeToo, which began picking up steam over the weekend after actress/activist Alyssa Milano encouraged other survivors to respond to her post about sexual assault using the #MeToo hashtag, was created by a black woman. In a statement to Ebony, Burke said that the grassroots movement was created to help sexual assault survivors located in underprivileged communities where crisis centers have failed and social justice workers weren’t going to.

“It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow,” Burke told Ebony in a statement on Monday. “It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible.”

“What’s happening now is powerful and I salute it and the women who have disclosed but the power of using ‘me too’ has always been in the fact that it can be a conversation starter or the whole conversation – but it was us talking to us,” she continued.

Shout out to my girl @taranaburke who has been advocating for assault victims & saying #MeToo for years. https://t.co/myOqjWJKx2 pic.twitter.com/0c4grmUOju

— Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) October 16, 2017