July 31, 2025 • 34 mins
This bonus episode of The Unwanted Sorority traces the rich but often overlooked history of Black American resistance to sexual violence, beyond the headlines and hashtags. Host, Dr. Leatra Tate guides listeners through more than a century of organizing, from post-Emancipation community protection practices and the anti-lynching work of the early 1900s to the radical abolitionist frameworks of the 2000s.
We explore how Black survivors and organizers redefined safety in the face of state neglect and criminalization, building power through mutual aid, political education, and healing justice. We’ll also touch on the rise of digital movements like #MeToo and #MuteRKelly to reinforce why today’s advocacy demands more than carceral solutions.
Featuring a brief historical analysis and cultural commentary, this episode is a reminder that we’ve been building this road to liberation for generations. Let’s take this introduction as an invitation to keep moving forward.
Resources & Mentions
The Sojourner Truth We Know is a Lie
Fannie Lou Hamer- "Nobody's Free Until Everybody's Free"
Tulane University’s All In Program- Timeline of the History of Sexual Violence in the U.S.
"1866 to 2020: Black Women Have Always Led the Sexual Assault Awareness Movement"
Article on the Free Joan Little Campaign
Article & Artifact- African American Women in Defense of Ourselves
Profiles- Nkenge Touré and Loretta Ross
Kenyette Tisha Barnes and Oronike Odeleye, #MuteRKelly movement co-founders
me too. Healing Resource Library
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline – Call 800-656-HOPE (4673)
Ujima, The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, y'all, welcome to another episode of The Unwanted Sorority,
a podcast in Safe Haven where Black women, fems, and
gender expansive folks speak our truths about the experiences with
sexual violence, healing, and the sisterhood that forms when we
name what tried to break us. I'm your host, doctor
Lee Tretete, and today's bonus episode is a special one
(00:24):
for me. Today we're going to talk broadly about the
history of black movements against sexual violence in the United States.
We'll cover some movement makers and founders of the Unwanted Sorority,
and I'm also going to introduce you to some new
folks and new ways of understanding maybe some of the
social contexts that you remember hearing about over the years,
(00:45):
but maybe you didn't have all the information for so
let's get into it. While the Unwanted Sorority podcast hopes
to cultivate community and connection among Black women who may
have experienced sexual violence and or you may know others
who have, the show does not serve as a substitute
for guidance from the qualified mental health, medical, or legal clinician.
(01:08):
I strongly encourage you to find the right resources of
support for you you deserve to feel well and hope.
In our first bonus episode, we gave flowers to black
women and fems whose experience has served as kind of
a catalyst for survivor justice today. So how the stories
(01:31):
of the mothers of kynecology and the survivors of the
Memphis massacre and our recent ancestor Adrianna Smith all kind
of converged to leay this foundation for sexual violence and
reproductive justice that we understand and navigate today. So I
feel like those stories gave us something to build off
(01:52):
of and segue into the first rounds of Real Call guests.
But in this episode, I want to focus more explicitly
on the movement making of it all. And for me,
that looks like me holding your hand and walking you
through some of those most important and often overlooked shifts
(02:12):
in the way that Black communities have responded to sexual
violence over the years. So we're talking about kind of
legacy in phases. Each chapter of our history is molded
not by struggle, but by individuals and groups who refuse
to be silenced by shifts in changing political landscapes, and
(02:33):
by Black people who refuse to be silent. This episode
builds on the conversations we started in our first Bonus
episode and the testimonies we've highlighted with our first groups
of founders, But now we're gonna widen that lens a
little bit. In Bonus Episode number one, we noted how
(02:55):
resistance for black people in the United States included a
for more than just freedom. Our ancestors had to bite
to be seen as human, as people wholly worthy of protection,
especially black women. So in that episode, I detailed the
setting in eighteen sixty six when a group of black
(03:17):
women in Memphis did something revolutionary by testifying before Congress
after being raped by a white mob. Those acts of
truth telling were radical at the time, and honestly not
even just at the time. They would still be considered
radical acts even today, as we know that an estimated
(03:40):
less than five percent of rapes are reported to law
enforcement according to a research study by the National Institute
of Health in their twenty twenty report. So this collective
effort would speak to a challenge that's going to be
faced by black women for decades to come. There was
no legal protection and there was no guarantee that anyone
(04:02):
would believe them, but they spoke anyway. Activists like Sirjourner Truth,
were also part of pioneers asking the room at a
woman and if you didn't know, the truth behind that
phrase is actually reminiscent of many issues that have arisen
(04:22):
over the years between white feminists and black, indigenous and
people of color feminists. Which is that in her original speech,
which so journal Truth delivered in eighteen fifty one, it
included a transcription in which she says, I am a
woman's right, clarifying kind of that her lived experience is
(04:45):
what women's rights at the time should be fighting for.
But instead, in eighteen sixty three, almost twelve years after
she actually delivered that speech, a white abolitionist woman named
Francis Gage, would publish her own version of Sir Journer's
truth words, stating that Sojourner Truth is the one who
(05:06):
actually delivered those words, when in actuality, Francis's version was
altered to make Sojourner Truth's words sound closer to a
Southern enslaved woman's dialect. So you're probably asking yourself, how
could this white woman's invented speech be the version that
(05:28):
would continue to be taught in schools and attributed to
this black woman who on her own accord, had accomplished
a notable history in her own right. Well, if you
listen Touus episode number one, you're probably thinking racism and sexism, Leandra, duh,
because you heard me talk about it so much in
(05:50):
that episode. But this time I'm going to introduce you
to a new term, a term that was coined by
a black feminist writer, Moya Bailey in two thousand and eight.
And this term is called massage noir, and it refers
(06:12):
specifically to the combined force of anti black racism and
misogyny directed towards black women. So what this looks like
in Sojourner's case is she was a victim of massage
noir because Francis Gage took her words, which were perfectly
and clearly articulated in her speech, and framed them in
(06:35):
a dialect that Francis associated with black people at the time,
not in Sojournal's truth, actual spoken dialect. The words that
have been associated with Sojourner Truth for all of these
years aren't even hers. And it's not to say that
(06:58):
the Southern dialect of the enslaved people at the time
was any less significant or any less meaningful. That's like
certainly not the case at all. The issue is that
there was a narrative being spun on who gets to
dictate what black women at the time were supposed to
look and sound like, and that's massage and water baby.
(07:21):
Another notable figure as we're exploring this kind of early
resistance phase is that of Ida b Wells, a journalist
who during the eighteen seventies took up the anti lynching
crusade not just to save black men, but to expose
how white men use rape as a tool of terror
against black women. I'm not going to go into too
(07:44):
much detail about her because she may or may not
come up as a founder in a future episode, but
it's important to include both Sojourner Truth and Ida b
Wells as these cursory foundational figures to black women's resistance
and sexual exploitation. So it ranges from enslaved black teenager
(08:07):
Celia's self defense in eighteen fifty five, which we'll touch
on in a future episode, to is b Well's journalism
and her crusade planting these early seeds of the anti
sexual violence movement. So what these founders did was foundational.
They were saying, our bodies matter, our pain matters, and
(08:29):
we're not waiting around to be saved. We're doing it ourselves.
Fast forward to the nineteen forties and fifties. Still there
(08:55):
was no legal recourse for most Black women who were
facing sexual violence at the time, but the organizing did
get sharper so long before the bus boykov for example,
one Miss Rosa Parks was collecting testimonies for the NAACP,
where she was amplifying the voices of black survivors, primarily
(09:17):
in the South, and she wasn't going to let the
fact that there was really no precedence for the type
of justice she was fighting for for her clients, one
of whom was named Racy Taylor. She was still determined
to ensure that the impact of her pulling the NAACP
to support survivors like Racy and her family was going
(09:38):
to be felt for decades to come. And I honestly
cannot wait to share this part of Rosa Park's story
with you all in a future episode. But just no
Roses stood on business. Their work wasn't just about punishment though,
it was about dignity. So in nineteen fifty nine, one
(09:58):
Betty gene Owen, who I did talk about in a
previous episode, she actually received that outcome that many deem
is justice. For the first time in American history, those
white rapists were convicted and sentenced to life. I tell
you all about that in episode one of the pods,
(10:19):
So go back and listen if you haven't, and just
imagined the level of organizing it took for those family
students in the late fifties to get it together in
the way that they did with no Internet and no
social media. I mean, it's incredibly impressive. So these mid
century activists framed sexual violence as a civil rights issue,
(10:44):
insisting that freedom from rape was part of a full
citizenship in human dignity. The nineteen seventies brought us Joan Little,
(11:05):
a twenty two year old black woman who was incarcerated
in North Carolina who killed her white jailer when he
tried to raper she ran. She turned herself in, and
the world watched as black people organized like hell to
defend her. Her case ignited a nationwide Free Joan Little campaign,
(11:27):
which brought together this collective of black power, civil rights,
and feminist activist who were united to defend her right
to resist sexual violence. Notably, black men and women stood
together so you saw figures like Angela Davis who spoke
out about Joan Little, an even civil rights leader like
(11:47):
Reverend Ralph Abernathy of the National Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
They were all publicly supporting black women's right to defense
against rape. Joan Little then became the first woman in
the United States history to be acquitted on the grounds
of self defense against sexual violence. And during this time
(12:08):
of black feminist organizing, we also saw on Nikingay Torre
and Loretta Ross take leadership of the d C Rape
Crisis Center in Washington, d C. Making it the only
one in the nation run by and for Black women.
They insisted on an intersectional approach to their anti rape work,
(12:28):
which meant connecting sexual violence with issues like serialization, abuse,
housing and healthcare, and black communities. And their stance was
one that not only needed black liberation in feminist politics,
they understood that the struggles were intertwined. They said, we
can fight sexual violence and fight racism at the same time.
(12:53):
Imagine that the nineteen seventies saw black feminist activism coming
to its own, whether through high profile legal defenses or
community based services. It was always emphasized that racial justice
and gender justice must go hand in hand. By the
(13:18):
nineteen eighties, the movement was evolving. Black feminists were making
waves and policy and scholarships, and we solve from scholars
like Kimberle Crenshaw, for example, gave us the term intersectionality
in nineteen eighty nine. She showed us that without a
lens on both race and gender, the needs of Black
(13:40):
women survivors would be overlooked. It would kind of just
fall through the cracks. And this framework was echoed when
black women in the movement who had long argued with
that point that anti oppression work is anti violence work.
It was finally this sort of convergence of a term
for what black women had been living throughout all of
(14:02):
these different phases of the movement. And so a major
shift happened in nineteen ninety one with Anita Hill when
she testified before Congress about being sexually harassed by then
Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. The backlash was nothing but brutal,
but the response was over sixteen hundred Black women signing
(14:26):
an open letter in the New York Times that was
titled African American Women in Defense of Ourselves. It was
collective power in its prime, it was a survival strategy.
And I'll actually be diving more into the case and
what it means for the landscape of it all next week,
So I'll make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcast
(14:47):
platforms so you don't miss that new episode. But I'll
just leave you with this. Black women were instrumental at
the time and pushing forward institutional reforms. So, for example,
they supported landmark policies like the nineteen ninety four Violence
Against Women Act, and they even critiqued biases and the
(15:09):
legal system, and black womenist thinkers like Bethy Ritchie warned
that relying solely on policing and imprisonment would backfire on
communities of color, and so there were these big calls
for alternative approaches to safety, which I also talked about
in some of the previous episodes. So, in short, the
(15:29):
nineteen eighties and nineties kind of broadened the anti sexual
violence movement scope. Black women at the time led with
an intersectional vision. They took public action, and they began
formulating these new ways of critiquing the systems that were
meant to deliver justice. So they were pushing their way
(15:51):
into national conversations and again, it wasn't just about rape
and sexual violence, but it was about justice and what
justice Wrold balistically looked like for them. In the new millennium,
Black American antisexual violence activism continued to evolve, and it
(16:14):
often was at the forefront of spearheading major cultural shifts.
One very notable development was the formal designation of April
a sexual sult Awareness Month in two thousand and one,
and this recognition actually stemmed from decades of April being
the month in which these anti violence demonstrations, led primarily
(16:37):
by Black women, were being activated. And so when the
hashtag need to exploded in twenty seventeen, most people didn't
know it started in two thousand and six with Rona Burke.
I go into the history behind that collective learning in
the last episode, So go back and listen to episode
(16:59):
four if you haven't yet. Today, movements like the hashtag
r Kelly movement, movements that are calling for more community
based healing circles and transformative justice work show us what
modern activism looks like today. There's a very noticeable advocacy
shift that is influenced by the black feminist thought or
(17:23):
the black feminist leaders that I mentioned from the eighties
and nineties where they're going from purely legalistic our carcero
responses towards more holistic and community based strategies. So black
women have long critique carcerral feminism, arguing that police and
(17:46):
prisons often fail to protect black survivors and in fact
may even harm them. More So, advocates today aren't just
asking for punishment. They're looking for healing, for prevention, and
formmunity based accountability that doesn't necessarily rely on those systems
that have already failed us in the past. And let
(18:09):
me say this very clearly, believing black fems, believing black women,
believing Black girls, and believing black gender. Expanse of folks
is not optional. Protecting black girls is not up for debate,
and ensuring that this support includes our transistors and siblings
is not a one month per year act. We have
(18:32):
to do this work together, and we have to call
it out when folks try to make it exclusionary and
unresponsive to our community's needs. So shout out to the
group chats and the cousins who check on people when
they start acting funny and making funky comments to make
it sound like we're only centering cis gender survivors in
this work. And I want to shout out a quote
(18:55):
by Fanny lou Hammer who says, nobody's free until everybody's free,
and we mean that in this work. It's so true
and it's so critical to the continued progress of this movement.
(19:19):
So going from our ancestors enslavement in this country to
the social media feeds of today, black women have really
and truly always resisted, always organized, and reimagined what safety
could look like. That legacy lives in all of us.
And as we continued to build the Unwanted Sorority, may
(19:40):
we never forget the work, the wisdom, and the warriors
who came before us. And as we wrap up, I
am thrilled to introduce a brand new segment of the
show to you this week called grad Chapter Corner, where
I get to catch up with a former role call
guest after the episode airs and see what's new with
(20:01):
them since we recorded the episode to now. So let's
get into it. How are you feeling coming into it?
It has been a while, it's been literally two years.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
That's great. I feel better.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Like the first time I was kind of like, you
don't know what emotions are going to be evoked when
you start, you know, speaking or bringing something up.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
So yeah, so this time you feel more at ease,
I guess, or what you know what to expect?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, yeah, well not even so much know what to
expect because you still have that you know what, I mean,
that suspense there, but it's better knowing like how the
flow of everything.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah, so I mean, I guess I'll just jump right
into it. So looking back, it's been two years, what
has changed for you after taking that step out of
gonna call it a first step, but it's technically maybe
like your second or third or fourth even step like
towards healing. But what has changed for you over these
(21:10):
two years in terms of what your healing journey has
looked like?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
In telling your story, I think for me, like initially
I did say that I took the first step of
going to a therapist before.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And I pretty much continued.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
And then on top of that, I think there was,
you know, all these mixed emotions about actually being in
a healthy relationship, what that looks like for me and
how I could be a better partner because you know,
I've always spoke a little bit about things that may
have triggered me, but I never really got into detail.
(21:52):
So since then, it warned me to be able to
talk to, you know, my partner about you know, when
when I feel a type of way about some things
or whennot just express it, and then my fear of
you know, overall.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Feeling like I, you know, haven't been the best partner.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
And I believe I was talking about with my son
and I still haven't told him the reason why I
was the way I was with him, but I don't
at this moment feel like I really needed to go
into detail because our relationship has improved and he has
opened up more to me and just was like, you know,
you just always seem like.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
I knew you was there for me, but it was
at moments, you know, being closed off. But now like
I'm more welcome being and you know, I think I'm
able to find the words now to express myself because
you know, going through what I went through, part of
it was trying to always hide and you know, be
(22:54):
closed off. You know, so.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
That has helped me speaking about it because you know,
initially speak about.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
In my teal, somebody might not.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I think I pretty much told my story to a
group of girls before and then the therapist and then
when we had our conversation so and a.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Little bit with my mom.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
But being able to reflect back, like completely on what
has happened and things that led up to, you know,
my feelings and how I was responding to others or
triggers like it allowed me to be able to tell
my story again and actually.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Be a lot more open.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, So I appreciate you kind of taking us on
that reflection journey because I think this is a unique
opportunity in some ways to kind of have that space
in between and then come back to it and revisit
and think about all of these ways that you have
grown and changed, and you know, you can kind of
(23:59):
look on something and say, oh, maybe this is a
way that I like used to respond to this, but
now I've like had a chance to gain some tools
and learn some like different ways of doing things, or
even just reflect on my behavior and patterns and understand
where it comes from and why it is the way
it is, because you know, sometimes we just don't give
(24:23):
ourselves that opportunity to reflect on how much growth there's been.
So I'm really glad to be able to do that
with you, and you know, have you talk to us
about what that's been like for you. Are there any
other like specific tools or like strategies that you feel
like you've been able to rely on that just help
(24:43):
you kind of reconnect with yourself and fill your cup?
And I don't know if you remember, but I told
you the title of your episode was probably going to
be something that you said, and it is. It's called
like being a whole Me. So is there any like
tools or strategies that you've like really been able to
identify that help you be a whole you that just
(25:06):
fill your cup at the end of the day.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
I think a lot of what I have, uh, what
would consider a tool for me was just journaling and
writing it down because sometimes, you know, we get into
a place where we want to.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Just spill out everything, but we can't find the words
or it's a little bit difficult sometimes on the spot
to articulate which you really want to say. So I
think journaling has allowed me to do that, to express myself.
So I had this book that says things that you
want to say but don't say out loud, and pretty
much that's like the book that I had used to
(25:42):
journal like some things, and then often I go back
and look and see, like what did I want to
say that say back then do I still feel that way?
And then that is how I have been, you know,
like with my partner, when we talk about things, we
make sure we set aside time to like really this
it's like how we're feeling. And before I would just
(26:03):
like I said, bottle everything up. So I think writing
has helped me a lot. I've also listened to the
like different podcasts about you know, making sure that you
make you a priority. So that has like really been
because it's all fine and dandy when you say it,
but you have to actually practice it, you know. Yeah,
(26:23):
So that's been like the biggest thing for me. So
I would say those are the two big things that
I've kind of used to help me stay on this
journey of you know, because it's a journey.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
It's never done because like I said, I didn't given moment.
There could be something that triggered you and you don't
know why, but.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
You know so, but they're right back in that headspace,
right back in that moment, and it could totally change
the course of everything. Yeah, You've talked a lot about
your partner, and I think that that is something that
we got to kind of got to touch on in
the first but I'd love to give some space if
there's anything specific that you want to share of, Like,
(27:07):
this has really been something that my partner does that
has been helpful for me as I'm kind of navigating
the healing journey.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Yeah, I don't know if I can say there's anything specific,
but one area that I really liked and I think
we touched on that was the whole physical touch thing.
So it's like I and I wanted to embrace and
all that, but it just wasn't in me to do so.
But now since we've been talking and I've you know,
been on this journey and released some of that, I
(27:37):
have been able to, you know, give more hugs and
do more physical touch. And it is nice because at
first I used to be like, now I'm just not
a physical touch type of person, Like now that's just me.
And then it's just like after discovering why and getting
down to the root of, you know, the different situations
that I've experienced that basically put me into that place
(28:00):
of not wanting to really be touched, because again, there
was some times where it's just the way you the
way I was being touched that it just kind of like,
you know, like put me into this mood and I'm
just like, you know, I don't know why. But after
you know, like just digging and digging in, you know,
(28:20):
reflecting and all of those things that I you know,
was doing in therapy or whatnot to try to uncover
by my uncomfortable you know, in certain situations, basically allowed
me to now be at a place where I'm like,
you know, I I encourage it now.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
And I didn't know it was something I really wanted
now that I'm experiencing in a healthy way.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, but it sounds like to me is you found
opportunities of safety in ways that you didn't even know
you needed at the time, that your partner was able
and willing you navigate and go through the process with
you of learning.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yep, Yeah, that's exactly it.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
And I mean it helped strengthen our relationship because he
is that type of person. So if it's not like
I'm with the person that I love, I want to
do that, why initially has that not happened? And then
understanding now and I think it's strengthened our relationship for
him to be able to understand and now respect even
if you know, respect and the knowledge if I say,
(29:33):
like it's a little bit too much still you.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just meeting you where you're at
and going on the journey. That's love. That's healthy love.
And so my last question is just because we and
shout out to Carmen for this beautiful metaphor, but we're
kind of thinking about this as like almost a graduation
of sorts. And so I don't know if this is
(29:56):
going to make it into the final recording or not,
but you or my real life sore or And so
you know how you have like undergrad chapters and then
you have your graduate chapters. When you graduate from your
undergrad chapter, you can join the graduate chapter. This is
kind of like that to me of like, you know,
we had this initial conversation, you were at the undergrad
chapter stage, and now we're at the grad chapter stage, right,
(30:20):
So what would you say to those who are maybe
in the undergrad chapter of the Unwonted Sourority, those who
are maybe kind of telling their story for the first time,
What would you say to them who are just starting
to kind of speak their truth or maybe realizing that
they're ready to speak their truth and tell their story.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
The most important thing is however you start, and regardless
of how much you start with, your story is important.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
And there are.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
You know, people out there who may have a story
that is similar, and so just knowing that while they
may have taken you a while to share that story,
that those who are hearing it can get encouraged and
empowered to do the same, and it's never too late
(31:11):
to do that. So I think that's the biggest thing
I would probably say, because I know I carried a
lot of guilt and thinking like, oh I should have
been probably said something about you know, what had happened,
so that way I could be more transparent to others.
But it really is your journey and it's best to
do it when you feel the most comfortable to do that.
But also knowing that every time you share, you empower
(31:34):
someone else. So I think that probably would be what
I would say to those and or even if I
was still in that undergrad part.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Mm hmmm, yes, And I think you know that that
message is really going to resonate with somebody who's just
sitting there hasn't said it to anyone and it's just like,
you know, even if it's not here on the podcast,
because everybody's not going to you know, be in to
sit in that route, but saying it to someone that's
really going to resonate with them to kind of give
(32:06):
them the courage and the strength to reach out to someone.
So I just love that so much, and I love
you so much, and thank you so much for for
doing this and uh running it back one time for
this update, because I just I appreciate you. I appreciate
you even just you know, going on this journey with
(32:27):
me of you know, being there from the beginning with
this show. I appreciate it. I loved listening back to
the episode two years later and now it's about to
come out, and I just I can't wait for people
to be touched by your story in the way.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
That I was.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
So thank you, Erica, Oh thank you, you know, and
I just appreciate you and providing this safe space to
be able to do so so and I love you too.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
So it's even better my story, right.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
And now that we have officially gotten through our first
batch of Roll Call episodes, I would love to hear
your thoughts on the show so far, so Please send
me an email at the Unwanted suboraty at gmail dot com.
You can also send me a DM on Instagram or TikTok,
or email me a voice note whatever ways are easy
for you to communicate to me. Basically, I just I
(33:30):
would love to hear from you. So what are you
liking so far? What have you enjoyed about the show?
What do you want to hear more about? It can
really be anything until next time. Now, take care of yourself,
take care of one another, and release whatever shame or
guilt you may be feeling about the harm that's been
done to you. You are not alone. We are back
(33:53):
with a brand new episode next week featuring a new
role call guest, and it's someone that you may or
may not know already. Subscribe and review to stay up
to date on all new episodes, and don't forget to
stay safe, stay connected, and remember this is a safe space,
not a quiet space. I'll see you next time. The
(34:21):
Unwanted Sorority is hosted in executive produced by me Leander
Tate Or. Executive producer is Joel Money, Our producer is
Carmen Loren, and original cover art is created by Savannah
Yuler I would also like to be have special thanks
to the I Heard podcast Next Up program for helping
bring the show to life. Also all of the guests
who have taken a step in sharing their story with
you all on these episodes. And finally to all the
(34:43):
members of the sorority who will never tell their story.
We see you and your story matters.
Hey, y'all, welcome to another episode of The Unwanted Sorority,
a podcast in Safe Haven where Black women, fems, and
gender expansive folks speak our truths about the experiences with
sexual violence, healing, and the sisterhood that forms when we
name what tried to break us. I'm your host, doctor
Lee Tretete, and today's bonus episode is a special one
(00:24):
for me. Today we're going to talk broadly about the
history of black movements against sexual violence in the United States.
We'll cover some movement makers and founders of the Unwanted Sorority,
and I'm also going to introduce you to some new
folks and new ways of understanding maybe some of the
social contexts that you remember hearing about over the years,
(00:45):
but maybe you didn't have all the information for so
let's get into it. While the Unwanted Sorority podcast hopes
to cultivate community and connection among Black women who may
have experienced sexual violence and or you may know others
who have, the show does not serve as a substitute
for guidance from the qualified mental health, medical, or legal clinician.
(01:08):
I strongly encourage you to find the right resources of
support for you you deserve to feel well and hope.
In our first bonus episode, we gave flowers to black
women and fems whose experience has served as kind of
a catalyst for survivor justice today. So how the stories
(01:31):
of the mothers of kynecology and the survivors of the
Memphis massacre and our recent ancestor Adrianna Smith all kind
of converged to leay this foundation for sexual violence and
reproductive justice that we understand and navigate today. So I
feel like those stories gave us something to build off
(01:52):
of and segue into the first rounds of Real Call guests.
But in this episode, I want to focus more explicitly
on the movement making of it all. And for me,
that looks like me holding your hand and walking you
through some of those most important and often overlooked shifts
(02:12):
in the way that Black communities have responded to sexual
violence over the years. So we're talking about kind of
legacy in phases. Each chapter of our history is molded
not by struggle, but by individuals and groups who refuse
to be silenced by shifts in changing political landscapes, and
(02:33):
by Black people who refuse to be silent. This episode
builds on the conversations we started in our first Bonus
episode and the testimonies we've highlighted with our first groups
of founders, But now we're gonna widen that lens a
little bit. In Bonus Episode number one, we noted how
(02:55):
resistance for black people in the United States included a
for more than just freedom. Our ancestors had to bite
to be seen as human, as people wholly worthy of protection,
especially black women. So in that episode, I detailed the
setting in eighteen sixty six when a group of black
(03:17):
women in Memphis did something revolutionary by testifying before Congress
after being raped by a white mob. Those acts of
truth telling were radical at the time, and honestly not
even just at the time. They would still be considered
radical acts even today, as we know that an estimated
(03:40):
less than five percent of rapes are reported to law
enforcement according to a research study by the National Institute
of Health in their twenty twenty report. So this collective
effort would speak to a challenge that's going to be
faced by black women for decades to come. There was
no legal protection and there was no guarantee that anyone
(04:02):
would believe them, but they spoke anyway. Activists like Sirjourner Truth,
were also part of pioneers asking the room at a
woman and if you didn't know, the truth behind that
phrase is actually reminiscent of many issues that have arisen
(04:22):
over the years between white feminists and black, indigenous and
people of color feminists. Which is that in her original speech,
which so journal Truth delivered in eighteen fifty one, it
included a transcription in which she says, I am a
woman's right, clarifying kind of that her lived experience is
(04:45):
what women's rights at the time should be fighting for.
But instead, in eighteen sixty three, almost twelve years after
she actually delivered that speech, a white abolitionist woman named
Francis Gage, would publish her own version of Sir Journer's
truth words, stating that Sojourner Truth is the one who
(05:06):
actually delivered those words, when in actuality, Francis's version was
altered to make Sojourner Truth's words sound closer to a
Southern enslaved woman's dialect. So you're probably asking yourself, how
could this white woman's invented speech be the version that
(05:28):
would continue to be taught in schools and attributed to
this black woman who on her own accord, had accomplished
a notable history in her own right. Well, if you
listen Touus episode number one, you're probably thinking racism and sexism, Leandra, duh,
because you heard me talk about it so much in
(05:50):
that episode. But this time I'm going to introduce you
to a new term, a term that was coined by
a black feminist writer, Moya Bailey in two thousand and eight.
And this term is called massage noir, and it refers
(06:12):
specifically to the combined force of anti black racism and
misogyny directed towards black women. So what this looks like
in Sojourner's case is she was a victim of massage
noir because Francis Gage took her words, which were perfectly
and clearly articulated in her speech, and framed them in
(06:35):
a dialect that Francis associated with black people at the time,
not in Sojournal's truth, actual spoken dialect. The words that
have been associated with Sojourner Truth for all of these
years aren't even hers. And it's not to say that
(06:58):
the Southern dialect of the enslaved people at the time
was any less significant or any less meaningful. That's like
certainly not the case at all. The issue is that
there was a narrative being spun on who gets to
dictate what black women at the time were supposed to
look and sound like, and that's massage and water baby.
(07:21):
Another notable figure as we're exploring this kind of early
resistance phase is that of Ida b Wells, a journalist
who during the eighteen seventies took up the anti lynching
crusade not just to save black men, but to expose
how white men use rape as a tool of terror
against black women. I'm not going to go into too
(07:44):
much detail about her because she may or may not
come up as a founder in a future episode, but
it's important to include both Sojourner Truth and Ida b
Wells as these cursory foundational figures to black women's resistance
and sexual exploitation. So it ranges from enslaved black teenager
(08:07):
Celia's self defense in eighteen fifty five, which we'll touch
on in a future episode, to is b Well's journalism
and her crusade planting these early seeds of the anti
sexual violence movement. So what these founders did was foundational.
They were saying, our bodies matter, our pain matters, and
(08:29):
we're not waiting around to be saved. We're doing it ourselves.
Fast forward to the nineteen forties and fifties. Still there
(08:55):
was no legal recourse for most Black women who were
facing sexual violence at the time, but the organizing did
get sharper so long before the bus boykov for example,
one Miss Rosa Parks was collecting testimonies for the NAACP,
where she was amplifying the voices of black survivors, primarily
(09:17):
in the South, and she wasn't going to let the
fact that there was really no precedence for the type
of justice she was fighting for for her clients, one
of whom was named Racy Taylor. She was still determined
to ensure that the impact of her pulling the NAACP
to support survivors like Racy and her family was going
(09:38):
to be felt for decades to come. And I honestly
cannot wait to share this part of Rosa Park's story
with you all in a future episode. But just no
Roses stood on business. Their work wasn't just about punishment though,
it was about dignity. So in nineteen fifty nine, one
(09:58):
Betty gene Owen, who I did talk about in a
previous episode, she actually received that outcome that many deem
is justice. For the first time in American history, those
white rapists were convicted and sentenced to life. I tell
you all about that in episode one of the pods,
(10:19):
So go back and listen if you haven't, and just
imagined the level of organizing it took for those family
students in the late fifties to get it together in
the way that they did with no Internet and no
social media. I mean, it's incredibly impressive. So these mid
century activists framed sexual violence as a civil rights issue,
(10:44):
insisting that freedom from rape was part of a full
citizenship in human dignity. The nineteen seventies brought us Joan Little,
(11:05):
a twenty two year old black woman who was incarcerated
in North Carolina who killed her white jailer when he
tried to raper she ran. She turned herself in, and
the world watched as black people organized like hell to
defend her. Her case ignited a nationwide Free Joan Little campaign,
(11:27):
which brought together this collective of black power, civil rights,
and feminist activist who were united to defend her right
to resist sexual violence. Notably, black men and women stood
together so you saw figures like Angela Davis who spoke
out about Joan Little, an even civil rights leader like
(11:47):
Reverend Ralph Abernathy of the National Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
They were all publicly supporting black women's right to defense
against rape. Joan Little then became the first woman in
the United States history to be acquitted on the grounds
of self defense against sexual violence. And during this time
(12:08):
of black feminist organizing, we also saw on Nikingay Torre
and Loretta Ross take leadership of the d C Rape
Crisis Center in Washington, d C. Making it the only
one in the nation run by and for Black women.
They insisted on an intersectional approach to their anti rape work,
(12:28):
which meant connecting sexual violence with issues like serialization, abuse,
housing and healthcare, and black communities. And their stance was
one that not only needed black liberation in feminist politics,
they understood that the struggles were intertwined. They said, we
can fight sexual violence and fight racism at the same time.
(12:53):
Imagine that the nineteen seventies saw black feminist activism coming
to its own, whether through high profile legal defenses or
community based services. It was always emphasized that racial justice
and gender justice must go hand in hand. By the
(13:18):
nineteen eighties, the movement was evolving. Black feminists were making
waves and policy and scholarships, and we solve from scholars
like Kimberle Crenshaw, for example, gave us the term intersectionality
in nineteen eighty nine. She showed us that without a
lens on both race and gender, the needs of Black
(13:40):
women survivors would be overlooked. It would kind of just
fall through the cracks. And this framework was echoed when
black women in the movement who had long argued with
that point that anti oppression work is anti violence work.
It was finally this sort of convergence of a term
for what black women had been living throughout all of
(14:02):
these different phases of the movement. And so a major
shift happened in nineteen ninety one with Anita Hill when
she testified before Congress about being sexually harassed by then
Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. The backlash was nothing but brutal,
but the response was over sixteen hundred Black women signing
(14:26):
an open letter in the New York Times that was
titled African American Women in Defense of Ourselves. It was
collective power in its prime, it was a survival strategy.
And I'll actually be diving more into the case and
what it means for the landscape of it all next week,
So I'll make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcast
(14:47):
platforms so you don't miss that new episode. But I'll
just leave you with this. Black women were instrumental at
the time and pushing forward institutional reforms. So, for example,
they supported landmark policies like the nineteen ninety four Violence
Against Women Act, and they even critiqued biases and the
(15:09):
legal system, and black womenist thinkers like Bethy Ritchie warned
that relying solely on policing and imprisonment would backfire on
communities of color, and so there were these big calls
for alternative approaches to safety, which I also talked about
in some of the previous episodes. So, in short, the
(15:29):
nineteen eighties and nineties kind of broadened the anti sexual
violence movement scope. Black women at the time led with
an intersectional vision. They took public action, and they began
formulating these new ways of critiquing the systems that were
meant to deliver justice. So they were pushing their way
(15:51):
into national conversations and again, it wasn't just about rape
and sexual violence, but it was about justice and what
justice Wrold balistically looked like for them. In the new millennium,
Black American antisexual violence activism continued to evolve, and it
(16:14):
often was at the forefront of spearheading major cultural shifts.
One very notable development was the formal designation of April
a sexual sult Awareness Month in two thousand and one,
and this recognition actually stemmed from decades of April being
the month in which these anti violence demonstrations, led primarily
(16:37):
by Black women, were being activated. And so when the
hashtag need to exploded in twenty seventeen, most people didn't
know it started in two thousand and six with Rona Burke.
I go into the history behind that collective learning in
the last episode, So go back and listen to episode
(16:59):
four if you haven't yet. Today, movements like the hashtag
r Kelly movement, movements that are calling for more community
based healing circles and transformative justice work show us what
modern activism looks like today. There's a very noticeable advocacy
shift that is influenced by the black feminist thought or
(17:23):
the black feminist leaders that I mentioned from the eighties
and nineties where they're going from purely legalistic our carcero
responses towards more holistic and community based strategies. So black
women have long critique carcerral feminism, arguing that police and
(17:46):
prisons often fail to protect black survivors and in fact
may even harm them. More So, advocates today aren't just
asking for punishment. They're looking for healing, for prevention, and
formmunity based accountability that doesn't necessarily rely on those systems
that have already failed us in the past. And let
(18:09):
me say this very clearly, believing black fems, believing black women,
believing Black girls, and believing black gender. Expanse of folks
is not optional. Protecting black girls is not up for debate,
and ensuring that this support includes our transistors and siblings
is not a one month per year act. We have
(18:32):
to do this work together, and we have to call
it out when folks try to make it exclusionary and
unresponsive to our community's needs. So shout out to the
group chats and the cousins who check on people when
they start acting funny and making funky comments to make
it sound like we're only centering cis gender survivors in
this work. And I want to shout out a quote
(18:55):
by Fanny lou Hammer who says, nobody's free until everybody's free,
and we mean that in this work. It's so true
and it's so critical to the continued progress of this movement.
(19:19):
So going from our ancestors enslavement in this country to
the social media feeds of today, black women have really
and truly always resisted, always organized, and reimagined what safety
could look like. That legacy lives in all of us.
And as we continued to build the Unwanted Sorority, may
(19:40):
we never forget the work, the wisdom, and the warriors
who came before us. And as we wrap up, I
am thrilled to introduce a brand new segment of the
show to you this week called grad Chapter Corner, where
I get to catch up with a former role call
guest after the episode airs and see what's new with
(20:01):
them since we recorded the episode to now. So let's
get into it. How are you feeling coming into it?
It has been a while, it's been literally two years.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
That's great. I feel better.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Like the first time I was kind of like, you
don't know what emotions are going to be evoked when
you start, you know, speaking or bringing something up.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
So yeah, so this time you feel more at ease,
I guess, or what you know what to expect?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, yeah, well not even so much know what to
expect because you still have that you know what, I mean,
that suspense there, but it's better knowing like how the
flow of everything.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah, so I mean, I guess I'll just jump right
into it. So looking back, it's been two years, what
has changed for you after taking that step out of
gonna call it a first step, but it's technically maybe
like your second or third or fourth even step like
towards healing. But what has changed for you over these
(21:10):
two years in terms of what your healing journey has
looked like?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
In telling your story, I think for me, like initially
I did say that I took the first step of
going to a therapist before.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And I pretty much continued.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
And then on top of that, I think there was,
you know, all these mixed emotions about actually being in
a healthy relationship, what that looks like for me and
how I could be a better partner because you know,
I've always spoke a little bit about things that may
have triggered me, but I never really got into detail.
(21:52):
So since then, it warned me to be able to
talk to, you know, my partner about you know, when
when I feel a type of way about some things
or whennot just express it, and then my fear of
you know, overall.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Feeling like I, you know, haven't been the best partner.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
And I believe I was talking about with my son
and I still haven't told him the reason why I
was the way I was with him, but I don't
at this moment feel like I really needed to go
into detail because our relationship has improved and he has
opened up more to me and just was like, you know,
you just always seem like.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
I knew you was there for me, but it was
at moments, you know, being closed off. But now like
I'm more welcome being and you know, I think I'm
able to find the words now to express myself because
you know, going through what I went through, part of
it was trying to always hide and you know, be
(22:54):
closed off. You know, so.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
That has helped me speaking about it because you know,
initially speak about.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
In my teal, somebody might not.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I think I pretty much told my story to a
group of girls before and then the therapist and then
when we had our conversation so and a.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Little bit with my mom.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
But being able to reflect back, like completely on what
has happened and things that led up to, you know,
my feelings and how I was responding to others or
triggers like it allowed me to be able to tell
my story again and actually.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Be a lot more open.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, So I appreciate you kind of taking us on
that reflection journey because I think this is a unique
opportunity in some ways to kind of have that space
in between and then come back to it and revisit
and think about all of these ways that you have
grown and changed, and you know, you can kind of
(23:59):
look on something and say, oh, maybe this is a
way that I like used to respond to this, but
now I've like had a chance to gain some tools
and learn some like different ways of doing things, or
even just reflect on my behavior and patterns and understand
where it comes from and why it is the way
it is, because you know, sometimes we just don't give
(24:23):
ourselves that opportunity to reflect on how much growth there's been.
So I'm really glad to be able to do that
with you, and you know, have you talk to us
about what that's been like for you. Are there any
other like specific tools or like strategies that you feel
like you've been able to rely on that just help
(24:43):
you kind of reconnect with yourself and fill your cup?
And I don't know if you remember, but I told
you the title of your episode was probably going to
be something that you said, and it is. It's called
like being a whole Me. So is there any like
tools or strategies that you've like really been able to
identify that help you be a whole you that just
(25:06):
fill your cup at the end of the day.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
I think a lot of what I have, uh, what
would consider a tool for me was just journaling and
writing it down because sometimes, you know, we get into
a place where we want to.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Just spill out everything, but we can't find the words
or it's a little bit difficult sometimes on the spot
to articulate which you really want to say. So I
think journaling has allowed me to do that, to express myself.
So I had this book that says things that you
want to say but don't say out loud, and pretty
much that's like the book that I had used to
(25:42):
journal like some things, and then often I go back
and look and see, like what did I want to
say that say back then do I still feel that way?
And then that is how I have been, you know,
like with my partner, when we talk about things, we
make sure we set aside time to like really this
it's like how we're feeling. And before I would just
(26:03):
like I said, bottle everything up. So I think writing
has helped me a lot. I've also listened to the
like different podcasts about you know, making sure that you
make you a priority. So that has like really been
because it's all fine and dandy when you say it,
but you have to actually practice it, you know. Yeah,
(26:23):
So that's been like the biggest thing for me. So
I would say those are the two big things that
I've kind of used to help me stay on this
journey of you know, because it's a journey.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
It's never done because like I said, I didn't given moment.
There could be something that triggered you and you don't
know why, but.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
You know so, but they're right back in that headspace,
right back in that moment, and it could totally change
the course of everything. Yeah, You've talked a lot about
your partner, and I think that that is something that
we got to kind of got to touch on in
the first but I'd love to give some space if
there's anything specific that you want to share of, Like,
(27:07):
this has really been something that my partner does that
has been helpful for me as I'm kind of navigating
the healing journey.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Yeah, I don't know if I can say there's anything specific,
but one area that I really liked and I think
we touched on that was the whole physical touch thing.
So it's like I and I wanted to embrace and
all that, but it just wasn't in me to do so.
But now since we've been talking and I've you know,
been on this journey and released some of that, I
(27:37):
have been able to, you know, give more hugs and
do more physical touch. And it is nice because at
first I used to be like, now I'm just not
a physical touch type of person, Like now that's just me.
And then it's just like after discovering why and getting
down to the root of, you know, the different situations
that I've experienced that basically put me into that place
(28:00):
of not wanting to really be touched, because again, there
was some times where it's just the way you the
way I was being touched that it just kind of like,
you know, like put me into this mood and I'm
just like, you know, I don't know why. But after
you know, like just digging and digging in, you know,
(28:20):
reflecting and all of those things that I you know,
was doing in therapy or whatnot to try to uncover
by my uncomfortable you know, in certain situations, basically allowed
me to now be at a place where I'm like,
you know, I I encourage it now.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
And I didn't know it was something I really wanted
now that I'm experiencing in a healthy way.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, but it sounds like to me is you found
opportunities of safety in ways that you didn't even know
you needed at the time, that your partner was able
and willing you navigate and go through the process with
you of learning.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yep, Yeah, that's exactly it.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
And I mean it helped strengthen our relationship because he
is that type of person. So if it's not like
I'm with the person that I love, I want to
do that, why initially has that not happened? And then
understanding now and I think it's strengthened our relationship for
him to be able to understand and now respect even
if you know, respect and the knowledge if I say,
(29:33):
like it's a little bit too much still you.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just meeting you where you're at
and going on the journey. That's love. That's healthy love.
And so my last question is just because we and
shout out to Carmen for this beautiful metaphor, but we're
kind of thinking about this as like almost a graduation
of sorts. And so I don't know if this is
(29:56):
going to make it into the final recording or not,
but you or my real life sore or And so
you know how you have like undergrad chapters and then
you have your graduate chapters. When you graduate from your
undergrad chapter, you can join the graduate chapter. This is
kind of like that to me of like, you know,
we had this initial conversation, you were at the undergrad
chapter stage, and now we're at the grad chapter stage, right,
(30:20):
So what would you say to those who are maybe
in the undergrad chapter of the Unwonted Sourority, those who
are maybe kind of telling their story for the first time,
What would you say to them who are just starting
to kind of speak their truth or maybe realizing that
they're ready to speak their truth and tell their story.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
The most important thing is however you start, and regardless
of how much you start with, your story is important.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
And there are.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
You know, people out there who may have a story
that is similar, and so just knowing that while they
may have taken you a while to share that story,
that those who are hearing it can get encouraged and
empowered to do the same, and it's never too late
(31:11):
to do that. So I think that's the biggest thing
I would probably say, because I know I carried a
lot of guilt and thinking like, oh I should have
been probably said something about you know, what had happened,
so that way I could be more transparent to others.
But it really is your journey and it's best to
do it when you feel the most comfortable to do that.
But also knowing that every time you share, you empower
(31:34):
someone else. So I think that probably would be what
I would say to those and or even if I
was still in that undergrad part.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Mm hmmm, yes, And I think you know that that
message is really going to resonate with somebody who's just
sitting there hasn't said it to anyone and it's just like,
you know, even if it's not here on the podcast,
because everybody's not going to you know, be in to
sit in that route, but saying it to someone that's
really going to resonate with them to kind of give
(32:06):
them the courage and the strength to reach out to someone.
So I just love that so much, and I love
you so much, and thank you so much for for
doing this and uh running it back one time for
this update, because I just I appreciate you. I appreciate
you even just you know, going on this journey with
(32:27):
me of you know, being there from the beginning with
this show. I appreciate it. I loved listening back to
the episode two years later and now it's about to
come out, and I just I can't wait for people
to be touched by your story in the way.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
That I was.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
So thank you, Erica, Oh thank you, you know, and
I just appreciate you and providing this safe space to
be able to do so so and I love you too.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
So it's even better my story, right.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
And now that we have officially gotten through our first
batch of Roll Call episodes, I would love to hear
your thoughts on the show so far, so Please send
me an email at the Unwanted suboraty at gmail dot com.
You can also send me a DM on Instagram or TikTok,
or email me a voice note whatever ways are easy
for you to communicate to me. Basically, I just I
(33:30):
would love to hear from you. So what are you
liking so far? What have you enjoyed about the show?
What do you want to hear more about? It can
really be anything until next time. Now, take care of yourself,
take care of one another, and release whatever shame or
guilt you may be feeling about the harm that's been
done to you. You are not alone. We are back
(33:53):
with a brand new episode next week featuring a new
role call guest, and it's someone that you may or
may not know already. Subscribe and review to stay up
to date on all new episodes, and don't forget to
stay safe, stay connected, and remember this is a safe space,
not a quiet space. I'll see you next time. The
(34:21):
Unwanted Sorority is hosted in executive produced by me Leander
Tate Or. Executive producer is Joel Money, Our producer is
Carmen Loren, and original cover art is created by Savannah
Yuler I would also like to be have special thanks
to the I Heard podcast Next Up program for helping
bring the show to life. Also all of the guests
who have taken a step in sharing their story with
you all on these episodes. And finally to all the
(34:43):
members of the sorority who will never tell their story.
We see you and your story matters.
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