He Said. She Said. Nobody Wins
Songstress Carmen Rodgers. Joy Malone
Caribbean Life, OCTOBER 8-14, 2021 27
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The grab was savage.
You yelped because you
weren’t expecting it. Because
it shouldn’t have happened.
It was rough enough to leave
marks on your skin, little
round marks like fingertips;
for sure, it left marks on your
self-confidence but complain,
and it’ll all be denied. You know
the truth, though, and when
you read “Believing” by Anita
Hill, you‘ll know someone else
does, too.
Twenty-five percent of
American women today “experience
intimate partner violence…”
Thirty-three percent
say they’ve endured harassment
at work. The rate’s higher
for women of color, highest in
the LGBTQ community. Similar
statistics were available in
1991 when Anita Hill testified
before Congress about the harassment
she’d said she’d experienced
from then-Supreme
Court nominee Clarence Thomas,
testimony that later contributed
to Hill’s becoming one
of the country’s leaders in the
fight against sexual harassment
and gender violence.
Before the Thomas hearing,
Hill says, courts routinely dismissed
most complaints about
lewd comments, unwelcome
advances, and unwanted touch
from harassers. Some judges
couldn’t “understand” why a
woman might be frightened by
intimidation from a man; others
believed the complaints to
be overwrought. Such things
were said to be “‘not that bad’,”
says Hill, words she likens to
a knife.
Millennial and GenZers
are believed to be intolerant
of harassment and inequality,
but Hill says they may still
be affected by entrenched attitudes
that haven’t been completely
erased. She had hoped
that #MeToo might’ve changed
things, but while the movement
helped to open a major
conversation about the issues,
the frequency of sexual harassment
and gender violence
has not lessened. She points to
misogyny from the last administration
and the Kavanaugh
confirmation hearing as proof,
as well as gun violence (often
caused by bullying) and ongoing
problems with harassment,
homophobia, and gender inequality
in many schools, from
elementary school all the way
through college.
We can do better but, as Hill
indicates, America has a long
way to go.
It’s hard to nail down one
single fix for issues of gender
violence from the pages
of “Believing.” Dive in, dig
around, surface for air, and dive
in again — truth is, the whole
entire book is one long roadmap,
with dozens of possible
patches.
And yet, you may ask yourself
if what author Anita Hill
quietly suggests is enough.
Takeaways from the stories she
shares are that gender violence
and sexual harassment can be
like a long game of Whacka
Mole: once an incident is
dealt with, another will pop up
somewhere else, relentlessly,
endlessly. Using the Thomas
hearings as scaffolding here,
she seems to show that while
politics absolutely plays a part
in the presence of harassment
and gender violence in America,
the prevalence can be found
everywhere and costs us more
than just psychologically.
Discouraging? Yes, and even
Hill admits that such information
can be triggering if you’ve
been a victim, so read “Believing”
with caution and deepbreathing
room. It’s powerful,
deep, and raw but it’s also
highly informative. If you want
to know where we’re heading
on this subject, it’s the book
to grab.
“Believing: Our Thirty-
Year Journey to End Gender
Violence” by Anita
Hill
c.2021, Viking
$30.00 / $40.00
Canada
352 pages
Book cover of “Believing” by Anita Hill.
Birthright AFRICA hosts inaugural gala
By Nelson A. King
On a warm Wednesday
evening, Birthright AFRICA hosted
its inaugural gala, co-chaired
by GRAMMY® Award-nominated
multi-platinum rapper, singer,
songwriter, producer and actor
Jidenna, at Tastemakers Africa
House in Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn.
Award winning entrepreneur,
Tastemakers Africa chief executive
officer and founder, Cherae
Robinson and manager of Intra-
African Trade Initiative at Afreximbank
— African Export and
Import Bank, Temwa Gondwe
(not in attendance) also co-hosted
the event.
According to Kim Wilson Marshall,
founder and director, the
virtual / hybrid gala, with event
direction by Bee Season Events,
celebrated the five-year anniversary
of Birthright AFRICA.
Walla Elsheikh and Diallo
Shabazz co-founded Birthright
AFRICA and they collaborate
with partners to provide free
educational trips to Africa for
youth and young adults of African
descent, ages 13 – 30, “to
explore their cultural roots and
legacy of innovation within the
US and Africa as a birthright for
free,” Wilson Marshall said.
The gala honored via prerecorded
video Chief Marketing
Officer for NetFlix and Co-
Founder of Full Circle Festival,
Bozoma Saint John; African
Ancestry Co-Founder and President
Dr. Gina Paige, and African
Diaspora Development Institute
President and Founder, Amb. Dr.
Arikana Chihombori-Quao.
Wilson Marshall said the
Birthright AFRICA gala in-person
watch party welcomed nearly 75
“gorgeous and handsome guests”
in African-inspired semi-formal
attire, while enjoying cocktails
sponsored by St. Germain and
Bed-Vyne, presented by Uncorked
and Cultured, with “an amazing
dinner by Teranga.”
“The guests in Brooklyn and
simulcast at Republic Bar and
Lounge in Accra, Ghana and all
over the globe enjoyed live music
performances by Jidenna and
songstress Carmen Rodgers from
NYC; video performances by Ray
Hodge and the Dwana Smallwood
Performing Arts Center;
special shout-out from actor/
model Boris Kodjoe; and sounds
by Nana Kwabena and Niara Sterling,”
Wilson Marshall said.
Wilson Marshall said Birthright
AFRICA raised nearly
$100,000 to support Birthright
AFRICA’s nationwide outreach
for the first time to select 12
young people of African descent
to join Jidenna for the first cohort
of Birthright AFRICA scholars
to return to Ghana since the
COVID-19 pandemic began.
“2019 was titled ‘The Year of
the Return’ with hopes for 2020
to kick-off ‘Beyond The Return’,
but was preempted due to the
pandemic,” Wilson Marshall said.
“The December 2021/January
2022 Birthright Scholar cohort
will experience ‘The Return of
the Return’,’ as they embark
on the life-changing impact of
returning to the motherland and
get the special opportunity to
connect and reflect on the journey
with Jidenna, who recently
joined the Executive Board of
Birthright AFRICA.”