Tarana Burke, Founder of the “Me Too” Movement Speaks at Alabama State University

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The “Me Too” movement is not only for women of color. But for everyone, including men. “It’s a movement for anybody that has survived sexual violence and so we have to create that kind of space so that men feel comfortable to be vulnerable about the ways in which they have experienced sexual violence,” says founder of the movement, Tarana Burke.

Tarana Burke’s mission is to help those who suffer in silence, with the movement that has reached many across the country via social media and lectures like this at Alabama State University. Students say the conversation is long overdue.

“I see so many victims daily and me as a senior here, I watch people wear their burdens and their bruises as if it was a designer bag or a designer coat and it’s shameful and it’s something that everybody wants to shy away from but it’s something that needs to be addressed,” says Tranyla Brewer.

The Centers for Disease Control reports millions of women and men have been effected by the issue.

“For every one person that has said me too there are probably others who haven’t and so we need to understand what those statistics that we here-those all human beings and we need to recognize that people are struggling all around the country,” says Burke.

That is just one reason why students say it is time to stand up to stop those alarming numbers.

“I feel men should help push the movement more because sometimes people don’t take it serious because it’s just women but if you have men and women supporting the same thing-bringing it together then you can’t stop them,” says Lorenzo Walcott.

“Black college campuses have to pay more attention to sexual violence and we have to catch up to some of our counterparts who are doing a lot of great work around the country,” says Burke.

To learn more about the “Me Too” movement you can visit https://metoomvmt.org/

Burke’s activism for sexual violence led her to be named Time Magazine’s 2017 person of the year.