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Tarana Burke

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Advocate

The Resume

    (September 12, 1973- )
    Born in The Bronx, New York
    Senior director of Girls for Gender Equality
    Founded the nonprofit Just Be (2003)
    Founded the 'Me Too' movement (2006)
    Wrote 'Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement' (2021)

Why she might be annoying:

    In high school, she beat another girl so badly she needed a dental appliance: 'I couldn't rage on the people who really harmed me. I took my rage out on that girl instead.'
    She was unable to respond when a 13-year-old girl told her she had been sexually assaulted by her mother's boyfriend. 'Me too' is what she later wished she had said.
    Me Too did not really take off as a movement until Alyssa Milano and other women began using it as hashtag when tweeting about the Harvey Weinstein abuse scandal (2017).
    She worries about 'Me Too' being reduced to a soundbite, recalling that, during a group picture after a lecture, the photographer said, 'On the count of three, everybody say, 'Me too.'' 'I'm like, 'No, that's not how this works.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was raped and sexually assaulted as a child and as a teen.
    She wanted 'Me Too' to create 'empowerment through empathy' by letting survivors of sexual assault or harassment know they were not alone.
    She approved of Me Too becoming a hashtag.
    Milano acknowledged her earlier use of 'Me Too,' writing, 'The origin story is equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring.'
    In response to #MeToo, 19 states enacted laws protecting employees who file sexual harassment claims from retaliation.
    As a member of the 'silence breakers,' she was one of Time's People of the Year for 2017.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 21 Votes: 19.05% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying