Book In Progress
Why I Write
I want to write about those advocating for those who suffered sexual abuse. I want to reach every sector of society and bring to light the history, challenges, and heroes who created organizations that fought back against sexual violence. Their challenges and successes must be shared for present-day advocates and future fighters for justice.
“You have to know the past to understand the present.” — Carl Sagan
Survivors Are Creating a Social Movement
Survivors created hundreds of organizations in the last twenty years. Its dramatic growth and influence resemble the great social movements, the Women’s and Civil Rights Movements. Both were and are agents of significant social, political, and cultural change. Survivors have already made huge gains, such as the onslaught of changes in the Statute of Limitation laws in thirty states, dozens of state investigations, reforms in daily social relations, and advances in culture and language[1]
The Me Too social media call in 2017 touched tens of millions of victims within two weeks of its first notice. The famous have been outed and isolated (Cosby, Epstein, Weinstein, coaches, politicians, religious leaders, Boy Scouts, etc.). Mainstream media, social media, and government institutions continued to advance to embrace the voices of survivors and advocates—no longer ignored or dismissed. Survivors are at the forefront of making news, not just responding to events.
Tapestry and Defining a Definite Date for the Founding of the Survivors Movement
The development of our new social movement does not follow a timeline in a straight and narrow path like a locomotive traveling down the track. Instead, it combines individuals, organizations, and outside influences (media, government, etc.) interacting with different forces on various timelines.
Just as various threads, colors, and weave to create a tapestry, we see social, political, and cultural events interweave to create the fabric of the emergent movement of survivors. The development of many political, cultural, and social organizations expresses varying rhythms and cadence. At no point can you say one element is more prominent than another or that there is a specific moment like snapping your fingers. No date or event can be signaled as “the” event marking the beginning of the survivors’ movement, like the birth of a child.
However, the sum of the organizations and actions locates the creation of a new social movement around 2000.
The selection of the year of origin could be five years on either side of that date. However, I ask that you look at the data on the founding of survivor organizations and the timeline of historical events. These timelines provide convincing evidence that 2000 is an excellent date to pin as the emergence of the new social movement. The vast majority of the 240 survivor organizations were founded after that date.
Political Activism, Media, and Social Media Raise the Alarm
Technology fueled the growth of social movements through social media, especially IG, FB, and Twitter. While a couple of dozen survivor organizations were founded by 2004, the dramatic growth of social media from 2004 to 2010 cultivated many groups.[2]
When the #MeToo hashtag exploded in 2017, it fueled great organizing and activism. We have established a new era and now have evidence that those harmed are not alone; they are not the only ones. It was not their fault.
My Manuscript Is An Original Contribution
My work on a manuscript about the emergence of a movement of survivors addresses an issue that has not been previously addressed. It is not a memoir, or a retelling of history, or a series of biographies of heroes—it has all of that. My book is the first to examine the survivors’ movement as a new social movement, pointing to how social, political, and cultural elements all combine to form the substance of a social movement. One of the driving forces for writing this book was precisely this reason: no book has documented the new social movement. It can be a tool to change the world.
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.”
Bertolt Brecht
Scope and Addressing Marginalized Survivors
My manuscript makes efforts to engage, support, and amplify the voices of marginalized communities; I believe my manuscript reflects that effort. The majority of the hundreds of references in my bibliography were written by women, four of the initial six survivor-leaders I interviewed are persons of color, my 53-page bibliography has extensive references to BIPOC and LGBTQ, and of the 240 survivor organizations I identified in my database as the movement, at least 19 are BIPOC focused or founded by BIPOC, about 9%.[3] [4]
There are limitations on the scope of the book. It can’t and won’t cover every topic of interest. However, it can be a foundation or touchstone for future reading. Incest, a significant sector of sexual violence, is not addressed in the manuscript, although the topic calls for such a book of its own to give justice to this topic. It is a big topic that I step away from.
I want my book to be a vanguard effort to open the doors to many books on sexual violence in all sectors of society, including the military, schools, workplaces, churches, athletic teams, and social institutions. Another topic crying for a book, addresses ritual abuse. I want a bookshelf of books addressing the issue socially, culturally, and politically.
I realize there are thousands of heroic memoirs of personal tragedy and victories. They provide much comfort, acknowledgment, and connection. My book is not a memoir, although my story will weave throughout the book.
Charting a New Continent Requires An Ambitious Endeavor
My manuscript presents an intervention by demonstrating that survivor-leaders who formed these new survivor organizations are the ones we have been waiting for.
We are the ones we are waiting for. June Jordan[5]
My manuscript is not a memoir or a history but an intervention in modern America’s political, social, and cultural life. I want to make sure that this history is known (how did we get here), the challenges (legacy structures and ideologies), the analysis (how do we address the challenges), the heroes (who have led the fight and created the movement), and how survivors are building the future we are looking for.
The book calls on survivors to see their actions as part of a social movement and embrace their power through connection and solidarity. Just as we saw when one gymnast stepped forward, named the crime, and named the criminal, 200 other victims followed. I want my book to be that resource for leaders, advocates, and the 70% of previously silent victims to step forward.
History, Courage, Challenges, and Joy
The broad range of history, analysis, stories of survivor-leaders, obstacles, and successes becomes the task at the book’s heart. It is about the social movement, not just one organization or one moment in time.
The overarching theme celebrates survivor-leaders organizing and forming organizations. As such, it is essential to highlight the historical moments, the trials of great personal courage, the challenges of tremendous barriers, and the joy of great success. A manuscript motif celebrates the leaders who carry the burden of advocacy with perseverance and grace.
Outlook and Viewpoint
We cannot look at sexual violence as an individual challenge, a journey of individuals responding to sexual violence throughout history. I see sexual violence as a social ill and a grave crime that must be challenged in social, cultural, and political spheres.
We must take an expansive view of the fight against sexual violence, not locally centered around just one sector, such as universities, military, sports, businesses, religious communities, etc. A view that sees sexual violence as an individual and actions in one sector or another fails to see the importance of solidarity in combatting sexual violence throughout society. Such a siloed view, where the problem is located in one section, denies the existence of a social dynamic of abuse.
My response is that our movement of survivors must embrace the work of all sectors of society in all reams of action, social, political, and cultural. I have been involved in this movement for almost thirty years, fourteen of those years working full-time as a national leader. I have worked with dozens of organizations and communities as an ally and supporter during this time. Emerging alliances and coalitions, such as Survivors Agenda, Keep Kids Safe, and All Survivors Day, are early solidarity formations.
Why I Am Writing the Book
I am writing this book because I don’t want what happened to me to happen to another child.
Sexual abuse is present in daily life. Government, schools, churches, and society have begun to acknowledge that fact due to the work of survivors and survivor organizations. Cultural and social awareness has compelled changes. The time has come to acknowledge that our emerging social movement is a force changing the world.
I believe many additional books from many sectors will follow, including Baptist, LGBTQ, sports, workplace, music industry, Hollywood, trafficking, Native Americans, universities, and incest. Survivor-advocates will fill a bookcase of activism and action. Leaders are fighting against sexual abuse and are working now to change the world—I look forward to their successes. I want my book to be one book on a shelf full of books on advocacy and activism.
To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. Herman Melville
September 20, 2024
Tim Lennon
tim@StandupSpeakup.org
415 312 5820
[1] CHILDUSA.org data
[2] FB founded in 2004, Twitter founded in 2006, IG founded in 2010
[3] See Bibliography, available upon request
[4] See Allies and Sister Organizations, available upon request
[5] Phrase and title used by June Jordan, Directed by Desire, The Collected Poems of June Jordan, 2005, and the title of a book by Alice Walker, We Are the Ones We Are Waiting For–Inner Light in a Time of Darkness. (Perhaps an alternative title for my book: We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For–How Survivors Created a Movement to End Sexual Violence) https://www.junejordan.net/poem-for-south-african-women.html
