EXCLUSIVE: Melissa Harris-Perry Interviews Anita Hill, 25 Years Later

[Starry Messenger]

Great interview--I'm looking forward to seeing "Confirmation" with Kerry Washington as Hill. Can't believe it's been 25 years.

http://www.essence.com/2016/04/06/exclusive-melissa-harris-perry-interviews-anita-hill-25-years-later

<snip>

HARRIS-PERRY: What difference did it make in the hearings that those stories were lost and that the -nation does not have a context for understanding Black women’s experiences?

HILL: I’ve had almost 25 years to think about this. Let me ask this very basic question: What if the Senate had actually taken me seriously? What if they decided that they were going to use this as an opportunity to reflect best practices in the workplace? I think they would have done a thorough investigation, not a rushed investigation led by the FBI, which had, as far as we know, very little experience investigating sexual harassment. It would have meant calling qualified experts in sexual harassment. It would have meant throwing out irrelevant testimonies and calling all the witnesses who were testifying to similar patterns of behavior. What if they had reflected best practices? How much pain and anguish could they have saved American women? How might that have changed the way women in this country think about our -workplaces and about how we are represented in our government? That’s the question I want people to be asking 25 years later—what if they had done the right thing and not the politically expedient thing?

HARRIS-PERRY: Has any member of that Senate Judiciary Committee ever reached out to you over the course of the past 25 years and asked you what the right thing would have looked like from your perspective?

HILL: Never. I have never been asked that question by a member of the committee. They could have asked me very simply,

“As a citizen who was involved in the process, what do we owe you? As a citizen with information, how can we make sure you are heard?” Even 25 years later it is still worth asking how we can make sure that when representatives call citizens to speak, their government actually hears them. Maybe we could still have that conversation now, because it truly meant something to me. I knew that there was a risk in speaking, but I also knew that it was a responsibility I had as a citizen. It is important for our government to honor that.

<snip>

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. And the GOP has the god damn nerve to not confirm our President's very reasonable

appointment.

And not just Garland, many others.


http://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/governmental_legislative_work/priorities_policy/independence_of_the_judiciary/judicial_vacancies.html

[brer cat]

2. That was a dark time for women

and black women above all. Joe Biden, are you listening?

Maybe we could still have that conversation now, because it truly meant something to me. I knew that there was a risk in speaking, but I also knew that it was a responsibility I had as a citizen. It is important for our government to honor that.

Thanks for sharing, Starry Messenger. K&R

[Starry Messenger]

3. I was 21 and full of myself.

I thought we as woman were in a more advanced place. The next couple of years that decade were eye-opening.

I'm glad Anita is telling it like it is. What a hero!

[brer cat]

4. She still is a hero!

I was older and more jaded, but I thought I saw a break-through moment with her...then it was dashed against the rocks again.

[Not Sure]

5. Hear, hear!

I'm glad Anita is telling it like it is. What a hero!

The whole spectacle was eye-opening for me, being young and just starting out in the working world.

[Recursion]

6. Can I also recommend "Anita" (2013)?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2481202/

Made by veteran documentarian Freida Mock; she screened it here in Mumbai two years ago and it was amazing.

[ismnotwasm]

7. I read this--such an excellent read

She went through literal hell. And saw her abuser rise to near unimpeachable, untouchable power. I admire Anita Hill so much.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

8. If this were to happen today, these same allegations of a right wing appointment to the SC

the Republican party would still vote en masse for the misogynist appointment, or if it was someone who was openly racist, etc.

The reason this mattered back then was "if" she as telling the truth (clearly she was) then he doesnt get the seat.

Today he would be considered quite qualified by the right, actually.

[Basement Beat]

9. Major respect to Anita Hill...

and also to Melissa Harris-Perry.
Growing up in a household where my father (who unfortunately died when I was lad) showed by example to respect and honor black women especially - it's very easy to realize how absolutely amazing and varied my counterparts are.
So much burden has been put on their shoulders in terms of being trailblazers for EVERY generation in this country; and the push to be "strong" constantly can be enormously tiring.
In no fear of this post being blocked for whatever reason (DU is weird these days) we as their counterparts (i.e black men) have to collectively support and stand side by side. Far too often things that happen to sisters like Ms. Hill happen in various forms.

Apologies for going off into a tangent.

[Kind of Blue]

10. Thanks, Starry Messenger! n/t