In early February, Tarana Burke, the original founder of the #MeToo movement, spoke in Pittsburgh. Several members of Blackburn Center’s community were fortunate enough to be in attendance at this standing-room-only event, where Ms. Burke spoke about her life, her work, and how sexual violence impacts all women, but particularly women of color. In her talk, Ms. Burke made a statement that resonated with the audience. After speaking about a report on rape in Pittsburgh, she

For most Americans, the #MeToo movement started in the fall of 2017, with the bombshell New York Times story that Harvey Weinstein had been sexually harassing and assaulting employees and actresses for decades. On October 15, 2017, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, “if you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” With that, the #MeToo movement took off, with Milano and actress Rose McGowan typically receiving the credit for it. Yet in re

On August 12, 2017, white supremacists from across the nation descended on Charlottesville, Virginia for a “Unite the Right” hate rally that quickly descended into violence and chaos. Blackburn Center joins our statewide and national partners in condemning the racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, xenophobia and the hatred shown by the white supremacists during this rally in Charlottesville. Although the rally seemed largely designed to inspire fear and show hatred for people o

A little over a week ago, the nation watched in horror as a collection of neo Nazis and white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. Chanting Nazi slogans and “you will not replace us,” the alleged rally to protest the removal of a Confederate war statue quickly descended into violence and chaos. One of the white supremacists attending the rally rammed his car into counter protesters, killing 32 year old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. We have written befo

Over the past month, we have explored one particular aspect of intersectionality: race. But race is just one way that women can experience either further oppression or greater privilege. Intersectionality, a concept first introduced by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, encourages feminists to consider how there are many issues that impact women on top of sexism — including race, sexuality, gender identity, religion, disability status, and age. To include all women in our st

When the reboot of the 1980’s classic Ghostbusters was announced last year, the backlash was immediate. Many proclaimed that this remake would “ruin their childhood,” in large part because the main characters in the 2016 version are all women. The trailer for the movie is the most disliked video on YouTube, thanks to a coordinated campaign by Men’s Rights Activists to slam the film. But for one of the movie’s stars, Leslie Jones, the criticism has taken an especially hatef