National writer Jocelyn Noveck has built a strong source relationship with the very private Anita Hill over the course of 15 years, interviewing her many times, and she has also developed ties with other high-profile figures in the #MeToo movement, earning a reputation of trust and respect.
That source building resulted in a series of three recent interviews with women of color, all advocates for victims of sexual harassment and abuse:
— #MeToo founder Tarana Burke
— the first interview in any format with Monifa Bandele the new head of the embattled organization Time’s Up
— Hill, who gave Noveck one of just two on-camera interviews to mark the release of her new book on sexual violence, which comes 30 years after her testimony in Congress against Clarence Thomas.
All three appeared on camera, speaking of their experiences facing sexual misconduct and how American society must deal simultaneously with its race and gender struggles, because one cannot be solved without the other.
At left, Monifa Bandele, who has taken interim leadership of Time’s Up, the organization founded in Hollywood to advocate for victims of sexual harassment, shown in a 2021 selfie. At right, Tarana Burke, founder and leader of the #MeToo movement, poses for a photo at her home in Baltimore, Oct. 13, 2020. Burke has released her memoir, “Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement.” Both women were recently interviewed by the AP.
Monifa Bandele via AP (left); AP Photo / Steve Ruark