Publisher Description

A searing collection of essays looks back at the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings that ignited a national debate about workplace sexual harassment.In the fall of 1991, Anita Hill captured the country's attention when she testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee describing sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas, who had been her boss and was about to ascend to the Supreme Court. We know what happened next: she was challenged, disbelieved, and humiliated; he was given a lifelong judicial appointment. What is less well-known is how many women and men were inspired by Anita Hill's bravery, how her testimony changed the feminist movement, and how she singlehandedly brought public awareness to the issue of sexual harassment. Twenty years later, this collection brings together three generations to witness, respond to, and analyze Hill's impact, and to present insights in law, politics, and the confluence of race, class, and gender. With original contributions by Anita Hill, Melissa Harris-Perry, Catharine MacKinnon, Patricia J. Williams, Eve Ensler, Ai Jen Poo, Kimberly Crenshaw, Lynn Nottage, Gloria Steinem, Lani Guinier, Lisa Kron, Mary Oliver, Edwidge Danticat, Kevin Powell, and many others."These timely essays show us how those historic hearings brought sexual harassment (especially in the workplace) into the public eye, while also revealing what still hasn't changed, and reminding us of the intersection of race, class, gender, and power that underlies this contentious issue." -Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Amy Richards is most popularly known as the co-author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future and as the voice behind Ask Amy, the online advice column she has run since 1995. She is also the author of Opting In: Having a Child Without Losing Yourself and the co-author of Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism. In addition to her writing and consulting, Amy spends most of her days running the foremost feminist lecture agency, Soapbox Inc: Speakers Who Speak Out.

Cynthia Greenberg, a former community organizer, works as a consultant to social justice, human rights, and arts organizations. She organized the Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later conference.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents:When You Speak Up by Eve EnslerIntroduction by Amy and Cynthia GreenbergA Comment, Not Casual, Concerning Anita Hill by Mary OliverPart I:WITNESSES: What Happened?A Thank You Note to Anita Hill by Letty PogrebinTwenty Years Later by Dorothy SamuelsI Salute You by Charles OgletreeSome of Us are Brave by Lani GuinierOld and New Depictions of Justice: Reflections, circa 2011, on Hill Thomas by Judith ResnikThe "Big" Story by Catharine MacKinnonBorn 35 by Jamia WilsonPower Suit by Lisa KronPart II:What Does Anita Hill Mean To You? ?Nita Faye by Asali Devan EcclesiastesA conversation withRHA GODDESSMELISSA HARRIS-PERRYEMILY MAYAI-JEN POOJOANNE N. SMITHPAT MITCHELLWord Power by Hope Anita SmithPart III: I Still Believe Anita HillA Poem for Anita Hill by Kevin Powell (Check formatting)Anita Hill: Twenty Years Later by Patricia J. WilliamsGive Your Child Luggage, Not Your Baggage by Anita HillGood Morning Anita Hill by Edwidge DanticatPart IV:WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN 20 YEARS & WHAT COMES NEXT?The Bloodless Coup by Deborah Copaken KoganTK by Kathleen PeratisStunned but Not Bowed by Kimberle CrenshawSex & Power by Virginia ValianSupremacy Crimes by Gloria SteinemRace & Gender by Devon CarbadoFBomb by Julie ZeilingerThe Scarlett C by Lynn NottageAPPENDIXRemembering The Anita Hill Hearings- 20 Years Later by Louise SlaughterTwenty Years Later by Maureen DowdAnita Hill by Patricia SchroederAnita Hill Testimony, October 1991RESOURCE GUIDEORGANIZATIONAL LISTINGEDITOR'S BIOS

Review

"This powerful book preserves the essays and conversations from the October 2011 conference organized at Hunter College for the 20th anniversary of Anita Hill's testimony at Clarence Thomas's Senate confirmation hearings. The eloquent results explore the hearings themselves—in which Hill charged that Supreme Court nominee Thomas had sexually harassed her—as well as their impact on the legal, social, and cultural landscape, and the lives of the authors.... The essays are by turns personal and analytical, but all are moving and engrossing... These timely essays show us how those historic hearings brought sexual harassment (especially in the workplace) into the public eye, while also revealing what still hasn't changed, and reminding us of the intersection of race, class, gender, and power that underlies this contentious issue." — Publishers Weekly

Promotional

National campaign to feminist and African American mediaMarketing campaign to women's studies and feminist scholarsPromotion at National Women's Studies Association conferencePromotion on feministpress.org and all the educational, public, and nonprofit institutions related to the vast array of contributors (i.e., CUNY, Brandeis, Girls for Gender Equity, Ms. magazine, V-Day, etc.)Social media campaign (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr)

Review Quote

"This powerful book preserves the essays and conversations from the October 2011 conference organized at Hunter College for the 20th anniversary of Anita Hill's testimony at Clarence Thomas's Senate confirmation hearings. The eloquent results explore the hearings themselves--in which Hill charged that Supreme Court nominee Thomas had sexually harassed her--as well as their impact on the legal, social, and cultural landscape, and the lives of the authors.... The essays are by turns personal and analytical, but all are moving and engrossing... These timely essays show us how those historic hearings brought sexual harassment (especially in the workplace) into the public eye, while also revealing what still hasn't changed, and reminding us of the intersection of race, class, gender, and power that underlies this contentious issue." -- Publishers Weekly

Competing Titles

Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home Anita Hill 9780807014370 25.95 Beacon Press 2011 Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America Melissa V. Harris-Perry 9780300165418 28.00 Yale University Press 2011 Manifesta [10th Anniversary Edition]: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future Jennifer Baumgardner 9780374532307 17.00 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2010 I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World Eve Ensler 9780812970166 14.00 Villard 2011

Description for Sales People

Leading feminist thinkers reflect on sexual harassment 20 years after the controversial Clarence Thomas hearings. Anita Hill re-entered the continuing debate in 2011 and attended a lecture organised by the Feminist Press. Features contributions from top feminists, organisers and scholars. Sexual harassment and the law continues to be a hotly-debated topic in the media.

Details