Activist, founder of the me too movement · b. 1973
TB
BORN
1973
ERA
1990s to Present
KNOWN FOR
Activist, founder of the me too movement
§ THE SHORT VERSION
Tarana Burke, born in the Bronx in 1973, founded the me too movement in 2006 to support survivors of sexual violence, especially Black women and girls. The phrase spread worldwide in 2017, and TIME named her among the Silence Breakers, its Person of the Year.
Born in the Bronx in 1973. Organised in her community from her teens, working with young Black women and girls.
ME TOO
Highlights.
01
Founded the me too movement (2006)
02
TIME Person of the Year among the Silence Breakers (2017)
Tarana Burke, in 2006, more than a decade before the hashtag spread in 2017.
Who was the movement for?
Survivors of sexual violence, with a particular focus on Black women and girls.
What is Unbound?
Tarana Burke's 2021 memoir about her life and the founding of the movement.
She began the me too movement in 2006 to support survivors of sexual violence, above all Black women and girls, through empathy between survivors. Eleven years later the phrase went around the world in a single weekend.
KEEPING IT HERS
When the hashtag became a headline, she made sure the work under it stayed about survivors rather than celebrity. TIME named her among the Silence Breakers, its Person of the Year in 2017, and her memoir Unbound tells the story from the beginning.