Hauu! You must login or signup first!

zinziclemmnons @zinziclemmons Follow My statement on why I will no longer write for @lennyletter, and the behavior I witnessed firsthand from @lenadunham's friends. It is time for women of color--black women in particular--to divest from Lena Dunham longer writa for Lenny Letter. For all you writers who are outraged about what she did, Iencourage you to do thn same. Especially women af colar. She cannot have our words if she carnot respect us. To eliminate any doubt, I kno xacthy who Lena Dunam is--who she wes before she was famaus--and have for years, and I will tel yau: I am currently In Nigeria at a literary festival on the theme of temin which, of course, means black African feminism. It is a beautiful th have been awed and inspired by the women here who are facing s immense obstacles, putting themselves in danger every day to he women in some ot the worst conditions on earth. Remember that i She and Iran in the same circles in colege. Jemirma Kirke was in my year those 26 migrant girls who drowned off the coast of Italy last wee at RISD while I was at Broan. We had many mutual acquaintances and still do. Most af these acquaintances were like Lena-wealthy, with parents who are influential in the art world. They had a lat of power and seemed to get off on s mutaneously wielding it and denying it. Back In college, I avolded those people l be the plague because of their wall-knawn racism. I'd call their stran 'hipster racism, which typically uses sarcasm as a cover, and in the end, it looks a lot ike gaslightng- It's just a Jake. Why are you overreacting?' Is a common respcnse to these kinds of statements. In Lena's circle, there was a girl who was known to use the N word in conversation in order to be provocative, and if she was ever called on it, she would say "it's just a joke" Iwas often in the same roam with her, but I never spake to her, only watched her fram afar in andety and homor. I have been overcome by emot on since reading Aurora Perrineau's account because of its similarity to an incident that happened when Iwas Let's hold Lena accountable, and to me that means sacrificing sor in eollege. Ore ef my best friencs was vietimized in almost the exact same way by someone in Lena's circle. It was never addressed, and he cantinuns to mave in thase circls and has a powerful jph. My frieas A luta continua asina throuah a hard time then. and we decided not to reporti: or take it Northern Nigerians, and sex trafficked). Yesterday, I had the hono sharing a stage with Hadiza El-Rufai, who comes from the same re who lost both her son and daughter in the process of publishing h latest novel. She has made it her mission to promote the stories o women from that area, no matter the cost. If these women can do surely we can make this small sacrifice. I had one reservation in this decision, and that is that there are ma incredible women who work for Lenny, two of whom have support work with such selfless care. I would apologize to them for this de but I'm not doing that anymore. Their boss betrayed them by her and it was wrong for her to make them choose between their auth supporting their boss. They deserve so much better. with was often i comfort and a little bit of cash, in this moment. 6:56 AM-19 Nov 2017

Zinzi Clemmons Statement


Uploaded by Adam Nov 20, 2017 at 12:43PM EST

Share Pin Download More

Origin Entry: Lena Dunham

File type: png

Resolution: (607px x 598px)

File size: 431 KB


Lena Dunham Apologizes @lenadunhamapols Lena Dunham Apologizes For Timing Of Statement About How The Patriarchy ls 'Fetch' On A Diveristy Panel Full Of White People
Every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard, fully and completely, and our relationship to the accused should not be part of the calculation anyone makes when examining her case. Every person and every feminist should be required to hear her. Under patriarchy, "I believe you" is essential. Until we are all believed, none of us will be believed. We apologize to any women who have been disappointed.
As feminists, we live and die by our politics, and believing women is the first choice we make every single day when we wake up. Therefore I never thought I would issue a statement publically supporting someone accused of sexual assault, but I naively believed it was important to share my perspective on my friend's situation as it has transpired behind the scenes over the last few months.I now understand that it was absolutely the wrong time to come forward with such a statement and I am so sorry. We have been given the gift of powerful voices and by speaking out we were putting our thumb on the scale and it was wrong. We regret this decision with every fiber of our being.
View All 18 Images


Moar:


+ Add a Comment

Comments (0)

There are no comments currently available.

Display Comments

Add a Comment


+ Add an Image

Image Details

643 views (10 from today)

Uploaded Nov 20, 2017 at 12:43PM EST

Origin Entry

Lena Dunham

Source

Twitter

Tags

zinzi clemmons, allegations, lennyletter

Claim Authorship Edit History
Textile Embed