Me Too Founder Tarana Burke Launches HBCU Anti-Sexual Violence Tour

“Young black people across the diaspora ... rely on and invest in HBCUs not to just facilitate an education, but to keep them safe while doing so,” Burke said.
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Me Too founder Tarana Burke is taking her activism on the road.

The anti-sexual violence advocate announced on Wednesday that she’s spearheading a five-stop tour visiting historically black colleges and universities to discuss sexual violence on college campuses. The “Me Too HBCU tour” will be co-hosted by Burke and cultural scholar Yaba Blay throughout the month of April, which is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The tour will include “in-depth conversations and strategy sessions centered around creating safe and accountable communities for students, faculty, administrators,” according to the event’s website.

“This has been a vision of mine for many, many years,” Burke wrote on Instagram. “Every year during April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) college campuses around the country turn their focus towards dealing with sexual violence but very little activity happens on HBCU campuses during SAAM even though we know it’s happening!”

Burke and Blay plan to visit Howard University, Atlanta University Center, Alabama State University, North Carolina Central University and Florida A&M University.

Burke told The Root that the goal of the tour is to reframe the conversation about sexual violence and center “a broader spectrum of survivors.”

“Young black people across the diaspora ― along spectrums of class, gender, sexuality, and ability ― rely on and invest in HBCUs not to just facilitate an education, but to keep them safe while doing so,” she said. “We’re holding academic institutions accountable and harnessing our collective power to create strategies for sustained systemic change.”

Admission to each stop is free, but registration is encouraged. Head over to the tour’s website to read more about the Me Too HBCU tour.

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