In this Lesson on Sharing Your Stories, Chicago-born writer and reproductive justice activist Renee Bracey Sherman talks transforming the visibility and representation of people who have had stigmatized experiences. Bracey Sherman shares why it’s so important to share your own story, how you can stand strong in speaking your truth, and how you can embrace the collective hug of support that comes along with joining a movement for change. Because your voice and story matters.
Renee Bracey Sherman has been hailed as the ‘Beyoncé of Abortion Storytelling.’ She’s a Chicago-born, midwest-raised activist, writer and reproductive justice activist committed to the visibility and representation of people who have abortions in media and pop culture. She is among the most vital voices in the elevating the conversation about abortion experiences, and using creative and innovative strategies to shift the conversation centering people of color and other marginalized identities. She’s popularized the phrase “everyone loves someone who had an abortion,” coined ‘abortionsplaining,’ and created the #AskAboutAbortion campaign which has led to presidential candidates being asked questions about their plans to increase abortion access. Her work is so influential that the right-wing website Twitchy recognizes her as “the queen of all abortions” and once wrote that Renee “never met an abortion she didn’t love.”
https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=24946284
Topics Discussed with Renee Bracey Sherman:
- Renee’s childhood memories around storytelling and history.
- How storytelling made its way into Renee’s work to share things that are unspeakable.
- How she found her way into her current profession.
- Why was she afraid to talk about her abortion initially?
- The weight of other people’s perceptions is what often keeps us from sharing our stories.
- How can we start speaking our truths?
- What does Renee mean by “abortion exceptionalism?”
- How We Testify is trying to change the culture and shift the conversation.
- Renee’s steps for talking about hard topics and tips for embodying strength.
- The power of support groups or as Renee calls them “collective hugs.”
- You don’t have to tell your story but it can give you peace if you share it with the right people.
- As humans in telling our stories and in speaking up about unspeakable things, it’s really about care of the self during those moments.
- You don’t have to tell your whole story and you can choose which parts to share.
- What is the message you’d like to send with your story?
- What the term “meshing” means.
- Renee co-authored Speak Up and Stay Safe and the resources it offers.
- How has Renee experienced harassment and how has she dealt with it?
- What is doxing?
Resources From the Episode:
https://www.wetestify.org/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/09/us/abortion-stories-black-women-reaj
https://onlinesafety.feministfrequency.com/en/
https://rockwoodleadership.org/rwl/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/VAOL-6-Week-Workbook-2021.pdf
https://www.usnews.com/360-reviews/privacy/what-is-doxxing
Speak Your Truth: 
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