41. Believing Her: The Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill Hearings at 30

Thirty years ago this week, Anita Hill sat across an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. A historic moment that brought visibility to the issue of sexual harassment, Anita's bravery during the 1991 confirmation hearing set the stage for countless others to better understand and speak out against their own experiences of gender-based violence. Decades later, questions of how gender-based violence intersects with race and power remain as relevant as ever.

On this special anniversary episode, Kimberlé and Luke Charles Harris, co-founder of the African American Policy Forum, reflect on their memory of being at the 1991 confirmation hearing and the lessons learned through Clarence Thomas' confirmation that inspired AAPF's birth. With excerpts from a recent conversation between Kimberlé and Anita Hill, this episode examines the legacy of Black women's truth telling, the persistence of gender-based violence, and the intersectional politics needed to pave a new way forward. 

With:

LUKE CHARLES HARRIS - Co-Founder, the African American Policy Forum; Associate Professor of American Politics and Constitutional Law, Vassar College

ANITA HILL - Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University, Lawyer, and Legal Scholar; Author, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine

Co-produced by Ashley Julien

Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast