The mission of the annual Speaking Truth to Power Celebration is to inspire and encourage people to stand up and speak out for justice and equality.
OUR INSPIRATION:
Based on the courageous actions of Professor Anita Hill, who testified before a hostile, all-male U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991, the annual Speaking Truth to Power Celebration brings hundreds of people together to acknowledge that sexual misconduct and gender-based misuse of power continues in the workplace. The celebration’s hosts and attendees consider Professor Hill to be a role model who helps empower millions of people around the world to succeed in whatever they choose to do, as well as arming them with the tools to combat bias when they encounter it. The celebration serves as an ongoing reminder to women of all generations that Hill’s story remains as relevant today as it was in 1991.
WHY THIS IS STILL NECESSARY:
There is a generation of people who don’t know the history of the problems they will confront. While 1991 seems long ago, it is the blink of an eye on the horizon of time. The problem we address is centuries old.
Change happens not because one person speaks out, but because one person speaks out and other people join in. The I Believe Anita Hill Celebration seeks to bring the voices of the many together for the common purpose of bringing equality to the workplace and ensuring that the progress of recent decades continues.
The documentary, “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power”, filmed by Freida Mock (partially in Columbia at our 20th Annual Anita Hill Celebration), debuted in theaters across America in 2014. Click here to view the trailer.
The HBO movie “Confirmation” stars Kerry Washington as Anita Hill and depicts the hearings and the controversy that unfolded when Anita Hill alleged that she was sexually harassed by Clarence Thomas. The film premiered in 2016. Click here to view the trailer.