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Nicole McHugh

Professor Ferrara

ENGL 1001

07 April 2022

The Importance of a Movement

In November 2018, Tarana Burke took the Ted stage and presented the audience with her

“Me Too is a movement, not a moment” speech. Throughout her speech, Tarana Burke

effectively used different rhetorical strategies in order to create a response throughout the

audience listening to her empowering words.

Tarana Burke, the author of this TED Talk, was motivated to construct this speech due to

her past experiences of sexual assault and the numb sensation it developed within her. At just

seven years old, Tarana was exposed to the world of sexual assault and ever since then, she has

been motivated to create change throughout society that, in the end, results in a world free of

sexual violence. The purpose of Tarana’s was to deconstruct the components of power and

privilege that are considered essential characteristics of sexual assault. She then wanted people to

use this knowledge to empower society to create such a world free from the burdens of others'

harmful actions. Tarana conveyed her message to those attending the TED stage but also to the

audience beyond those physically present. The speech was recorded and streamed on the

internet, making it available for whoever desires to listen. She intended to reach out not only to

sexual assault survivors, but also to society as a whole and inform them on how everyone can

contribute to this change in the world.

At one point in her speech, Tarana brought up her feelings of numbness in which she felt

that she had nothing left to give to those coming to her for help. These feelings have stemmed
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from certain situations throughout society and politics, which has prompted Tarana Burke to

create this speech and reach out to people. On the TED stage, Tarana expresses, “Someone with

credible accusations of sexual violence against him was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the

United States of America, again. The US President, who was caught on tape talking about how

he can grab women’s body parts wherever he wants, however he wants, can call a survivor a liar”

(“Me Too is a movement” 00:02:41-03:04). Both of the situations that Tarana provided for the

audience have a major similarity, involving the fact that people in power feel they have the

authority to act however they wish, usually without thinking of the consequences. Tarana Burke

felt the need to reach out after creating the “Me Too” movement in order to bring awareness to

these types of situations as they occur pretty frequently in our society. Burke explained to the

audience that influential people in our society should not be causing set backs in such a powerful

movement but instead we need to elect members who are going to use their means in order to

help initiate the change.

By providing numerous experiences as well as a great deal of information, Tarana Burke

provided the audience with the message of how important it is to listen and learn from survivors.

By doing this, we aim to better society rather than double back on the progress we have already

made. In her speech, Burkes explains “world leaders are discrediting your memories or the news

media keeps erasing your experience” (“Me Too is a movement” 00:13:02-07). She explained to the

audience that silencing the voices of survivors through social media or by electing politicians

who are know offenders will only prevent us from reaching our end goal, a world free of sexual

violence. In order to convey this powerful message, Tarana Burke used all three rhetorical

appeals including ethos, pathos, and logos.

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The rhetorical appeal of ethos pleases the credibility of the audience. This was achieved

throughout this speech since Tarana Burke is a credible speaker herself. Burke had experienced

the horrors of sexual assault herself and has dedicated her life to creating change. Her stories and

experiences have made her a valuable person for people to go and receive help from. Burke is a

trustworthy speaker because she has taken the time to listen to survivors, which has provided her

with an abundance of knowledge on this situation she is familiar with herself. She has taken this

knowledge and turned it into the “Me Too” movement, hoping to steer society in the right

direction.

Pathos is the rhetorical appeal that forms a connection to the emotions of the audience.

Tarana Burke achieved this connection by sharing multiple experiences, one including her

great-great-grandfather. In her speech she expresses “legend has it that when he was freed by his

enslavers, he walked from Georgia to South Carolina so that he could find his wife and child that

he was separated from” (“Me Too is a movement” 00:13:41-52). By telling the audience this story,

an emotional response was invoked upon them because it illustrated the emotional and physical

journey that her great-great-grandfather went through all to be united with his family again.

Burke went on to explain to the audience how this impacted her life by stating, “I am here

because somebody, starting with my ancestors, believed I was possible” (“Me Too is a movement”

00:14:22-28). Tarana Burke expressed that the only way she ended up where she is today is

because of her family, allowing the audience to take the time to think about who in their life

supports them in the same way. Burke also evoked emotions throughout the audience when she

explained the importance of an empathy based movement. In her talk, Burke says “it would help

us feel that we can heal, that we weren’t the sum total of things that happened to us” (“Me Too is a

movement” 00:14:59-15:01). Tarana took the time to explain to the audience and make them realize
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the reality of how survivors of sexual assault feel about themselves after their experiences. This

caused the audience to realize how severe the consequences of sexual assault are and how they

affect survivors. The audience was given the opportunity to put themselves into the shoes of a

survivor, helping the audience realize the need for change so that in the future, no one will have

to feel the painful aftermath of sexual violence.

The author uses logos to the appeal of reasoning of the audience when including statistics

to support her arguments involving sexual assualt. Taran Burke provided the audience with

educational statistics including ‘one in four girls and one is six boys are sexually assaulted every

year, eighty four percent of trans womrn are sexually assaulted a year, indigenous women are

three-and-a-half times more likely to be sexually assaulted, 60 percent of black girls will

experience sexual violence before they turn 18 and thousands and thopusands of low-wage

workers experience sexual harrasement a jobs they cant afford to quit’ (“Me Too is a movement”

00:06:55-07:45). These statistics were used to inform the audience the realities of sexual assault

and how many people it affects, hoping for them to logically realize the need for change

throughout society.

The tone of this speech has both somber but motivational components to it as well.

Tarana Burke created a somber tone when expressing her feelings of numbness and including

heartbreaking statistics. Burke included these aspects in hopes to help society realize just how

impactful sexual violence is and to open their eyes to what a world without sexual violence

would look like. This speech is more on the informal side as it is more of an attempt to reach out

to society through emotions and experiences rather than just providing straightforward

information to the audience.

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The target audience of this speech, including the TED audience and society as a whole,

would find this speech welcoming and appealing. Tarana Burke welcomed people to listen to

survivors within their community to learn from them and push the movement forward in the

direction toward freedom. This speech was also appealing to the audience because it covered a

topic that is such a prominent problem and affects such a large population. It does not only affect

survivors themselves, but also their family and friends. Since the audience this topic relates to is

so large, she appealed to them by expressing her hope for change and how people can contribute.

Tarana Burke created such an emotional and impactful speech about sexual assault by

using all three rhetorical appeals. Throughout her speech, she used emotional experiences,

informative statistics, and no logical fallacies in order to be effective in expressing the need for

change. Burke’s hope for a future with no sexual assault is one she wants to share with the

auidence in hopes that they as well will contribute to the change.

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Works Cited

Burke, Tarana, director. Tarana Burke: Me Too Is a Movement, Not a Movement | TED Talk,

https://www.ted.com/talks/tarana_burke_me_too_is_a_movement_not_a_moment?langua

ge=en. Accessed 4 Apr. 2022.