Artist and Writer Chanel Miller on Surviving, Identity, and Activism

This week on At Liberty, we’re rounding out our Women’s History Month series with writer and artist Chanel Miller. Miller jumped into the spotlight back in 2015. First known to the public as "Emily Doe," Miller's victim impact statement from the sentencing hearing of Brock Turner, who sexually assaulted her on Stanford University's campus, went viral. The statement she wrote helped spark the #MeToo movement, but her name was nowhere to be found.

In 2019, Chanel stepped out from her anonymity and into authoring her own story. She published the New York Times bestselling memoir, Know My Name. She is now known as a leading voice for survivors of sexual violence and as an emerging artist, currently debuting work at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum.

Behind every social issue are survivors, often of discrimination, of atrocity, and of violence. Everyone has had an experience that made them feel nameless and faceless. But Chanel knows that in owning our own power and stories, we can gain strength for both ourselves and those around us. She joined us this week to share more about her own journey.