Tarana Burke
American activist who started the MeToo movement.
- field
- Activism
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Founding the MeToo movement
Lore & Background
Tarana Burke was born in The Bronx, New York, and attended Catholic primary school and Herbert H. Lehman High School. Her passion for community organizing began in the late 1980s when she joined the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement. She attended Alabama State University and later Auburn University at Montgomery, where she organized press conferences and protests focused on racial justice. After graduating college, she moved to Selma, Alabama, in the late 1990s.
Reader's Guide
Her work shifted public discourse on sexual violence, empowering survivors to share their experiences. Burke's activism, rooted in racial and economic justice, highlights the intersectionality of sexual violence. Her legacy includes two New York Times bestsellers and a Harvard case study, cementing her impact on social justice and survivor advocacy.
Did You Know?
- Burke co-authored the New York Times bestseller 'You Are Your Best Thing' with Brené Brown.
More in Revolutionary Leaders & Icons 25-38
Elsewhere in the Revolutionary Leaders & Icons universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record