Welcome to My Moment.
It wasn’t an a-ha! moment that led us to ask more than one hundred women the same exact question over the course of two years. It was a culmination of events throughout each of our lives that became unearthed when we saw the heroic Dr. Christine Blasey Ford stand in the Senate Chambers. With her right hand raised, she swore to tell the truth—the whole truth. Her voice shaking, she recalled and relived sexual assault committed by a man about to serve a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. We watched members of the committee question HER memory, HER interpretation of the events, HER ethics. He was innocent until proven guilty, in this case, with the understanding that proof would never be beyond a reasonable doubt. Her display of grace and strength was a master class.
The voice of one woman, who came to represent so many of us, was mocked, disregarded, and silenced. Craving sisterhood, we took to text chains with best friends, relatives, colleagues, and each other. Stories began to bubble up, from in- appropriate encounters and incidents normalized as a sign of the times to stories of workplace injustices, schoolyard bullying, physical and sexual abuse.
We, five friends who have lifted each other up for years, took an inventory of all the stories that we’d accumulated from the women in our lives. We thought that if we were able to share these accounts more widely we could not only inspire and give hope but quite possibly save a life. We started posing this question to women of all different backgrounds and ages:
“What was the moment in your life when you realized you were ready to fight for yourself?”
It was simple, to the point, and capable of evoking the most powerful and poi- gnant responses.
Each answer was unique, and yet common themes emerged around coming out, racism, body shaming, sexism, motherhood, activism, sobriety, and more. The women in the pages of this book give an intimate look at the private moments that typically get overlooked but are often life-changing.
In early 2020, our original plan was to photograph each person professionally. Then Covid hit. Editorialized, consistent black-and-white portraits all shot by the same photographer were no longer an option. But women can turn any problem into an even better outcome. With help from Sony Electronics, we sent most of the contributors a Sony DSC professional camera and asked that they have a woman or girl important to them take their photo. The results were breathtaking. Beautiful portraits by mothers, daughters, best friends of forty years, and even a few self- portraits filled our inboxes.
My Moment was a true labor of love. We are honored to share these incredible stories with you. We hope you will use them as a guide and draw inspiration and comfort from the words of these women, many of whom have changed the course of history and some who will be the next to do so.
And remember, we are in this together—you’re not alone.
Love,
Kristin, Kathy, Linda, Chely, and Lauren
P.S. What was YOUR moment?