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A review by willowbiblio
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
“The journey will be longer than you imagined, trauma will find you again and again. Do not become the ones who hurt you. Stay tender with your power. Never fight to injure, fight to uplift. Fight because you know that in this life, you deserve safety, joy, and freedom. Fight because it is your life. Not anyone else’s.”
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I’m actually not sure how many times I cried while reading this book. I remember when the Victim Impact Statement was published on BuzzFeed. I read it at my desk at work and cried silently. To now have context for what drove such an impactful statement felt like a kind of extremely sad gift. Chanel‘s voice is so compelling and unflinching.
The Grateful Garments connection made me sob, as did so many other little and big moments. I loved the jar analogy and how she described it cropping up, invading her peace, and refusing to be ignored. Trauma will always come out, even if it has to be sideways.
I loved how much unconditional support Chanel received when she was ready to share her truth with each of her loved ones. It was jarring for me to read about her thumbnail crescents as that is also something I began doing after trauma.
Her ongoing process of rebuilding her faith in herself and other people, like comedy shows and walking home with a friend, was so heartwrenching and moving. I really appreciated the way she wrote about scuba diving and the forced reconnection to her body. Sometimes extreme disassociation is the only thing that’s tolerable and survivable.
The way that her assault completely altered and disrupted her life‘s progression is sadly true of so many survivors, including myself. She conveyed this so well and repeated it very intentionally. I also deeply relate to her terror of being known and associated with her own story, even the hesitancy to let safe people in and make her world less small.
Her writing about the criminal justice process and the continual denial of victims and revictimization she experienced was so raw.
I think every school should have this as required reading.
————————
I’m actually not sure how many times I cried while reading this book. I remember when the Victim Impact Statement was published on BuzzFeed. I read it at my desk at work and cried silently. To now have context for what drove such an impactful statement felt like a kind of extremely sad gift. Chanel‘s voice is so compelling and unflinching.
The Grateful Garments connection made me sob, as did so many other little and big moments. I loved the jar analogy and how she described it cropping up, invading her peace, and refusing to be ignored. Trauma will always come out, even if it has to be sideways.
I loved how much unconditional support Chanel received when she was ready to share her truth with each of her loved ones. It was jarring for me to read about her thumbnail crescents as that is also something I began doing after trauma.
Her ongoing process of rebuilding her faith in herself and other people, like comedy shows and walking home with a friend, was so heartwrenching and moving. I really appreciated the way she wrote about scuba diving and the forced reconnection to her body. Sometimes extreme disassociation is the only thing that’s tolerable and survivable.
The way that her assault completely altered and disrupted her life‘s progression is sadly true of so many survivors, including myself. She conveyed this so well and repeated it very intentionally. I also deeply relate to her terror of being known and associated with her own story, even the hesitancy to let safe people in and make her world less small.
Her writing about the criminal justice process and the continual denial of victims and revictimization she experienced was so raw.
I think every school should have this as required reading.