48 Time November 25, 2019
A POWERFUL VOICE
CHANEL MILLER | 27
By Christine Blasey Ford
Mark Twain wrote, “Courage is
resistance to fear, mastery of
fear—not absence of fear.” Chanel
Miller embodied courage long
before writing her powerfully
moving book, Know My Name.
As “Emily Doe,” she courageously
testified against the man who
sexually assaulted her and read
her victim- impact statement in
court, looking right at him. “You
took away my worth, my privacy,
my energy, my time, my safety,
my intimacy, my confidence, my
own voice, until today.” And when
her statement went viral, she
gave millions of survivors their
own “today.”
An artist and writer and only27 years old, Chanel will make
many more beautiful things.
She will make the world a better
place, and she will make all of us
a bit better.
Chanel, you truly areeverything you told us to be: “you
are important, unquestionably,
you are untouchable, you are
beautiful, you are to be valued,
respected, undeniably, every
minute of every day, you are
powerful and nobody can take
that away from you.” Chanel, we
are with you. Thank you.
Ford is a professor at Palo
Alto University and a fellow at
Stanford’s Center for Advanced
Study in the Behavioral Sciences