by Cyrus Webb
B*tch or the “B” word, as I grew up calling it, is not something we have ever used freely on my radio show or in the pages of our magazine. 2020, however changed that when I was introduced to attorney and author Taetrece Harrison. Her book B*TCH HUNT is not just provocative. It’s a book I think everyone should read. I had a chance to talk with her about the book, her own personal experiences and what she wants readers to take away from it in this engaging conversation.
Taetrece, you already knew the
book title was going to be thought-provoking and get attention. Why did you
feel like this was an important title for this book?
I knew it was going to provoke
something where people wanted to find out ‘What is this about? What does this
mean?’ I came up with the name as a play on witch hunts that took place back
during Salem, where white men were basically persecuting women for allegedly
being witches. And so the play on that was taking out the ‘w’ and putting in
the ‘b’ for black women and it becoming B*TCH HUNT.
Part of the story that you share in the book is your own story, which I'm glad
that I got a chance to know more about you and your journey in this. I think
this is an interesting conversation for us in 2020. When did you decide to
write this book? It is so timely. I'm curious as to when you actually decided
that you wanted to write it.
Well, I actually came up with it
right after the incident happened with me. So not too long after my trial ended,
and I ran for judge. That would have been around April or May of 2018 when I
actually started writing this book.
It definitely strikes a chord with
where we are today. I think when people look at you today: being an attorney, author
and a person who's out there letting her voice be heard, they would not
necessarily think of someone who's been stifled or targeted. Not to give anything
away for those who haven’t read it, but what has that been like for you to
share your story?
I felt like it was important,
because of the fact that because I am an attorney, people would not suspect
that I would be in this type of situation. I felt that it was important to then
highlight the fact that this could basically happen to anyone. And that's why
it was so important to tell this story, to be able to let people know this is
what I got dealt with, and how I maneuvered through it. I also want them to
know that they can do it as well. They can stand up for themselves, just like I
stood up for myself.
And standing up for oneself is so important. And a lot of what happens in your
story ties into the narrative that we're hearing nationally about
representation. I want to talk to you about the subtleness of this, because one
of the things that was brought to my attention was when something happens to a black
person and the press is involved, typically the pictures that are shown of them
are not the most flattering versus with a similar situation with whites. The
pictures typically are different. You actually addressed that in your chapter
of the book. It seems like such a “small thing”, but what do you want people to
know about that? About representation and what that shows, especially when it
comes to the media?
That happened to me, where my picture
was depicted one way in a certain newspaper that is known for being biased, and
you have a white attorney who had gotten arrested, whose picture was shown in a
whole different light. Not to negate what I did or what he did. Mine was
basically based off of ‘he say, I say’, where his was based off of the fact
that he was accused of being a pedophile. [In the newspaper] he got the nice picture,
and I get the mugshot picture.
The whole book basically is highlighting
colorism and also racism throughout, because it's what we're dealing with now.
And it's just interesting, because
I actually tried to get the book out like last year, but I had some difficulty.
Things happen for a reason. The book came out on Juneteenth of 2020, which is just
amazing in itself. And then it came out in the thick of what's going on with
the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement. It just highlights again why the movement is
so important, because this is a prime example of the things that we talk about
as black people, about how we are treated differently in the media. If you're going
to highlight someone who has been arrested, then do it across the board the
same way. Don't treat one person differently than another person.
I have a strong mother, and I had a
strong grandmother. That's all of the females in my family. We're not ones to be weak. We're not weak-minded
people. We're very, very strong. We don't deal with bullies. We definitely
don't back down when we know it's right.
The book B*TCH HUNT is available
on Amazon.com. Stay connected with Taetrece online at www.taetreceharrison as well as on
social media at www.facebook.com/taetreceharrisonauthor
www.instagram.com/taetreceharrisonauthor
.
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