Iris’ Testimonial on NO! A Documentary on Rape, Sexual Assault and Healing
April 29, 2008
“On March 9, 2008 I watched your documentary with a group of my friends, all women of color. This was the second time viewing for me and I was impacted just as much if not more than the first. I sat with my girlfriends after watching it and discussed our own feelings, experiences and sadness. Following our viewing we ate a meal together, laughed and expressed love for each other. Our pain and sadness was thankfully nourished by communal care and good food.
I want to say thank you so much for creating NO!. My life has changed after seeing it along with my commitment to ending violence. I don’t feel like I have the proper tools to really thank you but, I just need you to know that your film was amazing. Having the heart and passion for what you created is inspirational. I will take your message and spread it as far and as much as I can. Thank you. Your Sister, Iris“
Rebecca Spellmeyer | Ms. Heartland US Testimonial on NO! The Rape Documentary
April 6, 2008
“As a survivor of rape myself I found [NO!] to be very powerful and thought provoking. I am truly blessed to have been able to see a screening of this film and meet the wonderful woman that made this film possible.”
Rebecca Spellmeyer, Ms. Heartland US
Tamara K. Nopper’s Testimonial on NO!
March 20, 2008
“When I attended a fundraising event for NO! in New York several years ago, I watched an African American woman scholar artistically explore her survival of sexual assault. As a graduate student who has spent most of my professional life in academia, I had by that time observed how badly Black women are treated at all levels of the university. And I knew that this treatment was not isolated to academic spaces. Having seen, listened, and read about how Black women are racistly and sexistly perceived by men, women, and children of all races and sexualities, I was familiar with many of the themes in NO! Perhaps this is why I had such an emotional political response to watching this Black woman scholar talk about her sexual assault. I knew it was a great risk for her to draw attention to how she was attacked when racist and sexist imagery of Black women declares that they are unable to be violated because they are supposedly over-sexual. And having been in front of a classroom myself, I know that students pick you apart, watch your body, and judge you at every turn. Most students evaluate non-white teachers–and particularly Black teachers–with no remorse, and often in sexualized ways. So to watch a Black woman scholar demand documentation of her pain, to draw attention to her body, to tell her side of the story was simply…everything in the world. This is what NO! does: along with sharing the powerful stories of those in the film, it creates a space for those of us watching it to locate ourselves. In the process, NO! forces you on an emotional and political roller coaster ride. In my case, I left that fundraiser knowing I could no longer act as if what I knew I did not know, and what I saw I did not see. That’s perhaps the most beautiful and scary part of viewing NO!–once you watch it, there is no turning back.”
Tamara K. Nopper, educator and writer
T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting’s Testimonial On NO! A Documentary On Sexual Assault
March 10, 2008
“A most auspicious celluloid beginning to a long overdue taboo dialogue. Everyone should own a copy of NO!”
T. Sharpley-Whiting, Scholar and Author,
Pimps Up, Ho’s Down; Hip Hop’s Hold On Young Black Women
Mark Anthony Neal’s Testimonial on NO! A Documentary on Sexual Assault
March 10, 2008
“The notion “speaking truth to power” has been a hallmark of Black political struggle in the United States, but it has been increasingly clear that “speaking truth” was often solely reserved for Black men, especially when Black men themselves were the subject of scrutiny. In the spirit of women like Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Church Terrell, Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde, Toni Cade Bambara, Pat Parker, June Jordan and Michele Wallace, filmmaker Aishah Shahidah Simmons dares to “speak truth to power” with the emphatic power that the very exclamation NO! is intended to convey.”
Mark Anthony Neal, Scholar and Author, New Black Man
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