Chanel Miller’s memoir, Know My Name, is the most powerful memoir I’ve read. Not only is her story so important and vulnerable, she wrote it phenomenally. Her victim statement, released in 2016 by BuzzFeed and reprinted by other major news sources, reached a wide audience. It was viewed by eleven million people within four days, inspiring changes to the law and influencing other victims to share their stories. You can read the original BuzzFeed post here. In her statement, Miller addresses her attacker directly, facing the man she only knew from news coverage. She begins,

“You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me, and that’s why we’re here today.” 

Miller was drunk when she was sexually assaulted at a party. She didn’t get to write her own story during the trial because she didn’t remember it. Upon waking up in the hospital, there were pine needles embedded in her scalp, her underwear had been removed, and she didn’t know what had happened. She learned about her own sexual assault through the already budding news coverage. While sitting at work, she watched her own story unfold online, along with the rest of the world. 

Brock Turner was caught in the act, but denied all accusations. Throughout the trial, Miller’s words were carefully manipulated to tell a story that wasn’t her’s. Her memoir unflinchingly reclaims her voice. Miller narrates the audiobook version of Know My Name, which adds another layer of power to the story. I would highly recommend the audiobook. 

At the end of the trial, Brock Turner received a six month sentence, of which he served three months. Miller endured four years of emotional and legal turmoil for this result. Throughout the trial, various news sources praised Turner as a Stanford varsity swimmer, with a promising future. While his future was affected by his actions, his consequence was nowhere near the disruption and trauma Miller faced. 

Know My Name provides a direct and impactful retelling that changes how we think about sexual assault, court trials, news coverage, and truth. RAINN states that “Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted.” Miller told her story, and there are so many others, nine out of ten of which who are women, who haven’t. 

Chanel Miller has gone on to create an animated short film about her experience, I Am With You. She also wrote and illustrated her own children’s book, Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, a project she had always dreamed of. 

This blog post only highlights some takeaways of Know My Name, and I encourage anyone and everyone to read the full book to experience Chanel Miller’s story the way she intended. Know My Name is worth every moment, and people of all backgrounds and identities would benefit immensely from reading it. 

Learn more about Chanel Miller at https://chanel-miller.com/.  

Visit https://www.rainn.org/ to learn more about sexual violence and reach counselors.

Call 800-656-HOPE (4673) to reach the national sexual assault hotline.