Chanel Miller

Writer

When I was given the opportunity to write this book, whatever God is up there said, You got your dream. I said, Actually I was hoping for a lighter topic, and God was like, Ha ha! You thought you got to choose.

From Know My Name

We'd gotten an arrest, a guilty verdict, the small percentage that gets the conviction. It was time to see what justice looked like. We threw open the doors, and there was nothing. It took the breath out of me.

From Know My Name

When you say go to the police, what do you envision?...the police will move on to other cases while the victim is left in the agonizing, protracted judicial process, where she will be made to question, and then forget, who she is. You were physically attacked? Here's some information on how you can enter a multiyear process of verbal abuse.

From Know My Name

Brock said he'd failed to tell the detective so many crucial details upon his initial arrest[ed] ...my mind was going a million miles an hour, and it was impossible for me to think clearly about what happened. Meanwhile victims are always expected to think clearly, we don't get to use fear as an excuse.

From Know My Name

The officer claimed he'd been scared, had reason to believe Philando was reaching for his gun. Show me that scenario. A man seated with a trunk full of melting groceries, wearing a thin layer of cotton, a little girl in the backseat. About to whip out his gun, shoot through the cop's bulletproof vest, to be his own getaway driver? Why would Philando shoot an innocent man withing forty seconds of meeting him? Why would the officer?

From Know My Name

The probation officer had given my input a single paragraph. She had taken my words but constructed her own sentences, shaving all context away. I just want him to get better, it said. She gave me a voice of forgiveness and submission, the agony neatly paved over. She'd reduced my suffering to the line, I don't experience joy from this. She'd drawn her own conclusion: He doesn't need to be behind bars. This woman, who had been absent for the entire battle, had arrived to take the victory away.

From Know My Name

One of the greatest dangers of victimhood is the singling out; all of your attributes and anecdotes assigned blame. In court they'll try to make you believe you are unlike the others, you are different, an exception. You are dirtier, more stupid, more promiscuous. But it's a rick. The assault is never personal, the blaming is.

From Know My Name

I'd heard about heartbreak in songs, but holy shit, damn. There should be a name for that feeling...How to exist without this person?...

I remember people always telling me ne there are other fish in the sea, and I said, Yes, that's where they fucking are.

From Know My Name

One of the greatest dangers of victimhood is the singling out; all of your attributes and anecdotes assigned blame. In court they'll try to make you believe you are unlike the others, you are different, an exception. You are dirtier, more stupid, more promiscuous. But it's a trick. The assault is never personal, the blaming is.

From Know My Name

One of the greatest dangers of victimhood is the singling out; all of your attributes and anecdotes assigned blame. In court they'll try to make you believe you are unlike the others, you are different, an exception. You are dirtier, more stupid, more promiscuous. But it's a trick. The assault is never personal, the blaming is.

From Know My Name

One of the greatest dangers of victimhood is the singling out; all of your attributes and anecdotes assigned blame. In court they'll try to make you believe you are unlike the others, you are different, an exception. You are dirtier, more stupid, more promiscuous. But it's a trick. The assault is never personal, the blaming is.

From Know My Name