By Nijla Mumin

When I was 18 years old, I was walking to the music store down the street from my college campus, when a man approached me. "Hey, what’s your name? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Not interested in his advance, I hurriedly responded "no, thank you," smiled, and kept walking. Less than 10 seconds later, I was bombarded by a swarm of insults. "You ugly bitch!!!" I had on red that day so he somehow found a way to integrate that into his insults. "You little red riding hood bitch!" He began to walk fast after me, and I quickened my pace, turning around to curse at him in the process. "Who the fuck do you think you are?," I yelled as I crossed the street. Passersby laughed and gawked at this situation. I felt fire inside my stomach as I entered the music store and finally got away from him.

What began as a quiet stroll down the street morphed into a public assault. I walked away from that interaction feeling defeated.

I came to this documentary because of experiences such as this. Experiences where my right and will to walk and breathe in public spaces without fear, anger, and contempt, are stripped from me. Growing up, and into my young adult years, street harassment wasn’t given a name. It was just something that happened; a woman’s issue and nothing more. So when that man verbally attacked me, I recall not having a healthy discourse or foundation to express my rage regarding the situation. My telling of the event quickly became comical to some, while it evoked accusatory concerns of "well what were you wearing?" from others. The reaction to it and similar situations, seemed not to reach past what I was doing to perpetuate, instigate, or handle the situation, or the usual "men will be men" rhetoric.

"BACK UP! Concrete Diaries", the film I created with screenwriter Monique Hazeur, is a concerted effort to do away with the notion that street harassment is just some mere nuisance; a woman’s problem that could easily be done away with if we stopped wearing short skirts. This documentary is a much-needed dialogue on the patriarchy and dominance that has manifested itself into a spectrum of verbal and physical assaults, often acted out in public spaces. We intend to delve into all areas of the topic, providing a wide-range of perspectives that inform and enrich our knowledge and resistance to these acts. We welcome women, men, youth, LGBTQ, and elders to participate in this movement- to spark a discussion where there once was none, to step in when another person is being assaulted, to work for understanding and acknowledgment of the problem where there once was silence.

-Nijla Mumin

Director

Back up! Concrete Diaries

http://sweetpotatopieproductions.com/