Susie Kahlich
Jul 27, 2017 · 1 min read

When the film The Last King of Scotland came out, I was lucky enough to attend a panel discussion with Kerry Washington, James McAvoy, and Forest Whitaker. Someone asked a question about the aftermath of Idi Amin’s genocide on families of victims, and Washington took the question, and gave as clear, intelligent, compassionate answer based on the experience of the whole cast in Uganda. Audience reaction: crickets…

About 5 minutes later, someone else asked the same question (as often happens at Q&As), and this time Whitaker fielded the question, but he is not a good off-the-cuff speaker, and his answer was muddled, hesitant, and circular. Standing ovation for him.

Thank you for supporting the woman who asked the question by re-asking, and for your position in this article, and your empathy. I think it’s also ok to speak up publicly in the moment as well, and point out that someone’s question wasn’t answered at all, that someone’s opinion wasn’t considered, that someone’s expertise was summarily ignored, and let people know you’re not a member of their particular “boys only” club. Because as women, we need to know about you in that moment too.

    Susie Kahlich

    Written by

    Producer and host of the bi-monthly podcast, Artipoeus: Art You Can Hear, and founder of Pretty Deadly Self Defense. www.artipoeus.com / www.prettydeadly.org