Truth In Reality to Produce Groundbreaking Documentary REDEFINING HERStory

Truth In Reality, a non-profit social advocacy organization pioneering a movement to change the imbalanced media depictions of women of color, has begun production on their feature-length documentary Redefining HERstory. This independent film will be a cornerstone of the organization's efforts to increase awareness of the larger social impact of the predominately violent and racist media images of black and Afro-Latina women. The organization's inaugural crowdsourcing campaign launched this Monday,February 15 th on Crowdrise.com with the goal of raising $50,000 to fund the first phase of production. Within 72 HOURS they have reached 20% of their funding goal.

"Even though black and Afro-Latina women are appearing in the media more than in previous years, the narrative has only slightly changed. The majority of women of color and their characters are still being portrayed in ways that are racially stereotypical. These media stereotypes contribute towards society's BELIEF that black and Afro-Latina women not only provoke abuse, but they deserve it," says Truth In Reality Founder & CEO Sil Lai Abrams.

Although black women comprise a little more than 6% of the U.S. population, they experience the highest rates of gender-based violence. Abrams continues, "The issue isn't that these stereotypes exist. The problem is that there aren't more diverse or nuanced depictions to offset these largely negative characterizations. Redefining HERstory is one of the ways we will seek to spark a conversation on the urgency and importance of more diverse media content of women of color."

Initial subjects featured in the documentary and highlighted in the film's trailer include Tom Burrell, author of Brainwashed and Founder & Chairman Emeritus of Burrell Communications; Jamilah Lemieux, Senior Editor, EBONY Magazine; director and filmmaker Stacey Muhammad; and Anne Williams-Isom, CEO of Harlem Children's Zone. To view the Redefining HERstory trailer or make a tax-deductible donation, visit the following link to the CrowdRise page: http://bit.ly/Support-RedefiningHERstory. Truth In Reality's six-week crowdsourcing campaign ends March 31, 2016.

About Truth In Reality

Through education, research, public awareness campaigns, social media engagement, strategic partnerships, and public commentary Truth In Reality aims to change society's acceptance of gender-based violence and ultimately reduce its incidence in the Black community.

SOURCE Truth In Reality