Aishah Shahidah Simmons envisioned curated, and co-edited the #LoveWITHAccountability online forum in 2016. In her role as an Associate Editor, she published in the online feminist publication, The Feminist Wire from October 17, 2016 - October 28, 2016. Over twenty-five diasporic Black childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors and/or advocates were invited to share their experiences and perspectives about what accountability looks like when addressing CSA.
In the summer of 2017, Aishah began working to transform the #LoveWITHAccountability online forum into a print anthology. She signed a contract to organize and edit the anthology, Love WITH Accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse with the independent publisher, AK Press in May 2018. Eighteen months later, the collection of courageous writings was published on October 1, 2020. The anthology is a hybrid of the majority of the revised texts that were originally published in The Feminist Wire, fifteen original texts, and a foreword by award-winning writer, Darnell L. Moore, totaling 40-plus contributions. On June 1, 2021, Love WITH Accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse co-won the prestigious 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Anthology.
Content Notice: The purpose of the #LoveWITHAccountability forum on The Feminist Wire and project is to prioritize child sexual abuse, healing, and justice in national dialogues and work on racial justice and gender-based violence. Several of the featured articles in this forum give an in-depth and, at times, graphic examination of rape, molestation, and other forms of sexual harm against diasporic Black children through the experiences and work of survivors and advocates. The articles also offer visions and strategies for how we can humanely move towards co-creating a world without violence. Please take care of yourself while reading.
