Paolina Milana - author and writer for hire
Everybody has a story. I've been telling people's stories for decades. I'm an award-winning writer and published author with journalistic roots and a marketing background. Let me help you write or ghostwrite the story of your life. Also available for corporate brand storytelling.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the very unexpected death of my little sister Vincenzina “Viny” Milana. I introduced her – barely – in The S-Word. She suffered through a lot, and her life ended early at the age of 47.
I fully intend to tell her story one day because she deserves to have it told. The youngest sibling of four, she sort of fell through the cracks, almost like the runt of the litter. But in truth, she was anything but.
In November, Rolling Stone published the story A Rape on Campus that told a now doubted account of the gang rape of a young woman named Jackie during a frat party at the University of Virginia. It also told of the school’s lack of response following the attack, and of the school’s long history of turning a blind eye to other alleged sexual assaults.
What fascinates me about the evolution of the story has nothing to do with the suspicion and doubt associated with the rape victim (sadly, blaming the victim is something our society seems pretty comfortable doing and accepting as status quo); rather, I’m in awe of the continued suspicion and doubt surrounding the University of Virginia, and yet it, too, remains status quo.
Actually, “fascinates” and “in awe” aren’t the right words…what I mean to say is that I’m angry and in anger – and we all should be. [Read more…]
