YOU WILL NOT ERASE ME: A Memoir in Poetry, Protest, and Survival
By Emmy-winning filmmaker and global storyteller Lisa Russell
For every artist who's been sidelined.
For every woman who's been erased.
For every global health advocate who was asked to do the work but not tell the story.
For every voice that refuses to stay silent.
In this bold and emotionally charged collection, Asian American Emmy-winning filmmaker and UN/NGO global storyteller Lisa Russell, MPH, weaves poetry and personal narrative into a searing memoir of erasure, survival, and reclaiming space.
Told through the lens of a woman who has spent two decades amplifying silenced voices-while often being silenced herself-You Will Not Erase Me is both personal testimony and poetic protest. It is a genre-defying body of work for those who've built movements behind the scenes, carried creative visions without credit, and refused to disappear.
From war zones to UN stages, from whispered betrayals to unapologetic truth-telling, Lisa captures the fire and fragility of a life shaped by art, advocacy, and injustice. Her verses speak directly to those who have endured invisibility-not only within broken systems, but within the very movements they helped build.
Inside these pages, you'll find:
• A raw, lyrical journey through erasure, injustice, and creative survival
• A collection that blurs the line between art and activism, memoir and manifesto
This book is for:
• The women who upheld feminism-but were left behind by it
• The global health workers and advocates who built the room-but weren't handed the mic
• The artists and storytellers whose creative labor shaped the world-without acknowledgment
• The dreamers, disruptors, and cultural workers who are done asking for permission
If you've ever been told to stay quiet, to play small, or to wait your turn-this book is for you.
Because when the world tries to erase you,
you write yourself back into it.
