BriGette McCoy discusses her service in the U.S. Army; her experience of sexual and racist abuse; her efforts to access mental health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); and her advocacy and activism on behalf of women veterans, including her founding of Women Veterans for Social Justice, which provides women veterans with entrepreneurial and business resources. McCoy recounts her enlistment in the Army and service in Germany around the lead-up to the Gulf War, and shares memories of the circumstances that surrounded her honorable discharge after she reported her sexual harassment. McCoy describes the difficulty of accessing VA services, including following her diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder; the online social groups for women veterans that shared resources for navigating the VA's healthcare systems; and her testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2013. She considers how notable political issues of the Obama years impacted the communities of which she was a part, including partisan polarization, racist backlash to Obama's election, and new attention to systemic discrimination in major American institutions. Also discussed are McCoy's memories of Obama's election in 2008, her experience of homelessness and housing provided through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (HUD-VASH), and proposed changes to the reporting and claims processes for survivors of sexual assault in the military
Presidents--United States; Rape in the military--Untied States; Sexual assault--United States; Rape trauma syndrome--United States; Women veterans--United States; Homeless veterans--Social conditions--United States; Veterans--Services for--United States; Women veterans--Social conditions--United States; United States Race relations; McCoy, BriGette; Obama, Barack; HUD-VASH Program (U.S.); United States. Department of Veterans Affairs
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
82 pages
Note (Biographical)
BriGette McCoy is a United States Army veteran and the founder and chief executive officer of Women Veterans for Social Justice Network, which supports women veterans with entrepreneurial and business resources. In March 2013, McCoy testified before t he Senate Committee on Armed Services about her experience of sexual assault while serving in the military. In September 2013, McCoy's experiences while serving were featured in the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report examining how the Department of Defense and its armed services respond to service members who report having been sexually assaulted. The report was transmitted to President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Speaker of the House John Boehner. In 2020, McCoy was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation's Citizen's Honors Medal
Note
Interviewed by Terrell D. Frazier on April 15 and May 24, 2021. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
BriGette McCoy, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023