I’m in this fight until the end. I hope you’ll join me.
After that, I open a new email and attach all the evidence I’ve collected so far. It’s an insurance policy, and possibly a foolish one, but it’s all I have.
I send every piece of evidence I’ve collected so far, including my recording from earlier, to Professor Bell with a short message.
Someone else should have this. Just in case.
With that done, I leave my dorm and head to the showers, needing to clear my head. I know what’s coming, and despite my brave face, I don’t know if I’m ready.
By the time I return to the dorm, it’s already happening.
Ready or not, my latest message lit a match, and the internet is on fire. Notifications come in not only from the website, but from TikTok. Instagram. Threads. An academic meme account shared it with the caption:
Damn. Let the war of feminist icons begin, I guess.
The flames spread before my eyes. Hashtags. Screenshots. Reaction videos. Comments from people I’ve never met with a wide range of reactions.
Some are on my side.
Plagiarism is still plagiarism, no matter how powerful and well-loved the woman.
Wow. Imagine stealing a student’s work and then suing her for calling it out.
LISTEN LINDA. Lila Parks is brave AF. For real.
See, this is why I never liked Althea Ralston. Sketchy vibes, for sure.
If she has the proof, I say let her cook. We’re listening, Lila. We’ve got your back.
Damn, we need some attorneys to back our girl up. Where you at???
Other commenters make it feel like the ground is thrashing beneath me, even as I cling to it with bleeding fingers.
If she’s that smart, let her steal. Obviously, she made it better.
Sounds like jealousy to me. Dr. Ralston’s a genius. Deal with it.
All great thinkers borrow. There are whole books about it. You’re just mad because she did it well enough to get famous.
Honestly? Not my business. I still love her work.
Who is this girl anyway? How do we know any of this is true? Even if it is, I’m Team Ralston. Lady’s an icon who taught me to go after what I want. Love her.
Then there are the jokes. Memes. Side-by-side photos someone already managed to find of me crying during a speech I gave next to photos of Ralston holding a medallion from some award ceremony.
I’d let her steal my thesis and my man tbh.
Dude, I wrote this exact same thing on a Burger King napkin in 1997. Coincidence? I think not. Pay up, Parks.
Totally. Someone once told me Dr. Ralston orders the same Frappuccino as me. I always knew she stole the idea. COME ON.
Finally, someone said it. Check out Ralston’s newest book. Page 42. The word ‘the’? Yeah, I totally wrote that first. I’ll take my check now, thanks.
Your honor, we demand justice. And a Netflix documentary. Someone’s out for money. Haven’t you heard it’s 2025? We don’t tear women down here, babes.
Oooh, Lila P ’bout to release a diss track. “You stole my Story (sort of)” featuring DJ Defamation.
I bat back tears as I spot the next one. I should stop reading, put the phone down, but I can’t.
