NEWS

Nina Donovan reacts to Ashley Judd performing 'Nasty Woman' poem

"I was seeing the physical form of everything I was saying in my poem"

Melanie Balakit
mbalakit@tennessean.com

Actress Ashley Judd recited a poem by a Franklin teen Saturday at the Women's March on Washington.

Nina Donovan performing.

Judd, also a Franklin resident, read a poem by 19-year-old Nina Donovan.

The "Nasty Woman" poem criticizes President Donald Trump and points out inequalities in the United States.

Trump called former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a "nasty woman" at a presidential debate.

"The second [Trump] called Hillary [Clinton] a nasty woman, I said, "Oh man, I've got to write a nasty woman piece,"" Donovan said. "I reclaimed it."

Donovan, a Franklin High school alumna and student at Columbia State Community College, attended the Women's March on Nashville Saturday. At least 15,000 people marched for women's rights and social justice issues.

"I was seeing the physical form of everything I was saying in my poem," Donovan said. "If we keep fighting, we can all be equal one day. It just shows so much hope in this city and this nation."

Nina Donovan and friend attending a march in Nashville.

Judd attended a show where Donovan performed the original "Nasty Woman" piece. Donovan later gave Judd permission to recite the poem at the march.

"I am a nasty woman," the poem begins.

"Not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in Cheeto dust, a man whose words are a dis to America, Electoral College-sanctioned hate speech contaminating this national anthem," Judd said.

"I'm not as nasty as Confederate flags being tattooed across my city. Maybe the South actually is going to rise again, maybe for some, it never really fell," Judd said."Blacks are still in shackles and graves just for being black. Slavery has been reinterpreted as the prison system, in front of people who see melanin as animal skin."

"I am not as nasty as a swastika painted on a pride flag," she said. "And I didn't know devils could be resurrected. But I feel Hitler in these streets. A mustache traded for a toupee."

"I am not as nasty as racism, fraud, conflict of interest, homophobia, sexual assault, transphobia, white supremacy, misogyny, ignorance and white privilege," she said.

Below you can see a video of Donovan performing her poem.

Reach Melanie Balakit at 615-926-1638 and on Twitter @MelanieBalakit