For once I have nothing bad to say about Time’s Person of The Year

The women who broke silence on sexual harassment and abuse have just been named Time's Person of the Year and are being celebrated for "giving voice to open secrets" and "pushing us to stop accepting the unacceptable."

"The Silence Breakers," as they're being called, represent the many women who came forward in the #MeToo movement to report sexual misconduct, and had an enormous impact on our society in 2017.

But if 2017 was the year of action and catalyzing change, 2018 must be the year of reaction and actual change.

Time's person of the year is an incredible step in the right direction in so many regards. It's some form of reparation for the women who have been so deeply affected — an acknowledgment of both their suffering and their strength in the face of that suffering. It's also a step in the right direction for the way media is choosing to handle the movement, as well as a warning to abusers that our voices can, and will, be heard.

Moving forward, there's no doubt these women will continue to challenge the status quo, which means highlighting them for what they're doing, and what they've done, should not be capstone for the movement, but a jumping block.

For many of the accused — many of our abusers — this cover may represent a form of victory on our part, and perhaps it'll even feel to them as if a curtain has finally fallen on this can of worms, but we must not allow it to end there.

For every step we've taken backwards over the years, there are still three giant leaps that need to be taken forward, and this counts as one.

Last year Donald Trump said Time's Person of the Year should go back to "Man of the Year," and instead it's gone from Person of the year to Women of The Year because of "The Silence Breakers" who were brave enough to begin writing us back into our own narrative.

@carolinephinney