This article presents the text of the author's address at the fifty-ninth annual convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in March 2008. In her address, the author picks up strands of previous Chairs' addresses and weaves them through the fabric of her remarks. What she hopes will give sheen to the fabric is her…

Argues that silence can be a specifically feminist rhetorical art, often one of resistance. Draws on two key rhetorical movements: the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings and the never-heard hearing of Lani Guinier. Explores the rhetorical dimensions of silence as a feminist position that can resist disciplinary pigeon-holing, embrace political…