Happy Sunday, y’all.
Oh, we most definitely are gonna talk about the gender-biased, racially insensitive elephant in the room. Now look, I’m not here to give you a fresh or unheard of take on the matter. Frankly, there are others that have spoken on the topic before me that have done so way more eloquently than I ever have or could (and I will post ‘em below). But as I sit here stuck because what is screaming in my head to be written about is not what I wanna write about, I’m going to have to relent just to at least get it out of my system and move the hell on. Btw, here’s your little mini sermon just on that: if you have something you are being led to share but fear is the one thing keeping you from sharing it, Imma need you to share it afraid. Someone out there needs to hear what you gotta say on it.
All right, on the off chance you have no idea what I’m referring to, I’m referring to a certain commentator who felt the need to give a trash (pronounced tuhhhhhh-rash) take on basketball phenom Angel Reese. I have so many thoughts and emotions on the matter. And I may have to revisit this topic when I’m less in my feelings about it, but on behalf of all Black women in America who stay having to prove something to the non-Black folks and keep getting painted with the same brush and can never just live, I just have this to say: you too, “bro”?
Yes, I put that in quotation marks because if you’re proudly wearing our skin while simultaneously perpetrating the same sin, Imma look at you real sideways and question the authenticity of your membership card. And, to be honest, the moment he began his tirade with that preface—the whole, “I’m gonna give a gender neutral, racially indifferent take”—I cringed because I knew what was coming was going to be the complete exact opposite. Sir, there ain’t no such damn thing when you have a platform as big as you have and you are coming for instead of uplifting and upholding a Black Queen. Is it any wonder Malcom X’s 60-year-old quote still has so much relevance today?
The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.
Malcolm X
That tone-deaf diatribe that went viral gave abundant ammunition to those that don’t look like us looking for anything they can glom onto to justify their beliefs about Black people and Black women especially. I mean, maybe that’s what you were going for and if so, mission accomplished. You get to laugh all the way to the bank as you amass more non-melanated followers and purchases of your snake oil masking as DEI at the expense and on the back of yet another Black woman.
Y’all, I’m so incredibly over this foolishness. Black women have no interest in being the villain. It is what we are often dubbed for doing and saying the exact same things that others that don’t look like us do. It also goes by other names like, the angry black woman, passionate, aggressive, not collaborative, unprofessional, and on and on and on. So we do what we do best when we get handed a bag of sour-a$$ lemons: we make lemonade. We lean into the moniker and excel and soar and they get even bigger mad because we’re thriving anyway. Then let us have the audacity to show vulnerability for one moment. God forbid we show our humanity. Then they go in for the jugular.
Look, it’s bad enough when we have to deal with this hot garbage from the world at large. We have come to expect that. Sadly, we’ve gotten to a point that we have to be more concerned about the betrayal coming from inside our camp than outside of it. This is the mess that has us tired, frustrated, and exhausted beyond belief. And then the “sorry-not-sorry” statement that was issued after the backlash where he actually doubles down and not-so covertly says, “I said what I said.”
Please have several seats.
I’m sure this won’t be the last time we’ll get more fecal-laced commentary out of him and others like him, so I won’t hold my breath that we won’t be collectively side eying and eye rolling at the next gem he pulls out of you know where.
Sigh.
So with that, I’ll leave y’all with this:
To my Black Kings who respect, protect, and nurture Black women, thank you. We salute, celebrate, honor and love you for standing by us.
To the Black trolls who think it’s a good strategy to exploit Black women for coin or to ingratiate yourselves with “the man,” karma has a long memory. Keep that same energy when she comes looking for you—and finds you—and has you in the corner snot-nosed crying, mmkay?
To all of my Angel Reeses out there who are running while hurting, laughing while crying, soaring and flying while the haters try their best to diminish your shine and verbally clip your wings, I see you. Thank you for being an inspiration and for pushing through and speaking out. I stand behind you and I’m rooting for you. And, telling you something that I’m sure you already know to be true: the absolute best revenge is to win. So keep winning.
Until next time, I wish you nothing but sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, which are no less real than the one-of-a-kind badass you are.
Stay on your grind, Beautiful!
As promised, additional posts on the matter are below…
Angel Reese, Emmanuel Acho and Tone Policing in the Workplace
Emmanuel Acho Tries and Fails to Criticize Angel Reese Without Ignorance.
The Invisible Black Woman 
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