Protecting Black Women: Addressing Colorism Issues And Abuse
Colorism and abuse is alive and well in the Black community and it’s necessary for these issues to be addressed! We discuss it here!
By: Kwana Adams
Sometimes the only people black women have to take care of them are other black women. The hashtag #sayhername was born from black women because of black women being neglected, and put to the side when it comes to social issues such as police brutality, domestic violence and anti-black acts of violence.
The hashtag was a movement created to shed a light on the fact that black women’s issues are often sidelined. Some notable names from this hashtag are Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd, and Breonna Taylor. However, there are countless stories that are not being told or are not given enough recognition and care as other stories.
A rapper by the name of Talib Kweli has been harassing a black woman online and has not stopped for almost a year. Even being banned from Twitter did not stop that man from his continued harassment which he simply continued on Instagram. He has also talked about her on shows and in interviews continuing to make himself the victim.
The woman he has been harassing goes by @Moneyymaya on Twitter and a harmless tweet caused almost a whole year of targeted harassment from a black man who took the tweet personally. Talib was only one of many other black rappers named but was the only one to take it to this extreme. The tweet was a brief mention of colorism and how black rappers perpetuate and uphold it in the black community. It was a very valid opinion and something that could have possibly been addressed in a more respectable matter had Talib not instead decided to target Maya relentlessly.
Colorism is alive and well in our community and it does deserve a spotlight. However, the potential conversation was overshadowed by a man who got his feelings hurt. As a community, we should be addressing this a lot more and holding black men accountable for the abuse they inflict onto black women.
Followers and supporters of Talib Kweli have also been harassing Maya, threatening her family, sending threats of rape and death, and even doxxing her family members. Kweli and his supporters have even gone as far as to harass people who have spoken up in support of Maya. He took to Instagram that rapper Noname compared him to Tory Lanez, a rapper who allegedly shot another black woman, Megan Thee Stallion in both feet.
Maya has endured threats to not only her livelihood but her family’s the same way Megan has become a topic of ridicule and speculation on social media. Noname has also been slandered in the process of trying to protect black women. None of these women deserve what they’re going through. They deserve to be protected and they deserve to be heard.
Since Maya was told by lawyers that there’s not much of anything that can be done of the harassment, she’s been documeting the whole ordeal in Twitter threads amd letting everyone know tha if something happens to her, it’s because of this incident and the poor way it’s been handled. Other black women have been targets as well for sticking up for her. My question is, why is it that the majority of people coming to her defense are black women? Will everyone hear us only when it’s too late, and even then, will anyone protect us? How has this man been able to get away with openly harassing women for almost a year nonstop?
Please follow this story for your own research because there are still so many things that I did not mention in this article. Black women don’t always have to be “strong” and it’s that that kind of responsibility put on us that makes it hard for us to get justice in situations such as this. Talib Kweli, Tory Lanez, and other harmful men need to be stopped. They need to be held accountable for the harm they cause black women and it shouldn’t only be up to black women to do it. Say our names and tell our stories.
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Can We Cancel "Canceled" Culture?
Black twitter is notorious for canceling any and everyone for different opinions, lifestyle choices, and anything else under the sun. Is it time to do away with canceled culture?
By: Deveney Marshall
Everyone Is Canceled!
In the age of Twitter where everything happens in real time and people don't take a moment to think before they tweet, a thing called being canceled was born. The act of being canceled is not one you want to ever face the burden of. It basically means you've said something incredibly distasteful and people would rather ignore your existence, than even care to hear the excuse of why you said what you said. When people first began using the slang I found it to be witty, hilarious, and straight to the point. However, as time goes by and the term has become more mainstream, I’m ready to cancel ”canceled culture” altogether.
The term canceled became popular a few years ago on Twitter by black gays, who would jokingly use the word to dismiss celebrities when they turned out to be not so great people. For instance, if a celebrity would say something harmful to the LGBTQ community (or any other marginalized group) they would refer to that person as canceled. The word acted as a signal to halt any support that person was receiving. At first, the concept was great. You wouldn't support a normal person if they made a comment that negatively impacted your livelihood, so why should a celebrity be given a pass for the same behavior? However, as time went by and more celebrities would give less than clever remarks pertaining to certain issues, the number of people that were being canceled became overwhelming and harder to keep up with — and before I knew it we were canceling celebs for not only unjust comments, but different opinions, lifestyle choices, and anything else under the sun.
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In today’s society, we have convinced ourselves that we are more progressive and accepting than we have ever been before. Us millennials specifically, take pride in being the generation that's all about individualism, and disrupting generational ideals and beliefs systems — but I would argue that sometimes we all participate in groupthink more worse than the generations before us. The only difference now is our groupthink is not as closed-minded as past
generations, but it is just as limiting. We tend to write others off rather quickly once we find out their ideas don't fall on the liberal spectrum, which I believe is done with the best intentions. Still, it doesn’t make it right.
Unfortunately, canceling doesn’t allow us to fully interpret and process actions or words we deem problematic like we should. Abruptly dismissing someone for their ignorance teaches us to be less empathetic and tolerant, which is the opposite of what we should be doing in a progressive society. We need to shift more focus on the issue and not the person. No matter how much you cancel a person and pretend they’re not a factor, those ideologies they tweeted or said still are, and will continue to create toxicity until a real dialogue happens surrounding them.
The reality is we are all ignorant about something, whether we choose to admit that or not. Instead of dismissing one another, let’s try expanding each other’s horizons and calling each other out on our problematic behavior. Will it always be perceived well? No, but at least you tried to rationalize with the person before completely casting them out.
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In the future, if a person makes an obtuse comment or a hateful tweet from their past happens to resurface, give them the chance to explain themselves. That individual may be in a
completely different headspace than they were then, and they may actually regret their words. And if they don’t? Still give that person time to process and re-evaluate. Emotional intelligence isn’t a natural thing for everyone. We've all had unique experiences and journeys that impact how we digest this world, and sadly for some, it doesn't manifest in the most positive ways.
Remember, we can't continue to cancel everyone that has said something offensive, because then the whole world would be canceled, but we can cancel the harmful ideas perpetuated and their effects. So, what do you all think, can we finally cancel canceled culture?
*Deveney Marshall is a New Orleans-based filmmaker, actress, and freelance writer. She runs the lifestyle & beauty website thedevandthecity.com. Follow her thoughts & life on twitter and
IG: @devandthecity
