Too Many Me Toos I Own
To say that I am shook by all the “Me too” posts is a gigantuan understatement. Gawd, It would be crippling except for the strength of women sharing, and in their sharing a chain is formed and I cannot fall through or fall down or get lost. I am a link in this unholy chain… Yet it is sacred in its existence.
I was about 15 years old a sophomore in high school. I grew up in Church Street South.. a Village of course, but somehow over the years became the “projects”. Anyway, On a saturday afternoon I was going to hang out with my girl Cynt… She lived in Little Green… Or was it Great Green?…The name of the section where she lived escapes my memory. Babe Thomas and some other guys that I knew were hanging out… Stephen, Brother Harris, Froggy, C. Mack. We were a motley crew… We hung out in Dawn’s hallway a lot… Dawn was cool people… Her mother was COOLER and very beautiful and artitistic! So this particular afternoon I came around to go catch up with my girl Cynt. Babe says hey let me talk to you… I said hello and kept on walking. He said hey, I’m talking to you, you ain’t gonna give me some play? I’m like, no in all my Black Girl glory…Nah nigga, nah. And kept on moving. Before I knew it, he was on me fast. He was a big hulkish dude… Which he used to his advantage all the time. He threw me up againts the wall… With his big-ass hands ripped my bra off me and threw me to the ground to get on top of me… You gonna give me some play he said. You ain’t too good for me. Now let me back up… He was a friend. I mean he used to date girls I was friends with too. I been to his house when he was digging my girl Cynt. We all knew his grandmother Mrs. Thomas who raised him.
Just as he was tearing at my clothes, Dawn’s uncle and her mother Mrs. Lee came around the corner and heard me screaming and fighting back. He jumped in and pulled me up. He was an adult. He stood his ground for me. Babe backed down, still talking shit. He and his friends left.
No police were called. It was never discussed again. Some years later I heard Babe went to prison for rape.
My life is filled with violence against my person. I only remembered this story because of all the “Me too” posts. I own too many me toos.
I am telling this story, because I know there are countless other stories like this that won’t get the light of day. We’re carrying too many heavy burdens as women and girls for far too long. Me too is too much. Me too is a rallying cry that violence and abuse and sexual exploitation has to STOP!
Me too. I own too many.
