Black Women Are Not Afforded the Freedom of Speech
“Black women — especially trans Black women — face violence for simply speaking, up to and including the possibility of death.”
***CONTENT WARNING: This article may include mention of or descriptions of traumatic violent events. Readers are advised to proceed with caution.***
Black women should have freedom of speech.
You may say they already have it, and you can say — according to an optimistic interpretation of law — that they do.
But they certainly do not have this in any other sense, perspective, or place. They may seem to have it occasionally, but not always, if at all. There may be some individuals that are generally given the semblance of said freedom, but not all individuals have it, and groups don’t often, either.
They don’t have it when they’re stating their opinion. They don’t have it when they say the truth. They don’t when they’re talking to men. They don’t have it when they’re talking to themselves. They don’t have it when they speak for others, they don’t have it when they speak for themselves. They don’t have it when they’re hated, they don’t have it when they’re loved.
Black women do not have the freedom of speech.
They don’t have it historically, they don’t have it now — and if we don’t recognize that now, then they won’t in the future.
Don’t believe me? Look no further than the hip hop universe for proof.
Don’t believe it’s true? That’s fine — then I expect you to harass me. Harass me, publish my personal information, spread words falsely attributed to me, claim I’m obsessed with you, lie to your entire network to me, try to prevent me from defending myself while you bring out every person you can reach, even if it’s millions, to shame me.
I expect you to do all of this, for more than 45 days, just as rapper Talib Kweli did when Maya Moody dared to write one tweet — a tweet, commenting on something, while quoting a tweet written by someone else that said the name of several people, including Kweli — and then was labeled in international publications as starting a ‘beef’ or ‘debate’ or ‘dispute’ or ‘feud’ with him, as if Maya and her one Twitter account, has the same influence or power as a platinum-selling rapper with millions of followers and is worth approximately $4 million.
If daring to write a tweet warrants 45 days of harassment, abuse, bullying, and doxxing across multiple platforms, then you’ll be doing the same to me, right? Anybody that mentions Kweli’s name, or anyone that says something that you don’t believe to be true, right? If you believe Black women have the unfettered freedom to exercise speaking, then you believe Moody’s treatment to be reasonable and just, and that it would also be extended to non-Black women on a consistent basis.
Let me know when that happens. But it won’t.
Do you think Maya’s ordeal is an outlier? Well then, why have we seen other Black women bullied, harassed and shamed throughout hip hop for similarly stating simple things? It happens when they write about the erasure of Black people. It happens when they write to highlight other Black people. It happens when they’re speaking to one or a few people, it happens when they have an audience of several others. It happens when they’re marginalized or disadvantaged, but even successful and privileged Black women are not immune — as is the case for Megan Thee Stallion, who is a liar for claiming she was shot, a liar for not saying anything about how she was shot, a liar for publishing proof that she was shot, and a liar when she identified who shot her.
Do you think it’s only when Black women speak or write? Then, why are so many people using all of their influence and power, attempting to condemn and shame Meg, along with Cardi B (who is Afro-Latino) for rapping about sex and their womanhood - to the point that they aim to ban it? To the point that alleged rapists can not only believe they can judge them, but are given a platform to? Maybe I’ve misinterpreted nearly every song ever, but I don’t believe these two are the first to venture into such a concept.
It happens when they represent themselves, and it happens when they work on the behalf of powerful corporations — such was the case for Gayle King, whose questions in an interview of a basketball athlete about another basketball athlete for CBS This Morning were salaciously altered for marketing, leaving King open to harassment campaigns from the likes of Snoop Dogg, and death threats, among other things.
As in Maya’s case and others, it happens when they’re not even involved in the hip hop community. It even happens outside of the realm of music — like Black women whose creations are either maligned by corporations’ poor marketing decisions, or gain so much respect that they are erased from it or its credited to other people, especially men.
It happens outside of the universe of art. Even though at this moment, there are Black women running for all kinds of elected offices — up to the Vice Presidency — and although there are Black women serving in some of the highest parts of this country, many of them are only tolerated. Tolerated by their peers or constituents (let alone listened to by them) when they say what’s deemed ‘appropriate’ for them to say.
But tolerance of someone is not the same as freedom. Occasional freedom is not freedom. Temporary freedom is not freedom. Conditional freedom is not freedom. Freedom for some is not freedom. Freedom eventually is not freedom.
Even though there are Black women in office, Black women — especially trans Black women — face violence for simply speaking, up to and including the possibility of death. We see them beat and abused in public, for the entertainment of people passing by. Or, heaven forbid, for having the audacity to say ‘no’, especially to a non-Black woman. We see them executed and lynched, quietly and loudly, for having challenged the status quo by existing — such was the case for, among others, Oluwatoyin Salau and Breonna Taylor. Worse, they’ll then be blamed for it — such was the case for, among others, Sandra Bland. And if that’s not enough, people won’t speak up for them, whether they’re murdered in front of a hundred people — such was the case for, among others, Bree Black — or where no one can see, allegedly in the case for, among others, Priscilla Slater.
Black women do not have that freedom of speech.
