I want to share a short story about the level of violence that comes with calling out rape culture, rape, & sexual assualt in Black communties.
This is a story abt how dangerous it is when Black "leaders" using their platforms to support rapists bc they can't make room for the FACT "good people", ur brothers, ur friends, ur family, etc...can or have caused harm to move towards solving this problem.
Yesterday, I was on the bus in DC heading to my home. I was standing with my headphones in listening to music until a Black man tapped me on the shoulder. I assumed he just wanted to move past me to get off the bus. I moved forward & decide to sit for the remaining ride home.
Once I sat down, this same man walks right beside me, bends down and puts his dusty ass face way too close to mine! I take out my headphones and he says, loud as fuck, "Not all men are rapists!". Then he gets off the bus.
I'm sitting there stunt and mostly shook up like:
I'm sitting there stunt and mostly shook up like:
Nothing about this interaction signals to me that you are a safe space. And the fact that these men feel so empowered to defend rapists, that they are running up on me in public when I’m alone is absolutely terrifying.
