Thread by @MrErnestOwens

THREAD: LET ME TELL Y'ALL SOMETHING.

So some of y'all have reached out to me given the high volume of buzz I've gotten on Twitter yesterday defending Gayle King and criticizing Snoop Dogg for his misogynistic attacks launched at her.

As a journalist, as a Black man, as an advocate for fairness -- no Black woman should be threatened for doing her job, whether you agree with it or not. Grieving a death doesn't make one a sexist, violent, pig towards women if they weren't one already.

Right now, this death is showing who y'all really are. They are using this moment to defend others who have done far worse. And they are turning this conversation into a defense of any and all Black men, when there is a clear distinction.

Let me be very clear: Not on my watch.

Strangers, trolls, people I've never met are threatening me, defending known rapists, and losing their minds.

Let me be clear, I'm not bothered by any of this because 1) The block button is easy to use and 2) I've been down this road before long before I had thousands reacting.

This picture was taken in 2014.

In Spring 2014, a friend of mine was raped by a popular guy on campus. They were both Black. She wasn't the most popular girl at Penn, but she had her own social circles. He was a Kappa, attractive, known and liked by many, and had a playboy rep.

The night he violated her, she reported it. They arrested him.

During the time at which she was deciding whether or not to press charges, she was harassed my some of his frat brothers, close friends, and other women in Greek life about this issue.

Some began to talk about her previous sex life. They talked about how they once dated in the past. They talked about how that's "not the person they know" in him. How he was "too fine" to do something like that. How she "wanted attention."

When she told me how much hell she was getting from her own people -- folks we both knew on campus -- I told her "I have your back."

I got up on this social media and argued with people who tried to use every piece of bullshit excuse to justify what happened.

I was told "now is not the time" because graduation was around the corner. I was told "why are you not talking about these white frat boys who rape girls?" I was called a traitor and every other name in the book because I believed this Black woman who had no reason to lie.

I asked for a group of Black men to join me on Locust Walk to hold signs explaining how rape was more common than we act like it is. I didn't ask anyone to name the accuser, but to be in solidarity.

Only one other person came, my close friend on campus, Jeremy.

We stood out there for hours as people walked by and saw our messages. I will never forget how that moment made me feel about rape culture and the cowardice we have as men to actually address it.

Doing the right thing is not always popular, and I will damn sure always choose the former before the latter.

I kept that same energy back then, I will continue to do so now.

Talk your shit, but I will always defend Black women, survivors, and free speech.