*Malcolm X said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman,” he said. “The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
It was true then and it’s true now.
The ongoing violence against Black women has hit an all-time high with the publishing of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors home address in an effort to call attention to her purchase of several homes.
Patrisse is more than just one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter.
Long before BLM came into existence she was an artist, an organizer, and a student.
I watched as she would leave meetings to go to class or come into meetings straight from class–infant in tow and all. Like most Black women, including myself, Patrisse juggled more than one job all while being a momma, chasing her dream, and leading a global movement.
Patrisse graduated. She earned that degree and today she’s a professor among many other things.
RELATED ARTICLE: Black Lives Matter (BLMGNF) Says Patrisse Cullers Has Only Received $120K Since Org’s Inception!
Nowhere is it written that if you care about and fight for Black lives that you have to live in squalor and poverty. That you are not allowed to get educated and move up in the world.
You don’t require Black attorneys who win multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts when we’re killed by the police to take a vow of poverty. Nor do you require Black male pastors to refrain from wearing thousand-dollar shoes, buying that Rolls-Royce, or living in a mansion on the hill. That part.
Let me tell you something, if I sign a multi-million dollar deal with a studio to create content, I am buying a house too and I can’t guarantee that house is going to be in the hood.
In all of the chatter about what Patrisse is doing, what’s not being talked about is the fact that she actually works. That she has jobs. Jobs that pay her and just like you or me would do, she’s investing her money and taking care of her family.
I fully expect white supremacists to go after women like Patrisse. That’s what they do. What I don’t expect is for Black women and Black people to follow their lead. Since when do we take our cue from white supremacists?
There have always been two sets of rules. The rules for Black women and the rules for everyone else.
Like most Black women, Patrisse was expected to deliver–and she did.
She worked to get the first countywide criminal justice reform ballot measure passed in Los Angeles County. She helped lead the fight to stop a $3.5 billion jail expansion. She created a grassroots organization that continues to fight for the dignity and power of incarcerated people, their families, and the community.
Am I defending Patrisse? Yes, I unequivocally am because I know what it’s like to be scared for your life because some white racists have given out your home address.
Back in 2005, Stanley “Tookie” Williams, a co-founder of the Crips gang, was scheduled to die by lethal injection at San Quentin prison and I dared speak up against it. Conservative talk radio show “The John and Ken Show” on KFI-AM (640 AM) held a “Tookie Must Die/Kill Tookie” hour every day leading up to his execution. The hosts, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou gave out my contact information over the air.
I received dozens of death threats. Since this was pre-doxing, the threats were made via email and my cellphone. It was a scary time.
This essay/commentary by Jasmyne Cannick continues at IamJasmyne.com.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
