On Protecting Black Women

And that murder was essentially the beginning of a heated time in Los Angeles it led to riots and, but the song. Was part of a movement in hip hop artists were doing socially centered music and they were making songs that were empowering for women and men 

 It was so incredible. It's not the only song he made about empowering women. He had Dear Mama. And Brenda's got a baby and yes, it's wonderful. It's like, wow, he really cares about, he really cares about us. He's uplifting us. He's telling us that he loves us.

He cares about us and that we should care about ourselves and that we deserve being protected. And then he's convicted of forcibly groping a woman and all I can think about when I think about his legacy is that is the double edged sword of being a black woman in the United States. The people who are Proclaiming loudly that we should be protected, we deserve being protected, that we are queens and we're beautiful and et cetera.

These are the same people who are hurting, harming us, who are abusing us, who are spitting in our faces, who are failing to protect us, who are failing to vote for people and policies that protect us, that empower us, that makes society equal for us, that make things safer for us. Thank you. Thank you. That is the double edged sword of being a black woman in the United States.

I've got some explaining to do.  Let's get into it.

 Hey, all the ends welcome back for another episode of Ayanna explains it all the podcast hosted by the black Muslim lady lawyer. Who has an opinion on everything born and raised in the hood. Now living in the suburbs of Northeast Ohio, tending to my garden. I got a beautiful new tropical hibiscus plant today.

I have no idea where I'm going to put it. Apparently it has to winter.

I don't have any room for this thing inside of my house. I'm afraid that I'm going to kill it. I hope not. It's so beautiful and it smells delicious. Ayanna Explains It All is the podcast that bridges the gap between current events and human behavior. The podcast is available on 14 different streaming platforms, including Amazon music, Google podcasts, Spotify, which is the flagship.

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When I applied for it, I thought it'd take a couple of months, right? No, as I was researching it, they're like, Oh, this takes, you know, it takes about a year. I was like, shit, am I even still going to be doing this a year from now? Will I even care? And here it is. It's been over a year and I'm still here doing it.

Still love it. It's wonderful. It's great. If you want to support the podcast at the website, you can find links  to help support the podcast, help me grow by, uh, providing me with a little bit of change. If you can spare it so that I can buy a new laptop, I'm looking at my laptop right now.

And this thing is fucking laughing at me. It's like, I have to put. Most of my podcast stuff, including all of the outlines that I do on to, um, an external hard drive because my laptop hard drive is like, I don't even know, two gigabytes. When I bought this laptop, it was just, you know, so I could do little things shopping on the internet and I didn't use it.

For the longest time, because I had my phone and I will use my phone. And when I started the podcast, I'm like, Hmm, I don't want to do this podcast on my phone. I want to do it with the laptop and the audio equipment. And so once I started using my, my laptop. Regularly. It's just like, bitch, we don't do this.

We don't, we don't do this. You haven't done this with us in like five years, six years. We don't do this. And so every time I turn it on, I'm like, I'm just praying and hoping and wishing that it turns on and that it hasn't erased everything that I've done. So anyway, I am recording this on Thursday, June 29th, 2023 and why I'm doing it at 1146 PM is a testament to how my brain works, right?

This is how it works. I just get. I don't have a regular schedule. I work from home. And so I spend most of my time in the house. So my, my, I do things whenever the hell I want, basically. And my brain is all over the place because I have so many different things going on. I've got stuff with my kids and I got stuff with my house.

And then there's, you know, stuff going on with me and, you know, managing all of this. And then doing a podcast and then doing my social media. It's just so much, but I am happy. I am happy. These are good, good things to do because it keeps me busy. It keeps me working and I'm so happy to be here. However, what I have to talk about today is not so fun.

It's not. entertaining is actually pretty heavy and I don't like to talk about heavy stuff too much because you know, I, I get all weepy and sad and then I have to share all of my, my deep dark secrets with you guys. And, and I don't want to be sharing just to be sharing. I want to have a point to this.

And recently an incident took place, not with me, but. It's been in the media where, um, a woman named Carlisha Hood and her son they were arrested and charged with the murder of 32 year old Jeremy Brown. The son is 14 years old and Carlisha Hood is 35 years old and millions of people have seen the video. This, um, most of what happened was. either recorded by other patrons or it was recorded by security cameras. So most of what happened is on video and we've, we've most, most of us have seen it.

So we know what I'm about to talk about. And this happened in Chicago. Carlisha hood is  in a restaurant takeout place. And places like this, places like Chicago and Cleveland, you order ahead of time, mostly because you know, when you go there, the weight's going to be so Long, but also you don't know what the fuck you're going to be met with when you go there.

And usually these places are in not so desirable neighborhoods, places you don't really want to be in for too long when it's dark out. And so I've heard various things about this. She either ordered ahead or she didn't, but she was in the restaurant and  Jeremy Brown was in the restaurant and the video picks up with the two of them.

Going back and forth and he's loud and yelling at her and she's quiet talking to him and apparently there was a dispute between who was in line first, you know, typical shit, typical shit we see from, uh, not just black people. People will say, oh, this is, you know, black. No. Well, we see, I see this shit all the time.

I see it. So I've seen so many videos of people arguing about who's in line first and who got ahead in front of me and who was standing where and you took my spot and all this dumb shit, just dumb shit, right? These things usually start off as dumb shit and it escalates into something more and he's going at it and he's telling her if you say one more word, if you say one more thing, I swear on my grandmother, I'm going to hit.

You know, hit you. I swear on my grandmother. I'm gonna hit you. And he hits her and he didn't just hit her one time. He hit her three times and her son again. This is disputed information. Either her son was standing at the door. And he saw this happening, or he was outside and he saw this happening, but her son comes in with a gun, sees his mother being hit, and he shoots the man who's hitting her, Jeremy Brown, the 14 year old shot him, and he killed him.

And. Immediately, police saw this as a case of unjustifiable homicide. They saw it as a case of murder. And Carlicia was arrested, given a 3 million bond, and her son was arrested and put in juvenile detention. And of course, they're not allowed to see each other, can't talk to each other. They don't know what's happening, why this is happening, what's going on.

And in the meantime, all of us. Have seen the video on social media, people who recorded it, released it and, and, and they also gave statements to the media. And there were people who actually gave statements to police that were not true based on the district attorney's review of the videos. They, they have seen all of the footage and some of the eyewitness statements were actually false, but.

Whatever occurred, the entire facts of which only the district attorney at this point knows, the district attorney and police know. They're the only ones who need to know, really, because they're the only ones who can make the decision. She should be arrested. She should be charged  it wasn't self defense. It was murder, etcetera. They're the only ones who matter. Our opinions don't matter. But at the end of the day, the district attorney, the prosecutor reviewed all of the evidence and decided that the facts did not match. a charge of murder.

It did not match a charge of anything and dropped the charges against Carlisha and her son. And there's a video of them embracing as he's let out of the detention center and they're embracing and crying and he's hugging her and holding her. And it's it's emotional.

It's wrecking also because this child had to do something that no child should ever have to do, but he also had to witness something that no child should ever have to witness. And that is. Their mother being physically assaulted and not just physically assaulted, but by a man, a stranger, when they, all they did was go into a store to get some food to eat.

That's it. And He had to see that. And if you're like me and you're a child of, you're a child of abuse and you've witnessed physical abuse between men and women in your family, or also like me, you were a person who was physically abused by their partner and kids have been around, you know how heavy Yeah.

That is, you know how scary it is and you feel, you don't know what to do in that moment. Like I asked my son if he would, if he saw something like that happening, what would he do? And he said that he would do the same thing. But then he also said, you would probably beat the guy up. You got hands, you wouldn't stand there and just let somebody hit you.

And while I agree with that, I completely agree with that. But also. He doesn't know why I have hands. He doesn't know where these hands came from. He doesn't know why I have to be so tough sometimes about, he doesn't know why I act tough. He knows a little bit, but he doesn't know how I got to be this way, how I got to be the woman who doesn't just let somebody do whatever the fuck they want to do to her, you know, and I'm not saying anything against Ms.

Hood at all. We're all different. I don't know her background. I only know my background. I don't know if she's experienced intimate partner abuse. I don't know if she's ever been physically assaulted. I don't know. But also I know that that man was probably stronger than her. And if she tried to fight back, it was only going to get worse.

And that's the truth for a lot of women. We take these beatings and we don't fight back because we know. If we do, it's just going to get worse. And in fact, a lot of women are killed by their partner, not just abused, but killed. That's like the final act is to get rid of us. But my experience, I had to be tough and learn to be tough and get these hands and fight back because there was no one around me to protect me.

From the evils that I was faced with, from the abuse that I was faced with, I'm a child of abuse. I am an adult who was abused by my partners. So I had to develop this toughness. It did make me weak, but then I became stronger, but now I feel like I'm, I'm really defensive and guarded this is what it does to you.

 So I would have fought back. I would have fought back even if it meant I had a black eye and a big lip and a busted jaw and you pop my veneers.

I would have fought back but I also know that I have a child. Who would have helped me and like I said before, it's, it's a really weird space for a child to be in to have to do this for their parent. But I know children who have done it. I've read stories about kids who have done this and who have in the midst of their mother being physically abused by a man in their home, they have picked up a weapon and shot and killed a man for doing that.

What, uh, Ms. Hood's son did is not new. It's not, it's not something that's never been done before. Many children have experienced having to get involved, get in between. And help a parent who's helpless, who's being assaulted, and I commend that young man for doing it. I don't, I'm not going to demonize him at all.

He knew what to do, and he did, in my opinion, the right thing. He saw what was happening to his mother, and he subdued the threat. Now it ended, it ended up in Mr. Brown being killed, but you know, like I always tell people when you set out to commit a crime and physical assault is a crime when you set out to commit a crime, you need to fully expect that you are not going to leave where you are.

intact. You might in fact die. That is the risk you take when you commit a crime is that you may lose your life. So you need to think long and hard before you raise your fist before you get in someone's face. And now Ohio is a stand your ground state. And a lot of states are stand your ground before you get in someone's face.

To harm them, or to become violent with them, you need to think long and hard before you go to rob someone. Before you go to do anything illegal, you need to consider, weigh the risk. You might lose your life, and it might be in a very unexpected way. I'm sure Mr. Brown did not expect that a 14 year old boy was going to be there watching him assault Miss Hood and shoot him and kill him.

I'm sure he did not anticipate that, but that is something that abusers do. And from what I'm seeing here, and I'm not, I don't know if he's ever been accused of it. I don't know if he was ever convicted of it, but people do those things that Mr. Brown did because they know they can get away with it because they have been doing it and they've been getting away with it.

It's been, it's been allowed to happen. It's a pattern. People don't just suddenly go from nothing to hitting strangers. in restaurants. This is who they are. This is what they've been doing. They may have been raised around it, but at some point they developed this itch, this yearn, this taste for violence.

And so they are violent and they're violent with their partners and they're violent with their family members and people are scared of them. People are intimidated by them and they know that all they have to do is tell a person to shut up and a person will shut up. But Ms. Hood... Would not relent and because she wouldn't relent because she wouldn't back down because she wouldn't you know Bow down to him because she didn't do what he said He got angrier and angrier and angrier and decided he had had enough He had heard enough and he was gonna silence her with his fist and that is what he did

And yes, that is a crime. And when you commit a crime, you need to fully expect that you will lose your life in the midst of committing that crime. Fully expected. But the response to this entire incident has been,

it's been very telling. At the beginning of the program, I said that The, the double edged sword of being a black woman in the United States. And I've talked about, I talked about this last year after the Chris Rock, Will Smith incident at the Oscars  in 2022 when Chris Rock told that crass, stupid joke about Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith got up and slapped the dog shit out of him.

I talked about the myth of protecting black women because the response to that was all over the place. It was, yeah, he did what he needed to do. He defended his wife from this jerk. Or it was Will Smith is violent. He shouldn't have done that. He was out of line. That never should have happened. There's a time and a place he should have just waited until after the show to have a word with him to, well, Jada Pinkett Smith, you know, she's a whore.

She slept around on him.  He's a cuckold. She dominates him. She gets him to do whatever bidding, you know, she ruined his career. He did this for a woman who didn't even love him, who was sleeping with a bullshit. It was a, it was a lot of victim blaming and Jada Pinkett Smith was the victim there.

She didn't ask for any of that shit. She was sitting there minding her business, supporting her husband. She was there to support her husband. She was not there to be ridiculed or joked about. She was not there to be singled out and talked about. But I, I did a whole show on that. You can go back into the archives and look.

It's called the myth of protecting black women. And it's the same thing in this case with Carlicia Hood. The response has been all over the place. It's been the typical racist response. Oh, black people, this is what they do. They're violent. Look at them. What they're the 14 year old with a gun. As if to say 14 year old white kids have never held a gun.

Please. We are not dumb. We are not blind to the facts. Okay. I don't want to rehash every story that has come out this year about some white kid who's had a gun and who's used it on people at schools. And parades and shit, but that's, it's, it's neither here nor there. The response, the racist response is ridiculous.

It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't fit. Sorry, your narrative doesn't fit here. 

But because it's a black woman who was being hit and her son shot the guy doing the hitting. Oh my gosh. Outrage, outrage across the land and all of these opinions about Carlicia Hood and how she ruined her son's life and they took the life of a, Innocent, precious black man. And why is her son using a gun?

And her son is  a thug. He's a hoodlum and she's a bad mom and she deserves to be in prison and they're terrible people. But another part of this were the men who the black men. Okay. Who were saying specifically that this woman, as they called her, that Ms.

Hood did not deserve to be protected. That black women do not deserve to be protected. That she should have stood up for herself and walked out. Yeah, she should have just left. Even though she was there to get her food because this man was being belligerent and acting stupid. She should have left, right?

She should have diffused the situation first. Listen, I ain't gotta do shit. I ain't gotta do a motherfucking thing. If I'm there for a reason, I'm fucking there and that's it. I ain't gotta diffuse a fucking thing. Do you hear me? It's the same argument you people make about women who are sexually assaulted.

Well, if she hadn't been grinding on him, if she hadn't been wearing that short skirt, What was she wearing? Was she drunk? What was she doing? She consented first and then she said no later. He thought that, that meant yes. You all are always turning this shit around on the victim. And Carlisha Hood is the victim.

She was the one who was being beaten. She was the one minding her fucking business. And this stranger, this fucking belligerent idiot comes out of nowhere to be all up in her business. Trying to push her around and when he didn't get his way when she wouldn't stop talking He got mad and he hit her. He assaulted her.

Oh, but she why did she keep talking? Why did she cut him in line? We don't know who the fuck was in line where or when it doesn't even matter Who the fuck was in line first? Everybody was gonna get their fucking food Anyway, everybody was gonna eat doesn't matter if you're first in line or second in line Why didn't he defuse the situation?

Hmm? Why didn't he defuse the situation? If he said that he was first in line and she came in and she cut him in line or if he was standing there first and she happened to go ahead of him mistakenly, why didn't he just go, Oh, you know what, ma'am? It's okay. It's okay. You go ahead. You go ahead. It's okay.

Why did he instead start a fight with her and then assault her? Why didn't he diffuse the situation? Hmm. You don't ask that question because the onus, you put it on the victim. You put it on the black woman to be the one who has to soften every fucking thing for you. Snowflake, candy ass, baby ass motherfuckers.

You always want to be coddled. You want to be stroked. You want somebody to be soft for you. You want somebody to, to rub your temples and rub your feet and stroke your fucking dick. You always want someone to be your peace. You know why you want someone to be your peace? Cuz you fuckers have all of this inner turmoil and it comes out in these ways where you find yourselves yelling at strangers in restaurants who may or may not have been in line first.

You find yourselves being belligerent to people who you are in relationships with. You find yourselves yelling at and cussing out your children. You all are the turmoil, so you want us to be your peace. Nobody can bring you peace, honey. You either have it or you fucking don't. That shit is internal. 

You can't be the tornado and expect the house that you're about to tear down to withstand you. It don't fucking work like that. It doesn't work like that.

And I'm speaking as a person who has been accused of not being. the type of woman that a man wants because I'm not submissive and I talk too much and I talk back and I don't do the right things and I don't say the right things and I don't wear the right things and I don't act the right way. I don't act the way a woman's supposed to act

 Women don't have to be anything for you people. We don't have to be a fucking thing and you'll find one that you can make it work with or not. We don't have to be a fucking thing for you, but each one of us individually, men and women have to be something for ourselves.

We have to be something for ourselves, so we're not lashing out at people in public. We have to be something for ourselves, so we're creating communities where children don't have to carry guns to defend their lives, to defend the lives of their parents. We have to create communities where children feel safe.

Where they feel nurtured, where they feel loved and understood, where they feel safe. Why is a 14 year old having to carry a gun to defend himself? Because the neighborhood he lives in is not safe. And who did that? Adults did that. Adults did that.

So we can go back and forth about who was at fault, but the real issue is why aren't you protecting black women, even though you say we deserve protecting and we're Queens and we're the queen of the house and the queen of the Nile and the queen of this fucking shit. Why are we not protected? Why are we always blamed?

For this shit, when this shit happens, we are blamed for it. We are demonized. We are called all kinds of names. And I see the, the, the phrase bed wench has made a comeback and black men are calling black women bed wenches. And if you don't know what a bed wench is, it typically refers to a black woman who dates or who sucks up to white men, white people, people of privilege in order to gain a foot into their society. But the history of it. is something sick. It's a misogynistic slur and it has made a comeback.

It is being used against black women, it is used to describe a black woman who rejects a black man who will find love and solace.

In a relationship with a white man or who criticizes a black man criticize, just criticizes any black man could be a man she's had an interaction with, could be a man. And you know, in the media, like, uh, who's this new guy, Jonathan majors, you criticize him. If you're not on his side, if you're siding with the police or the prosecutor, then you're a bedwench.

Why aren't you standing by the black man? I can't imagine why a black woman wouldn't want to stand by a black man. I can't imagine. I have no idea. It's not like we have examples. It's not like we have all of these examples of why we wouldn't. I mean, I can't find any examples. I can't think of any off the top of my head.

I can't think of... Oh! Tupac Shakur! He made that song called Brenda's got a baby. He made that song called dear mama. He made that song called keep your head up. And then he forcibly touched a woman and was convicted of forcible touching and spent nine months in prison for it. But then when he got out, even before he got out, he was praised and hailed.

And he was, you know, paraded. Through the streets when he got out of prison and celebrities went to visit him in prison and they all felt so sorry for him and they were hoping he would make a turnaround and become a better person.

Oh, there's also Mike Tyson. Now, now I know Mike Tyson is Muslim. So I'm not supposed to say anything bad about him. Mike Tyson is a fucking champion, right? Mike Tyson, he's, you know, he's funny. He's got his own podcast. He's on this show and that show and he had a cartoon. Mike Tyson was convicted of rape.

Mike Tyson, when he was married to Robin Gibbons, routinely physically abused her, beat the shit out of her. But we don't talk about that because that's in the past and that's what happened in the past. And we don't have to talk about what people did in the past because it's in the past.

So, we see these people who have abused, taken advantage of, done awful things to black women. We see them being welcomed back into society as if nothing happened. They're on TV and they're being interviewed and they're famous. They're in the rock and roll hall of fame. They have movies made about them and biographies and people are playing their music and people are, you know, clamoring for their autographs and laughing and giggling and playing.

And the last time I talked about the myth of protecting black women, I talked about the case of

Lance Mason. He was, a Cleveland judge, former politician who murdered his. Ex wife,

Aisha Frazier, and this happened in the city that I live in. She was a school teacher, and she was beloved.

But what she was fighting was a man who would not relent, who would not let her go, who would not allow her to move on or even make a move because he wanted to control her. He wanted her to be in pain. He wanted her to hurt. He had routinely physically abused her during their marriage and in fact in front of their children in one incident that was so bad.

That he was convicted of,

 I believe he was convicted of felonious assault and he was removed from the bench and he was put in prison,

but. He was a man of privilege. He was a man who was very well connected, very well connected. He had politicians, including the current secretary of housing and urban development. The former Congresswoman Marsha Fudge write a letter on his behalf

to the judge. so that he could get out of prison early

while they acknowledged that the attack was brutal and um, something that never should have happened. They treated it like it was a lapse in judgment. Like it was a character flaw. Like it wasn't something that routinely happened. When he got out of, when he got out of prison, you know what he did? He stalked her, he harassed her, he stalked her,

She was starting a new life. He made her life hell. He hated it. He hated it so much that he murdered her in front of their children. He stabbed her to death in front of their children. And then afterwards people were, Oh, well, I didn't know he was like this.

He just, he was such a great guy. He was such a good guy. He was so good. He was, you know, he was in prison and he was helping people. He was helping them find, you know, work their cases and do their appeals 

but in any event. In any event, this is what happens to black women. We're victimized over and over and over again because we are not protected. Number one, we are not believed. Number two, we are not empowered. Number three, we are not truly. Empowered. Because when you empower someone and then you work behind their back to tear them down, 

you're not really empowering them. Are you? No, you're not. This double edged sword, this myth of protecting black women in American society can go to hell. It can go to hell. We know what you all are doing. What we don't know is why you're doing it. Because when black men need support, when black men need support of our community, who are the first fucking people to run to protest for them, to ask for justice for them?

Yeah, Ben Crump, whatever. Black women, black women. Putting our freedom in our lives on the fucking line to protest against injustices happening against black men and black children, black men and boys. It is us out there marching, leading the marches, leading the groups, leading, coordinating. It is us. We're out there.

But when we need protecting, when we need someone to stand up for us, what do we get? Oh, you got it. You tough. You can do it. You can handle it. You so tough. You got your dude What did Monique see in that movie?

Since you got your degrees and you know every fucking thing. That's how we're treated Oh, you got your little job, you know, you got it. You don't need me you out there you working You got you know, you got a car. You got a house. You don't need me. You don't need me for nothing

Yeah, maybe you're right, maybe you're right, but we need each other. It's not about dependence. It's about interdependence. We need each other for the resources that we can provide. We need each other for the services we can provide. We need each other to do business with. We need each other to grow businesses, to grow our communities, to build things within our communities.

We need each other when it's time to get justice for some shit that's happened to us or our kids. We need each other. It's not, no, you got it going on. You don't need me. No, we do need each other. It's not about dependence. It's not about codependence. God. No, it's about interdependence. I got something you need.

You got something I need. Let's work together. Let's do this. But instead it's, well look at them dancing on TV and twerking and shaking their butts and talking about the color of their coochie and the color of their buttholes. They don't, they deserve whatever happens to them. See, this is why we don't protect black.

This is why we don't, this is why we don't, uh, come to y'all aid when y'all need help. Because y'all on TV shaking your asses and twerking and acting stupid as if to say there's some dignified way that we are supposed to act. So we are in fact deserving of help and protection and love and companionship from black men.

There's a certain way we're supposed to act. Did you know that? I did. I did. But I don't give a fuck. So I don't do none of that shit. I do whatever the fuck I want. And guess what? Guess where it has gotten me? Divorced. Yeah, I know. Whatever. But I'm here. I'm still fucking here. I'm still fucking here. Not falling apart.

Not losing my shit. I'm still here. And yeah, when a black man needs justice, I'm still gonna fucking show up for him. I raised a black man. I, I gave guidance to a black man. I work with black men, got black men who are clients,

help a lot of black men

do things for black men. Love black men. I love black men. Okay. Especially a dark skinned black man. But let me tell you something. I am not serving you. I'm not your servant. I serve one master. That is God. I don't serve any man. I'm not your fucking servant, not your handmaiden, not your maid servant,

something that my uh, my therapist told me. And she said, when you think about getting into a relationship again, I think about this.  Men bring strength, boys bring problems. You've been dealing with boys your entire life. A man who brings you strength is going to be the one who stays, is going to be the one who is your companion,  he's going to be able to lead. He's going to be able to support you in the relationship. A boy will bring you problems. Everything will be a problem. It'll be work. It'll be a job. You'll always be doing things for them. You'll always be serving them.

You'll always be having to help them and fix them, fix them. Ayana and that is what I have been doing for the last,

30 years, 29, 28, something like that. Black women are not your fixers. We are not your servants. We don't serve you. We are not slaves to you.

It's crucial. It is crucial that we have this conversation. That is why I'm talking to you about this again. It is crucial that we continue to have this conversation. Because this problem is not going to go away. And the problem is that black women are not being protected at the level that is commiserate with the bullshit that you all talk.

You want us to stand up for ourselves and do for ourselves. But at the same time as you want us to be subservient to you to serve you, no, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that. You want us to go to work, pay half on everything. And then come home and do all the cooking and the cleaning, all the household shit.

We're doing 75% of the work doesn't work like that. We're not fucking doing it. At least I'm not doing it. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing it. I didn't want to do it when I was in that type of relationship because it's bullshit. And that is one of the reasons why I got my ass beat because I wouldn't do that shit.

I wouldn't relent. I wouldn't go to work and slave all fucking day at work and then come home and be a slave for my husband. I wouldn't do it. And so I get the shit beat out of me. I got cussed out. I got called names, all kinds of nasty names. I got kicked to the curb

but listen to them. Oh, you're a queen. You're my queen. You're, you're a queen. You're a black queen. And then you listen to the music. Oh, these black Queens, these black Queens out here. We got to protect our Queens. But instead the black Queens are having to protect ourselves from the black Kings. And it needs to stop.

It won't stop. Nothing stops here. Nothing. Nothing stops. As much as we say it needs to stop, as much as we see these stories like the one with Carlicia Hood and her son, as much as we see these things happening to black women, it continues to happen. Because the conversations are not being had where we talk about solutions, what are some solutions to this shit?

You know, I love, I deal in facts and figures.  We have to acknowledge the historical and contemporary factors that contribute to, you know, the specific vulnerabilities that black women face. And recently, as in today, the Supreme Court has said, fuck affirmative action. We don't need it anymore.

The society is equalized, it's racially equalized, and we know that's bullshit. And that bullshit comes down hard on black women. Black women have been at the forefront of multiple movements. Throughout history, fighting for civil rights, fighting for voting rights, fighting for gender equality, fighting for social justice, and despite our immense contributions, we continue to face them.

Intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization. We continue to face structural racism. And don't argue with me if you think that shit doesn't exist or not. I don't give a fuck. It does. I'm telling you that it does. I have experienced it. Sexism and misogynoir. And I know that is a word that people hate to hear.

Especially black men. They don't want to hear that. But it's a specific form of discrimination that targets black women. And all of this plays a significant role in shaping our experiences this is what is behind us. This is where we came from. That has led to our specific vulnerabilities.

And why did I say that Black men hate to hear the word misogynoir? Because in the last two, three years or so, this word has become popularized in pop culture and in think spaces and, and it's tossed around so much, but people don't even really know what it is. But it is the specific form of discrimination that affects black women.

It targets black women. But it's the unique way in which black women experience racism and sexism simultaneously. It encompasses societal stereotypes, prejudices. And systemic biases that specifically target black women. This can manifest in various forms, including hyper sexualization and objectification and the devaluation of black women's voices and contributions. It's important to recognize and challenge these harmful narratives to protect and empower black women. We have to continue to have these conversations.

But we have to understand where black women are coming from and why we are saying we deserve protection and we're not being protected.

We are victims of hyper sexualization, objectification, and devaluation of our voices and contributions on a daily fucking basis.

And I spoke about this in episode 17 about. The epidemic of black maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States and how black women face higher rates of death and developing deadly complications during their pregnancies at a higher rate than their white counterparts than our white counterparts.

In fact, black women. Often face higher rates of violence too, including domestic violence and police brutality. We also encounter disproportionate levels of discrimination in healthcare, education, employment and the criminal justice system. And I fear, thank you to the ending of affirmative action. That there are going to be less black women in spaces where important decisions need to be made or where we need to see diverse faces or where we need to see faces of our culture, such as in the healthcare system.

But these factors contribute to the emotional and physical toll that black women bear  leading to higher rates of stress, anxiety, and chronic health conditions. Our voices are often dismissed or ignored even within social justice movements. And I know it is disheartening to hear.

These challenges, it's disheartening to have to face them every day. But again, it's crucial that we discuss these openly.

 Black women are disproportionately affected by economic inequality, healthcare disparities, police brutality, and violence, including domestic violence. We also often face stereotypes and negative portrayals in media and society. So protecting black women is crucial because we play integral roles in our communities, families, and contribute significantly to society.

Black women are more likely to be the head of a household than a black man. We are the head of our households. More than any other race of women, more than black men, we are the head of our households and people have gone back and forth about blaming black women for black men not being in the homes and have and raising sons who end up in prison.

And that myth has been debunked. It has been debunked by actual facts. We're not letting you say this shit about us anymore. We're not letting you teach this about us without pushing back. We're pushing back on all of it. We're not sitting back and taking this anymore. The lies that you all are telling about us. We're not accepting them anymore. And what we're also not accepting is you telling us that because we act a certain way, we deserve what happens to us. We saw this on the, uh, the BET awards recently.

Where women were, you know, dancing in the aisles and doing their thing. See, this is why black men don't, black men don't date you. This is why we date outside our race. This is why we, when you guys are in trouble, we don't come to your aid because look at the way you're acting. You make us look bad.

There's nothing a black woman can do to make you look bad. You do it all on your own, honey. You do it all on your own. But I don't even want it to be like a Ted for Ted. I don't want, I don't want to be, I don't want it. I don't want a war, don't want a fucking war trying to try to make you understand why it is important.

Number one, that we're having this conversation and number two, that we're addressing this problem and that we work to solve this problem because look at how it has fractured us. Look at how fractured we are. Look at what we're doing. We're telling lies about each other and believing the lies. 

But there are ways that we can make a difference together and it starts with education and awareness. We have to educate ourselves about the experiences and contributions of black women. We need to be allies for each other.

We have to educate ourselves. About where this problem began, the systemic challenges. It's crucial to support black women, including providing financial resources, volunteering and engaging with our advocacy efforts. We have to actively, actively. Not passively actively confront and dismantle the systems that perpetuate racism and sexism and advocate for policies that promote equity and inclusivity.

We have to take actionable Steps.

And I know we are all looking for solutions. We are looking for solutions to this problem. We are looking for ways to ameliorate this. And I think first and foremost, it starts with education and awareness. We have to challenge our own biases and educate ourselves about the experiences and contributions of black women.

We have to listen to and uplift black women's voices within our personal relationships and on a broader scale. Listen to Carlisha. Hood, tell her story. Listen to what she has to say. Listen to what she experienced before you judge her. Listen to what she was going through, in that fucking moment that she was being beaten.

Listen to her so that you understand why she had no other choice. Listen to our stories and amplify our voices. We have to support organizations that advocate for racial and gender justice, but we also need systemic changes that address the root causes of these challenges.

 We have to reform the criminal justice system. We have to absolutely have to. That is a must. We have to promote equitable healthcare and we have to implement policies that protect the rights and well being of black women. And this means you motherfuckers get off your ass and get to the polls and vote, vote for people who are going to ensure that the rights of everyone, including black women are protected.

Vote for people who are going to implement policies that protect the rights and well being of black women. We see that elections have consequences because Donald Trump put three of those motherfuckers who were on the Supreme Court on the goddamn Supreme Court He seated three of them motherfuckers.

They've dismantled Roe v. Wade. They've dismantled affirmative action Now they have voted against water rights for Native Americans 

and now we're waiting to see if they are going to strike down a policy that would see millions of Americans have their student loan debt reduced or eliminated completely.

And it, it's an, it's, it's vital that we get to the polls. I don't know how else to say it. People are constantly saying that democracy is dead, that, uh, the voting system is rigged. It's rigged against us. You know who it's rigged against? It's rigged against America. It's rigged against the United States because the United States needs this motherfucker.

Needs the election system needs the voting system to continue. 

It needs citizens to uphold it. It needs people voting and paying taxes to continue.

And when people aren't voting because they've been convinced. That voting does not help, that voting does not work, that their vote doesn't count, that elections are rigged when they've been convinced through propaganda, through lies, through years of fucking fairy tales about how voting doesn't help anyone or when people have been disenfranchised.

Because they were convicted of a crime or because they can't repay the fines and fees that they need to pay before they could have their voting rights restored. When that happens, that is a system that is rigged against America that is designed to make this country fail.

But if we all work together to fix this, to prevent the failure by voting and helping people get to the polls and helping people get their voting rights back and showing people why it's important to vote. If we get there, if we get through that,

then we can have the policies that protect our rights and well being. Then we can have the criminal justice reforms. Then we can address the systemic changes that need to be had.

We need to continue to have these conversations and we need to take action and uplift black women in all aspects of life.

And I encourage everyone to continue educating themselves on the experiences of black women. Listen to our stories, man. Listen to our stories, all of them, the good, the bad, the ugly, the painful, the ones with the not so good endings. Listen to our stories, engage in conversations, read books, and seek out diverse perspectives.

Follow and support organizations led by black women. We all have a role to play in this. We all have a role to play in this.

Support organizations that advocate for comprehensive and culturally competent health care that conduct research and provide resources to promote our wellbeing.

For instance, the black women's health imperative. It is the first and only national nonprofit solely dedicated to achieving health equity for black women in the United States.

Contribute to organizations who are working to protect black women.

The Say Her Name campaign. It raises awareness about the experiences of black women and girls who have been victims of police violence. Bye. Giving. Then visibility, we acknowledge their struggles and help them seek justice. There are initiatives that are making a significant impact that we can give our volunteer hours to.

We can spread awareness through social media. We can donate to, we can amplify these initiatives. But also we can be allies for each other. Allies play a crucial role in supporting black women. How do you become an ally for a black woman as a black man, listen to us and learn from our experiences and perspectives, engage in conversations with us, read books and articles by black women and amplify our voices by sharing our work. You could also actively confront and call out instances of racism and sexism that happened to us in our personal lives and professional lives.

You can recognize that even though we are both black, that you have some privilege and leverage in the world because you are a man to advocate for change for black women.

Create spaces that uplift and celebrate us.

Ensure that we have equal opportunities for growth and success. Protecting black women is not something that's. Temporary or trendy or a one time effort. It requires long term commitment and sustained action because black women have been at the forefront of countless movements for justice.

It's time for black men to reciprocate our strength and resilience with their unwavering support. This interdependence that we're creating. Fosters a world where black men and women can thrive free from discrimination and violence.

Let us be the change we want to see in the world. You hear that so much, but it's true. You have to do it if you want to see it. If you want to see it, if you want us to be empowered, and I want black men and women, black women to be empowered, we have to keep amplifying each other's voices. We have to listen and act collectively and responsibly to uplift and support each other, not tear each other down, not abuse each other, not use slurs against each other.

Not take us backwards in time. We have to move forward and let's be the change we want to see in this world.

And this has been Ayanna Explains It All brought to you by Facts, Figures, and Enlightenment. Take care.