You have the right to remain silent. In fact, silence can be used to great effect to express having the power in a situation. Passive aggressive individuals favor this by giving the “silent treatment” to punish you even when the silence means you have no idea wtf you actually did to make them mad, but okay…

Some people don’t speak to show that they’re in control.

There is silence that is willful and then there’s the misconceived role that silence is expected to play when it comes to black women. Particularly in the face of vocal haters, slanderers, and persons who threaten our safety and free will.

Bullies.

Somehow, the best way to stand up to the people who hate us and actively try and hurt and demean us as black women is supposed to be to shut up.

You SHUT UP to demonstrate that you have dignity.

You SHUT UP to show that you’re empowered.

You SHUT UP so you don’t look like the “Angry Black Woman”.

….You SHUT UP because your voice is somehow more scary than the awful things said and done to black women. You must SHUT UP lest people get the wrong impression about black women everywhere.

Even though the voices of those who look for any and every opportunity to speak up in hatred of us go on unabated as no one is coming to our rescue, it’s more important for us to SHUT UP than for anyone to get around to telling these persons to do the same.

It isn’t the bullies, the predators, the unapologetic abusers and haters of black women who are supposed to be quiet. It isn’t the men who use, abuse and abandon black women who are supposed to stop.

No.

We are apparently going to rid the world of this type of filth by SHUTTING UP and SITTING DOWN and pretending what they do doesn’t matter.

Oh…oh, I see. We’re going to save face.

Black people love to “save face” by ignoring elephants trampling around the room, smearing feces on the wall. If you sit there and don’t say anything, you can pretend there’s no problem. You may even convince yourself that it’s a game: If you sit there in dignified silence, the bullies and monsters will somehow magically disappear. And then you’ll win.

Except nobody in their life that’s been put down, stepped on, and abused has ever gotten ANY kind of peace by sitting in a corner somewhere, quietly accepting abuse.

And it will be a cold day in Hell before I tell black women to roll over for bullies, just because some people want to okey doke black women about how it’s better to be a corpse than an a living, breathing body. One that dares to speak the words, “I am not taking your crap.”

I  am NOT SHUTTING UP.

And if you think that the best way for me to deal with a chorus of voices that continue to shout from the rooftops that I should die, vanish off the face of the Earth for no other reason than because I’m a black woman…that I am ugly, stupid, man-hating, bitter, crazy…that I should just kill myself because no one could ever want me or any other black woman…

…If you think I’m the one that needs to SHUT UP, I have news for you: It’s actually YOU and people like you that needs to consider bringing your teeth closer together.

*drops the mic, exits stage left*