There are times in this work where you have to resist the urge to cuss everybody clean out. Just tell people the truth with no filter. That's why I
There are times in this work where you have to resist the urge to cuss everybody clean out. Just tell people the truth with no filter.
That’s why I wish I could rap.
There are moments in our culture that quietly expose how unsafe it can be for a woman to tell the truth.
The Tory Lanez case was one of those moments.
Even after a conviction.
Even after an appeal was denied.
Even with evidence, witnesses, and a court process that affirmed what happened — the backlash against Megan Thee Stallion never lost steam.
And then Tory Lanez (defense) stood in front of the world and said Megan should have “ran and ducked.”
And then Tory Lanez (defense) stood in front of the world and said Megan should have “ran and ducked.”
That sentence alone tells you everything about the conditions Black women are expected to survive.
Because what he described wasn’t just victim-blaming.
It was a reenactment of the old script:
A woman should have been quieter, faster, stronger, more strategic, more superhuman in the moment she was being harmed.
And if she wasn’t? It’s her fault.
This is the very soil where victim silence grows.
Why Victims Don’t Come Forward
Many people ask, “Why didn’t she speak up sooner?”
But they never ask, “Who made it dangerous for her to speak?”
Here’s the truth:
Victims don’t stay quiet because they are weak.
They stay quiet because they’ve seen what happens to women who speak.
They’ve seen:
- Communities side with the abuser out of loyalty or convenience.
- Entire online mobs mock a woman’s pain for entertainment.
- Lawyers and political operatives fold themselves around a man’s (a violent man’s) defense.
- Strangers turn the victim into the villain.
- Institutions twist responsibility until the woman is blamed for her own harm.
And in Megan’s case, we saw power — political, social, financial — align itself behind a man who harmed a Black woman and then blamed her for not performing survival in the “right” way.
Megan Withstood It — But Not Every Victim Can
Megan showed extraordinary strength.
She stood in the fire.
She kept going through humiliation, disbelief, and open cruelty.
And she shouldn’t have had to.
Her endurance is not the benchmark.
Her bravery is not the expectation.
Because the truth is simple and heartbreaking:
Most victims cannot endure what Megan endured — and they shouldn’t be expected to.
When women watch how she was treated, many decide:
- “I’m not strong enough for that.”
- “They’ll destroy me.”
- “My community will defend him.”
- “I can’t survive that level of scrutiny or cruelty.”
And so they stay silent.
Not because they don’t want justice — but because the world has shown them the price of telling the truth.
The Political Machine Behind It
What made this case even more disturbing was the political and ideological power surrounding his defense.
Tory Lanez’s legal team included a Florida legislator with Republican ties — a reminder that Black women’s trauma is not only personal.
It becomes political.
It becomes a stage where entire networks decide whether her safety matters.
When political power, legal strategy, and cultural misogyny line up behind a man, it sends a chilling message to victims everywhere:
“You will be outnumbered.”
This Is Why We Fight for Survivors
If the world treated victims with dignity — if communities protected women instead of shielding abusers — Megan’s case would not have been the spectacle it was.
But here’s the truth that matters today:
Megan survived the storm, but that storm keeps many others silent.
And we must build a world where silence is no longer the safer option.
- Victims deserve safety.
They deserve belief.
They deserve compassion.
They deserve a world where coming forward does not cost them their sanity, their livelihood, or their community.
Every time a woman finds the courage to speak, she’s fighting centuries of dismissal and disbelief.
And every time we protect that woman, we weaken the system that teaches victims to stay quiet.
stop asking women: “Why now?”
