Updated from June 3, 2025

Speaking of a harmed woman’s word is never good enough. We WILL NOT be forgetting this.

We human beings are a flawed bunch and we women must take a good look at ourselves. During the 2024 Olympics we allowed ourselves to be divided. Some of us failed to listen to other women.

Some female athletes failed to listen other female athletes. 

Some of us failed to listen to our instincts.

We will not be forgetting the women who told us that they were “praying for us”…..etc. …. because we were throwing a “woman of color” under the bus when we raised concerns about televised structural violence for entertainment purposes. Some of us who knew better tried to warn people that men were laughing about women getting harmed in the ring while simultaneously calling women “bigots”.

We will not be forgetting this because this is an important moment for healing and growth. Critical. Crucial. And a must.

Algerian Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif Admits To Having Male Sex Chromosome For The First Time

Like Toni Morrison said, we get angry sometimes. So here it is.

We watched.

We warned.
We waited.
And still—we were mocked.

Now, in the wake of the alleged documentation revealing Imane Khelif is male, the silence is thunderous. The apologies are missing. And the backlash against women—particularly Black women—has left scars deeper than the headlines.

Yet, where were all the people who called us bigots, hateful, jealous, transphobic, angry…..worse (y’all were saving those nasty memes for a special occasion?

Women in Media and High Places

 On CNN, an award winning Black woman sports journalist said Imane Khalif’s opponent was crying because she “got her butt beat.” So suddenly we aren’t asking the Olympic athlete? We are not curious to know what her thoughts are? What her condition is? 

Meanwhile, Angela Carini, an expert in her profession had something to say but was dismissed, ridiculed, and mocked.  She spoke up when she suspected she was being hit by a man, immediately stating: “I’ve never been hit so hard.”

For women to dismiss her words, knowing full well what that is like was extremely disappointing. This was her health and safety. She could have been killed. 

Women weren’t crying because they lost.
We were crying because we weren’t heard.
Because we were dismissed.
Because we knew something was wrong—and we were punished for saying so. Most of all though, athletes continued to be punished, even by fellow female activists, athletes, coaches, and journalists, and politicians. Having fellow women in high places proved to be useless. 

If women don’t listen to women, who listens to women?

And when Black women spectators stood up, many of us were told:
“You look like men yourselves.”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Sit down. Be silent. Be ashamed.”

Unfazed, because we’ve been hearing those immature taunts since grade school. We kept going. (By the way, at some point, y’all gotta grow the hell up.)

Some high-profile Black women, educated and influential, even said we needed to be “prayed for”. Ahhhh. Definitely a church silencing tactic. And I love church folks.I find comfort, healing, and joy in the pews too.   

That’s how I know what you doing.  
So yes. Pray for us. 
But also: Listen to us. Protect us.
Help us lower the barriers to our safety. Because all of that is in the scriptures too. 

Let us know when you will be speaking on creating safety for women and girls.

Because when women raise red flags about safety, that’s not the time to pick up a tambourine and start singing someone else’s redemption song.
That’s the time to stand with us.

Women Require Safety

We are demanding safety.
That’s it. Just safety.

We live in a world where women—especially Black women—are expected to endure everything.
Even now, in the shadow of the Sean Combs trial, we’re seeing it again:
When women speak of harm, the spotlight turns to someone else’s discomfort.

But we know the truth.
We know what it costs to speak up.
We know how much strength it takes to demand even the smallest measures of protection.

When women asked for a cheek swab, they were told it was “too invasive”.
Too invasive?

Women routinely endure pap smears, colposcopies, biopsies of our vaginal tissue, biopsies of our breast tissue while they suspend us in the air so our breast can flop down and the doctor below takes tissue from our breast, surgical recovery from abuse, and somehow asking for assurance of safety via a cheek swab is too much? Cut it out. 

Side bar: Please stop acting like a cheek swab is a major surgical procedure when women endure so much more during a casual doctor’s visit. 

We must stop treating women’s safety as a threat to someone else’s comfort.
We must unlearn this culture of silence.
We must stop punishing women for wanting to feel safe in our own bodies, our own spaces, our own world.

We must.
We must.
We must.

Black women especially—we are expected to keep going no matter what.
To push through the pain.
To smile through the shame.
To suffer in silence for the sake of someone else’s version of “unity.”

But that’s not unity.
That’s bondage.

We are allowed to stop.
We are allowed to question.
We are allowed to say: No more. Or at least pause things until you get some answers. 

We owe it to every Survivor—of violence, deception, and institutional betrayal—to make safety the non-negotiable.

We owe it to ourselves to listen when women speak—even if their voices shake.

Because this time?
Women were right.

**Additional notes:

Role of the International Olympic Committee and Kirsty Coventry:

• At the time of the 2024 Olympics, Kirsty Coventry was a member of the IOC’s Executive Board. the-independent.com

• The IOC faced criticism for allowing Imane Khelif’s participation without adequately addressing the concerns raised by fellow athletes and for not providing transparent communication regarding eligibility criteria.

• Kirsty Coventry has been elected as the next President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

🪷Share if you feel safe and ready—your voice might be the lifeline someone else needs.
And if you do share, remember to cite the messenger. Words carry legacy.
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