
In one summer, the Alabama Boat Brawl and Tory Lanez’s sentencing overlapped to start major conversations within Black communities.
And while the brawl generated celebration and clever memes, the latter resurfaced harassment and jokes trivializing a Black woman’s pain.
But this isn’t a new phenomenon.
In 1949, activist Claudia Jones described “super-exploitation.” It’s the exploitation Black women face under capitalism and misogynoir, especially while underpaid and underappreciated within the workforce and household.
Megan Thee Stallion isn’t in the working class. But her story highlights a universal issue. Rap disses, podcasts, and merchandise commodified her pain. The Lanez cycle coincided with claims of her record label failing to compensate her in an industry that profits from misogynoir. Many positioned outcry to her being shot as “gender wars.”
But Jones debunked this, too.
Jones opposed that “a ‘battle of the sexes’ [gets] in the way of our liberation against white supremacists.” This framing ignores Black women’s oppression outside and within our communities.
But true Black liberation prioritizes Black women instead of pushing them to the margins.
So when we see misogynoir broadcasted in the media or perpetuated within our communities, let the voice of Jones and countless other Black woman thinkers ring on.
And let’s build a future where intersectionality is only a history of difference and no longer a needed framework for continuing exploitation and disrespect.