Megan Thee Stallion shares her honest thoughts and experiences in an opinion piece she penned on the importance of protecting Black women following the shooting incident in which she alleges Tory Lanez shot her.
On Tuesday (Oct. 13), The New York Times published an op-ed written by Megan Thee Stallion titled Megan Thee Stallion: Why I Speak Up for Black Women. In the lengthy article, the 25-year-old rapper describes her personal experiences with violence at the hands of a man, the forthcoming election and standing in solidarity with Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician who was killed by Louisville, Ky. police who were serving a "no-knock" warrant at her home back in March.
"I'm not afraid of criticism," Megan begins. "We live in a country where we have the freedom to criticize elected officials. And it's ridiculous that some people think the simple phrase 'Protect Black women' is controversial. We deserve to be protected as human beings. And we are entitled to our anger about a laundry list of mistreatment and neglect that we suffer."
Following the "Girls in the Hood" rapper speaking candidly regarding the July 12 shooting investigation involving Tory Lanez, Megan has assumed a role in which she utilizes her platform to publicly address the plight of Black women. During her performance on the season opener of Saturday Night Live earlier this month, Meg used her set to send a message to Kentucky's Attorney General Daniel Cameron. There, she called out his negligence in handling the grand jury's investigation into Breonna Taylor's murder.
She also stated, “We need to protect our Black women, and love our Black women, ’cause at the end of the day, we need our Black women. We need to protect our Black men and stand up our Black men, ’cause at the end of the day, we’re tired of seeing hashtags about Black men.”
Daniel Cameron later responded to the Houston native's performance, referring to it as "disgusting."
Since the shooting incident a few months ago, Megan has seen her fair share of harassment. An example would be the many people on social media who claimed she lied about sustaining gunshot wounds and being hospitalized following the incident. Then, in September, Tory released a 17-song album, Daystar, where he proclaimed his innocence pertaining to the incident. Megan has hopped on social media on numerous occasions to defend herself against what she says are false allegations.
Megan Thee Stallion's op-ed arrives on the same day Tory Lanez is set to appear in court in Los Angeles following his arrest for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle. He was taken into custody the same night the Hollywood Hills shooting involving Megan took place on July 12.
Elsewhere in the op-ed, Megan denies being in a relationship with a "man" who shot her twice. The Texas rhymer doesn't name Tory Lanez in the writeup, but she does reference the incident involving them both. Tory made claims that the two were involved romantically on his new album.
"I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man," Megan shares. "After a party, I was shot twice as I walked away from him. We were not in a relationship. Truthfully, I was shocked that I ended up in that place."
Beyond using her words, Megan shares a video featuring rappers like Maliibu Miitch and Abby Jasmine to help visually articulate the importance of standing with Black women. In the clip narrated by the former 2019 XXL Freshman, Meg describes the hardships of being a woman of color.
Check out Megan's video in which she speaks on the importance of protecting Black women below.
See 30 Prolific Quotes From Your Favorite Rappers