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We can never underestimate the things celebrities will do in an attempt to promote projects that ultimately no one is checking for. And sadly attacking Black women is not only commonplace, it’s good for business.
It’s the reason why rapper Talib Kweli has been consistently and fervently harassing a Black woman for speaking about colorism in the Black community.
The discussion, which didn’t involve Kweli directly, began when a woman asked their Twitter followers to name rappers who married Black women, besides Snoop.
In response, another man provided a list of the Black rappers who are married to Black women.
Talib’s name was on the list.
And that’s when Twitter user @MoneyyMaya, pointed out that the majority of the women on the list, while Black , were also light skinned.
She wrote: “Literally almost all of them are married to light skinned women but that’s a conversation for another day.”
And she was right.
But for one reason or another, Kweli, who wasn’t even tagged in her reply, has been attacking @MoneyyMaya for almost two weeks straight.
Coincidentally, right around the time his new album dropped.
https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/1284103846365626368
https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/1284151225856987138
https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/1283756549157117960
But the tweets were not the extent of his harassment. According to Maya, there have been real threated issued against both herself and members of her family by people in Kweli’s employ.
She wrote about it in a lengthy statement she shared on Twitter. First, she shared the reason she addressed the colorism in the first place.
“This tweet was made to address colorism and desirability politics within the Black community: specifically amongst Black entertainers. This was not an attempt to invalidate the Blackness of light skinned people, but to bring awareness to the well known fact: that Black rappers, athletes and entertainers prefer to date and marry light skinned and nonBlack women. Bringing attention to colorism does not mean those of lighter skin tones do not deserve love or prosperity, but that they *should* recognize the privilege that comes from their skin tone. Calling someone light skinned is not an insult. It does not invalidate their Blackness and the fact that they still face oppression at the hands of White supremacy.”
She continued:
“Talib Kweli has been on a week-long harassment spree directed at me via Twitter and Instagram, which has led his followers threatening to murder my family and I for this tweetl I have also been threatened with human trafficking, and they have been posting pictures of my parents online, who are ALL federal employees, along with their full names, where we live, and my stepmothers old job and salary.”
Maya shared that messages from some of the accounts that have been harassing her (@Lifecoach_Mary) have been traced by to someone on Kweli’s payroll—or are being used as his burner account.
Kweli vowed to continue to harass Maya for the next 13 years and is claiming that she is a Nazi and White supremacist.
She writes:
“He has also claimed that I am in love with him (I would rather mop the ocean.)…He has made slanderous, derogatory videos about me, encouraging his bots and followers to persist. As a result, I shared public information about his 2 child rape allegations, that he blacklisted an ex-employee, Res for refusing sexual advances, and that he’s been cheating on his wife for the past 9 years.”
Maya claims that Kweli will continue to harass her until she apologizes and deletes her account.
“I am tired of seeing Black women targeted, harassed and harmed and I will not be silent about our mistreatment. We are told to hurt quietly. I am not doing it anymore…I will never apologize for speaking truth to power and I ain’t sorry. I said what I said. NO weapon formed against me shall prosper. There is power in numbers so PLEASE continue to mass report @Lifecoach_Mary, @KarenSlayerMary and @Chelle8868 on Twitter.”
You can read Maya’s full statement below.
