Megan Thee Stallion pens a powerful op-ed for the New York Times

Less than a month before an election in which the focus has been on a political and ideological showdown between two aging white men, rapper Megan Thee Stallion is speaking up to make sure Black women — a powerful and game-changing voting block — aren’t forgotten after the campaigning ends. “My hope is that Kamala Harris’s candidacy for vice president will usher in an era where Black women in 2020 are no longer ‘making history’ for achieving things that should have been accomplished decades ago,” she wrote in an op-ed piece for the New York Times, citing the Black female political pioneers like Shirley Chisholm, Loretta Lynch, Representative Maxine Waters, and Senator Carol Moseley Braun, who have preceded Harris on her path to the second-highest office in the U.S.Black women, says the rapper, have faced erasure from the history books — from the dawn of the Civil Rights era all the way up to the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement. “It’s important to note that six of the Little Rock Nine students whose bravery in 1957 led to school integration were Black girls,” she writes, “And that Rosa Parks showed incredible bravery when she refused to move to the ‘colored section.’ I wish that every little Black girl was taught that Black Lives Matter was co-founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.”

I will never stop using my voice ✊?Thank you to all the beautiful women involved pic.twitter.com/EnefD8XKfP

— HOT GIRL MEG (@theestallion) October 13, 2020

Megan Thee Stallion’s NYT missive comes the week after Canadian rapper Tory Lanez was officially charged with shooting her twice in the foot during a violent argument. Her piece references the assault, saying that women — and Black women especially — are treated as objects by men, “which helps them to justify inflicting abuse against us when we choose to exercise our own free will.”[video_embed id='2019595']RELATED: Megan Thee Stallion says Tory Lanez shot her[/video_embed]“If we dress in fitted clothing, our curves become a topic of conversation not only on social media, but also in the workplace. The fact that Serena Williams, the greatest athlete in any sport ever, had to defend herself for wearing a bodysuit at the 2018 French Open is proof positive of how misguided the obsession with Black women’s bodies is,” she says.“Many of us begin to put too much value to how we are seen by others,” continues Megan. “That’s if we are seen at all. The issue is even more intense for Black women, who struggle against stereotypes and are seen as angry or threatening when we try to stand up for ourselves and our sisters. There’s not much room for passionate advocacy if you are a Black woman.”But Megan is one of many Black women who are making room. During a recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, she called out government officials in Breonna Taylor’s home state of Kentucky for failing to deliver justice to Taylor’s family. She made her powerful statement mid-performance on a stage plastered with the phrase ‘Protect Black Women.’“Anyone who follows the lead of Congressman John Lewis, the late civil rights giant, and makes ‘good trouble, necessary trouble,’” writes the rapper, “runs the risk of being attacked by those comfortable with the status quo.” The ‘Savage’ singer is no longer afraid.[video_embed id='2041288']RELATED: Megan Thee Stallion, The Weeknd land on Time 100 list[/video_embed]