Megan Thee Stallion has never been afraid to speak her mind and from the start of her career, uplifting other Black women has always been at the forefront. In a powerful piece for The New York Times, the 25-year-old rapper explains why nothing and no one will shut down her voice.
In the opinion piece, the Houston rapper opens up about being shot by rapper Tory Lanez, “I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man. 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.”

She continued, “My initial silence about what happened was out of fear for myself and my friends. Even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment. The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, warranted.”

Los Angeles prosecutors charged rapper Tory Lanez with shooting Megan Thee Stallion during an argument that occurred while they were both driving in the same vehicle in the Hollywood Hills on June 12. 

Lanez, 27, faces two felony charges — assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The complaint, released on Thursday (October 8) states Lanez “inflicted great bodily injury” on Megan Thee Stallion.  If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of roughly 23 years.

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Stallion saw the shooting incident beyond her own experience and acknowledged it’s what many women endure, writing, “After a lot of self-reflection on that incident, I’ve realized that violence against women is not always connected to being in a relationship. Instead, it happens because too many men treat all women as objects, which helps them to justify inflicting abuse against us when we choose to exercise our own free will.”
She also addressed Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s reaction over her epic SNL, which pointed out how he failed to pursue justice in the Breonna Taylor case. “I anticipated some backlash: Anyone who follows the lead of Congressman John Lewis, the late civil rights giant, and makes ‘good trouble, necessary trouble,’ runs the risk of being attacked by those comfortable with the status quo.”

She continued, “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.”
The piece also included a powerful video, see below: