I May Rage. But I Won’t Cry.

Earlier today, I found out another Black person was extra-judicially executed by police in less than a minute.

Less than a minute. Approximately four to five seconds.

Someone who was worried about Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, 28 and called the non-emergency number asking for the police to conduct a wellness check.

Recently, I’ve seen some essays from a new book about women and rage come out. Some writers I know are in it and one of the essays brought up an important question in my community of women of color.

Do you rage cry?

I read an essay from the book. It is poignant and beautiful. I’m not going to link it because I’m not trying to hurt anyone here. It is a fine piece of work. It is important for us to talk about rage tears or crying in general.

But do I rage cry?

I think back to earlier this year when I thought my wallet had been stolen and I panicked. Read about that here. I think about how while I was sitting on a public bench crying because I was scared and overwhelmed, a White woman on her cell phone loudly talked about calling the police while she was making eye contact with me.

I think about how I stopped crying and got home as quickly as I could without running.

In May, for Wear Your Voice Magazine I wrote about how Black women are unreal to everyone. How we are routinely denied our humanity for reasons that range from misogynoir to simple White…