Throughout the history of time, black women have put their problems and community on their back. From Cleopatra, Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, to Gabrielle Union. We have stood tall in the face of discrimination and demanded respect for ourselves and our community. Although we sacrifice our sanity, reputation, and sometimes happiness…we still find ourselves begging for our community to support us. In this situation Gabrielle Union risked her reputation to express her frustrations with America’s Got Talent and was quickly belittled and humiliated by Terry Crews’ attempt to stand up for the show on national television.

Terry Crews’ Good Morning America interview was heartbreaking. As he spoke fondly of AGT and how they treated HIM on the set, he completely threw Gabrielle under the bus and discredited her experience just because HE didn’t experience the same thing she did. He could have simply acknowledged Gabrielle’s feelings and expressed himself.  To make matters worse, he took to twitter and proudly stated how it wasn’t his job to care about anyone but his wife (not even his daughters or mother).

His Tweet was problematic and showed us how the structure of community is lost. There's no problem with placing your wife as a priority but there is no “code” when it comes to protecting black women especially when the man has everything he needs to survive and be happy. This idea that black women don’t need support is outdated and it is time for a change.

If you look around, you can see that although black women in leadership roles is on the rise, it’s still a challenge. Ask yourself these questions: How many black female political figures do you see in your community? How many of your lead pastors are black women? How often do you see a black woman as a CEO of a major corporation? Why are we left to fend for ourselves in our homes, communities, jobs, and in this world? Do you feel like things need to change?

In order for us to see a better America, we have to start with intentionally supporting black women. Especially black men. How can we work together and build ourselves out of this mess, if we can’t even protect one another? There are men who understand this concept and are working hard to show their support but we need this energy to grow or our communities will continue down the same road of declination and separation. Let's make it a goal to avoid the Terry Crews Syndrome. Stand up for black women.

Amanda Seales said it best in the video below. Take notes.