This week has been especially heavy for Black women online. With social media timelines flooded with the disturbing details of Cassie’s testimony in the Diddy case, and some users belittling and degrading her experience, along with the experiences of women like Halle Bailey and Megan Thee Stallion, simply opening any social media app has felt less like mindless scrolling and more like emotional warfare.
But amid the noise, a resurfaced message from Damson Idris is reminding folks that some Black men do get it. A screenshot of the “Snowfall” star’s December 2023 Instagram Story began circulating again this week, striking a chord as users uplifted his callout of the pervasive disrespect Black women face, often at the hands of the very community meant to protect them.
“I see so much unprovoked hatred towards Black women today by predominantly grown Black men. Especially towards our young stars that are just trying to do their thing,” Idris wrote at the time. “The compulsion to humble these women perhaps makes you feel like more of a man. I promise you, you aren’t men to us. A new year is approaching, grow up.”
Just as Black women were singing the actor’s praises when he first posted his declaration, social media users are doing so now.
“Women – black women especially – are not safe in this world. We never were safe. We are supposed to endure but not overcome. Shout out to Damson Idris for being one of few that stood up for us,” one user wrote on X, resharing the circulating screenshot.
Idris didn’t share what prompted his words at the time, but given everything unfolding now, it’s clear his message still hits. And in a moment where Black women are once again being asked to swallow pain in silence, even a simple post like his feels like something solid to hold onto.
