We Ride For Meg
Black women root for Megan Thee Stallion, who is more than her music
By Shalise Manza Young
One of the beautiful things about being a Black woman — other than most of us aging so gracefully our mothers can be mistaken for our sisters — is how we instinctively look out for one another.
We freely compliment each other when we’re out and about. We are drawn to each other in social settings.
And we will not let it be forgotten that we, the 92 percent, knew what was coming if Donald Trump was elected for another term.
We see each other, because for centuries in this country, we have been seen as little more than a servant — or as disposable — if we’re seen at all.
Which is why when cultural icon Megan Thee Stallion announced via Instagram story last weekend that she had broken up with her boyfriend, NBA veteran Klay Thompson, Black women embraced her and went claws out for him.
“Cheating, had me around your whole family playing house... got ‘cold feet’,” Megan wrote. “Holding you down through all your HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment towards me during your basketball season now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous’????”
To see the online reaction, it was as if Thompson had cheated on all of us, not just Meg. Even The Sims game weighed in with support of the 31-year-old Houston native.
Because we ride for Meg.
Whether you’re into her music or not — it can skew raunchy and isn’t for everyone — the woman born Megan Pete is a success in every way. Yes, she is a multi-platinum rapper who is unapologetic about her sexuality, but she is so much more than that: a philanthropist, a savvy businesswoman, a prolific entrepreneur.
A survivor.
She is the kind of woman who doesn’t just shine, she also gives others their moments in the spotlight, too. Megan is thee Hot Girl Coach, her fans are Hotties; she is about empowerment and spreading love. It’s all among the reasons Black women have her back.
Megan is an only child, and the people who raised her — her father, mother, and grandmother — all died before her career took off in 2020, the latter two within weeks of one another. Her mother, Holly Thomas, was a rapper when Megan was young and was her daughter’s manager in the early years of her career.
Megan has had to navigate everything that’s happened since, the incredible highs and heartbreaking lows, without their guidance and love.
Even as she has continued to grow her empire beyond music, one incident from nearly six years ago made the world beyond rap fans familiar with her and continues to have legs. In July 2020 she was shot in both feet by fellow rapper Tory Lanez after an argument in the car the two were riding in with a woman who was one of Megan’s closest friends at the time.
Lanez was found guilty in 2022 on three counts related to the incident and sentenced to 10 years in prison, yet the venom directed at Megan by men in the music industry has been overwhelming.
Drake, Chris Brown, and Kanye West — not exactly a trio most of us would want to be associated with given their own histories — are among those who have publicly supported Lanez. Drake, a man-baby who takes lyrical shots at his exes years after their relationships ended, had a line in a 2022 song that can easily be interpreted as accusing Megan of lying about the shooting.
Things got so dark that Megan experienced deep depression and thoughts of suicide; she wrote about them in “Anxiety,” also released in 2022.
“They keep sayin’ speak your truth, and at the same time say they don’t believe,” she raps “Y’all don’t even know how I feel, I don’t even know how to deal. Today I really hate everybody, and that’s just me bein’ real.”
But Megan persevered. After Megan and Thompson went public with their relationship last July, Megan’s frequent social media posts showed a woman who was happy and, more importantly, cherished.
At their first public appearance together, the inaugural gala for her Pete & Thomas Foundation, Megan told Page Six, “I have never dated somebody so kind, this is my first relationship where I’ve ever been with somebody who is genuinely a nice person and he makes me genuinely happy.”
The Hotties swooned. Our girl was being taken care of at long last. She wrote a song, “Lover Girl,” for him, making it clear that this was “my man, my man, my baby.”
Thompson referred to Megan as “Mrs. Thompson,” named his boat after her, and maybe bought a house with her. Most diabolically, he gave her a family, one of the few things her success cannot provide.
It wasn’t only sitting courtside at Thompson’s games with his mother; last Thanksgiving she cooked an entire spread for him and his parents.
Just as Black men in the industry made Lanez the victim, so too have an alarming number of Black men been online and behind microphones dragging Megan and supporting Thompson. They’re blaming her for his immorality and showing Megan a future he couldn’t follow through on. And their scorn is rooted in true misogyny: however many sexual partners they think she’s had is too many, he has money so it was foolish of her to expect him to be faithful, she was acting like a wife before she had a ring.
It’s exhausting.
They’ve also been critical of the rest of us for feeling so strongly about how she was treated, for being so fierce in our protection of a woman we’ve never met. Megan’s story is a familiar one for so many Black women, who too often feel unprotected not just in workplaces or public spaces, but even among those we have fought so hard to uplift.
Just hours after going public with the breakup, Megan was on stage in New York City, where she made her Broadway debut in “Moulin Rouge!” At the close of that day’s show, she got a loud standing ovation, with audience members shouting their love for her; Megan wiped away tears as she took it all in.
A day later, she announced she was ending her run with the show two weeks early. In a statement to People magazine, she said, “I’m taking this time to prioritize myself and move ahead with peace and clarity.”
We know, thanks to years of scrutiny and skepticism, that Megan is a strong woman. She’s no wilting flower. That’s why it should be no surprise that when Thompson broke her trust, she broke things off.
And that Black women were right there and will be right there to support her.
Shalise Manza Young is an award-winning writer focused on the intersections of race, gender, politics, and sports. She is the director of track and field at Phillips Andover Academy. She and her family, including Contrarian Pet of the Week Coco, live in Boston. You can find her on Bluesky @shalisemyoung.
Great article about a strong woman. No matter whether a woman is black, brown or white, she should never accept the disrespect shown by any man who thinks he should be able to fuck around.
Dear Shalise, Thanks for this insight on how Black women vocally respond to each other's appearances, both visual and reputational.
On another topic, I have been hoping to ask you, as I can't find a respectful way to approach those I don't know on this subject: What the hell do Black people make of Clarence Thomas???