Dr. Antionette Candia-Bailey deserved better than what she got.

Please listen to the WHATJAYESAID: THE PODCAST for my full opinion about this topic.

The fact that Dr. Canidia-Bailey is dead bothers me. It truly does! One of the things that make me upset is I was taught that education was like death—the great equalizer.

Education wasn’t supposed to be a perfect forcefield, but it was supposed to grant some level of protection. I mean, I’m a 2-degree bae, and working on my third! Black women are the most educated group in the country — PERIOD.

For that advancing, we cannot act as if the pendulum would not swing the other way. With the push (and it is a push) to open more opportunities for Black women which were/have been historically restricted due to sex and race, there are people who don’t want that.

Simply because of sex and race.

Dr. Canida-Bailey was in an environment where she was supposed to be safe, her education should have allowed her to be comfortable, and where being in a post Civil Rights Era should have allowed her to prosper!

And yet, from lackluster leadership — here we are. What’s more is Black people only want diversity, equality, and inclusion.

We want to be able to be where everyone else is – diversity.

We want the same opportunities as anyone else – equality.

We want to be seen and counted just like everyone else – inclusion.

And yet— to be able to exist in spaces like this, as we are, is an issue, due to comfort of non-Black people.

But, Black people are supposed to hold themselves so low as to allow anyone to treat us any kind of way!

At an HBCU, where we are supposed to feel safe? And be excellent? All it takes is one White person to feel one way about you…and here we go!

Deja vu all over again.