And Still We Rise

We Rise While the President Insists on Trying to Intimidate Black Female Journalists in the White House Press Pool, We Remain Resilient and Stand Strong in Our Power

- April Ryan

It was a glance I will never forget, a meaningful moment shared between two women who understood the now commonplace expression of workplace cruelty. That time in the White House Rose Garden on January 4, 2019—day 14 of what would become the longest government shutdown in our history—is seared into my memory. I had questioned the President of the United States on eminent domain as it related to building a wall on the southern border, and inquired about the safety net for federal workers, who were not receiving paychecks during the shutdown. The President publicly approved, saying I’d asked “good questions.” I could not help but wonder if his comment was patronizing or earnest. After all, just weeks before, in November 2018, this same man had called me “a loser” and “nasty.”

I was far from the only recipient of President Trump’s disdain. That same November morning, just days after the midterm elections, he had lashed out at another Black woman, Harvard-educated CNN reporter Abby Phillip. While speaking to the White House press corps just before boarding Marine One, the President had told Phillip that she “asked stupid questions.” In truth, the questions she had posed were not only relevant but also the most pressing on the Russia probe.