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There are journalists who are standing up to tyranny, and there are journalists who are not.

I know I’m not the only American citizen who has been frustrated with the lack of real, actual, direct questions being asked during President Trump’s second term. We’re done with softball questions. We’re over the ramblings about serving McDonald’s on his plane or attempting to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

About a year ago, I wrote an article here on Elephant titled, My Mom did not Raise an Insignificant Woman.

I physically remember writing it. I was sitting in my grandmother’s living room, typing away after dinner. The words were pouring out of me after holding them inside for far too long. I remember typing, “Cue. The. Rage.” and feeling it to my bones.

I was raging.

Today, this week, I am raging again. Cue. The Rage. 

I’m incredibly proud of the two women journalists who stood up to the tyrannical presence and rude, inappropriate treatment they were forced to endure by that of our current president, Donald Trump.

At the same time, I’m angry. I’m rageful. I’m upset.

Not only am I angry that they had to face this just for doing their job, I’m angry that it seems like the voices who are stepping up and doing the hard things are women, and often women of color.

This week alone, we’ve been faced with two incidents that prove just how little Trump thinks of women.

Trump told a Blooomberg News journalist, Catherine Lucey, “Quiet, quiet piggy,” when she asked him a direct question about the Epstein Files. A woman was called “piggy” and told to be “quiet” for doing her d*mn job. Think about that. Really, stop and hold that for a moment. The sitting president of the United States of America did this, and…nothing happened other than the American public rising up on social media to express their disgust. But official repercussions? Not. A. One.

Folks, I ask: where were the allies? Why did not a single other reporter or jouralist present speak up and say how inapproriate this was? This isn’t just locker room talk.

They’re not even hiding it anymore.

It’s being used every day, out in the world, and we’re supposed to think this is okay.

Like “locker room talk,” if you’re hearing this kind of abuse and you’re not saying anything? You are a part of the problem.

Also this week, the president came to the defense of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in the Oval Office telling ABC News journalist Mary Bruce that he didn’t mind the question, he minded her attitude. He called her “a terrible person and a terrible reporter” for, again, doing her d*mn job when she asked about the Epstein Files and “embarrassed” the Crown Prince by asking about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Again, let’s sit with this for a moment. A man in the most powerful position in the world (arguably) told a woman that her attitude was a problem and flung insults at her that ranged from her personal life to her professional life.

I’m not a betting person, but I’m willing to bet that this would not have been his response if it had been a man who stood in front of him and asked this question.

The cracks are beginning to show. Trump is upset that women are besting him. The Epstein Files bill is being sent to his desk because of the tireless work of, mainly, the women survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking. They did not give up. They did not back down. However, in this instance they had allies. They had people from both political parties, both men and women, helping them share their stories and fight their fight.

That’s the difference.

We cannot beat a bully single-handedly. We need to present a united front.

We need more than one or two brave women to stand up and say something. Say anything. 

Being brave is hard.

Being brave is challenging.

Being brave in the face of cruelty and, in some cases, fear for your life, livelihood, or that of your family? That’s something that goes beyond everyday bravery. That’s heroic.

We can beat the bully if we each vow to show up with our superhero capes on, ready to speak truth to power.

We can beat the bully if we don’t stay quiet. It’s that simple.

And I’ll leave you with this lovely thought…and may it be true. Because we need our brave people in these places of power and we need our journalists to be empowered to continue to speak up and speak out, rather than lose their outlet and opportunity to do so.

Long live journalistic integrity and a free press.

~