On Monday, as I was randomly browsing my twitter timeline, I noticed #ShowerRod was trending. What I then found out was that Love and Hip Hop reality star Mimi Faust and partner Nikko Smith released a sex tape that had the internet buzzing. It will probably be on a site like https://www.hdsexvideo.xxx/ soon enough, so if you haven’t seen it yet, keep your eyes peeled. Apparently, there’s a scene with Mimi and Nikko in the shower. According to TMZ, the producers of the reality show are fine with the publicity because it will draw attention to the next season of Love and Hip Hop – Atlanta.

At some point the degradation of our brown women must stop. It is no longer funny or cool, at least to me anyway. Instead of condemning Mimi, Nikko, the distributors of the video or the producers of Love and Hip Hop for condoning this behavior, I want to give you insight into an African woman who was degraded because of her voluptuous body parts. Maybe if we know our history, stories of this nature would not be trending topics.

Introducing Sara Baartman:

• In 1810 Sara Baartman was tricked to travel to England by William Dunlup who promised her riches

• When she arrived in England she was exhibited as a freak because of the shape of her buttox and size of her breast

• She was objectified and after dying in 1814, her brain and genitals were pickled and placed in jars, placed in museums to display with her skeleton

• Her remains were on display until around 1985

• In 2002 her remains were finally buried in East Cape Town, South Africa

There’s nothing new going on here. Unfortunately, we are stuck in a nasty place where we allow brown woman to be objectified and degraded. We support this by viewing the videos, television shows and re-sharing the content on a daily basis. At a certain point, we have to realize these our our mothers, daughters and sisters that we are allowing the world to make fun of and take advantage of. And who better to care for our mothers, daughters and sisters than us?

We want to hear from you. Is entertainment more important than the emotional and spiritual livelihood of our women and girls? What’s your perspective? Share your thoughts below!