I started following Amanda Seales’s platform, including Smart, Funny, and Black, in 2017 after she got Caitlyn Jenner all-the-way together on privilege in America. At that point I knew that she was a voice to listen to.

When the topic of “likeability” comes up regarding Black women, it is always going to be used against us because, almost universally, we are stereotyped and depicted as loud, brash, hostile, and incapable of the kind of vulnerability that is necessary in balanced romantic and platonic relationships. For instance, I am sure there are some people I have engaged with over the course of my life who probably did/do not like me. Some may go on to say, “Well if all these people can say it, you must be the common denominator.” Perhaps they experienced the side of me that is quick to cut one off if the relationship is not conducive to my well-being and/or my worth. I believe that often how people navigate the world, myself included, is not always what others want to engage with because it can potentially push them to be better, work hard, or to be more vocal. Amanda Seales is very vocal and very educated, and I think sometimes people do not want to feel a self-imposed sense of guilt for not being the same way or get defensive for not being as knowledgeable.

About two months ago, several Black publications attacked Seales’s character and referred to seven-year-old incidents to justify why she is “unlikeable”. A week or so prior Seales had posted a video addressing how she was not being invited to Black awards shows despite being asked in 2020 to host the virtual BET Awards from her home during the Pandemic. She was an entertaining and fun host with all the looks! One of the aforementioned publications even commented on the post acknowledging that they wanted to do better and figure out a way to work together in the future. Fast forward a week or so and the comment made the rounds in the form of a reshared screenshot when the counter article dropped. In a time of censorship, the Israeli occupation and genocide of Gaza, and the government’s attempts to overturn laws, the timing and subject matter felt very targeted.

In true artist fashion, though, Seales turned the slander on its head and launched The Unlikeable Stand Up Comedy Tour across the US and Canada. Proceeds go towards Congo, Sudan, and Palestinians as she has been very vocal about the atrocities occurring in these countries, including the Israeli genocide of Palestine, funded and enabled by the U.S. government.

It is, sadly, no wonder she is being targeted, and the veil is lifting on the source of these attacks as a Zionist truck in Detroit, during her most recent tour stop, was driving around outside the venue with her face and false information on it.

Throughout history we have seen revolutionary voices, especially within the Black community, targeted and disparaged, with organizations infiltrated on the U.S. government’s orders to tear them apart from the inside out when they pose a threat to the reigns of white supremacy. It is no different in 2024, except for the vastness of social media which is its own currency because it can be used for wealth of knowledge or laundered to foster and maintain ignorance.