Source: Frederick M. Brown / Getty
At a time when several prominent Black women are finding strength in telling their stories, April Ryan opened up about wanting to quit as a White House correspondent over Sean Spicer‘s infamous demeaning display toward her earlier this year.
Ryan struggled after the now-former White House press secretary berated and told her “stop shaking her head” over a question about the Trump’s administration’s link to Russia during a media briefing in March. Ryan accepted a “She Persisted” award for overcoming that struggle from the Women’s Media Center Thursday night.
“I remember talking to various people that night from the White House saying, ‘I think it’s time for me to pack up,’ and they said, ‘You can’t,’” Ryan recalled. “As I took the long drive from the White House fifty miles to my home outside Baltimore, I was trying to figure out my life… as a divorced mother of two young girls without working at the White House anymore.”
Hilary Clinton, who came to Ryan’s defense hours after that contentious interaction, was at the top of the veteran journalist’s thank you list Thursday.
The correspondent also gave props to her bosses at American Urban Radio Networks for having her back when an anonymous person called in an effort to get her fired. She will “keep on” because of people believing in her, she said.
Ryan, like many other Black women, has lived through belittling incidents at the hands of men. Spicer accused her of pushing her own agenda to paint the administration in a bad light.
There was also a mystifying encounter with Trump, who asked Ryan to set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus because he assumed she was “friends” with them during a February press conference.
In spite of the offensive encounters, Ryan said she wanted to persevere out of a mission to hold the administration accountable for their actions.
“I’m gonna keep on questioning, I’m gonna keep on asking about issues pertaining to communities they don’t want to talk about, because as women, as minorities, we have the highest numbers of negatives in almost every category. And if I won’t, who will?” Ryan explained.
SEE ALSO:
#BlackGirlMagic! CNN Hires April Ryan As Political Pundit
Little Boy Have A Seat! Sean Spicer Tells Black Reporter April Ryan To Stop Shaking Her Head
April Ryan Says She Almost Quit After Sean Spicer Disrespected Her At The White House was originally published on newsone.com
