Why These Black Women Are No Longer Staying Silent in Public After Being Burned in Private

Why Black Women Need to Speak Up About Bad Partnerships—and Why “I Want Out” Is Opening the Conversation

How many women have to get burned before we stop treating silence like loyalty?

A partnership can begin with excitement, shared goals, and promises of what you will build together. You bring your ideas, your relationships, your money, and your name. You believe that the person beside you wants to see you win.

Then something changes.

The promises become excuses. The responsibilities become uneven. Questions about money lead to arguments. Your contributions are overlooked, but your commitment is still expected.

And when you finally consider leaving, you face another question: What will people say?

For Black women navigating business, leadership, and community relationships, that question can carry weight. Will speaking up make you look difficult? Will people accuse you of tearing someone down? Will telling the truth cost you opportunities?

Those fears deserve an honest conversation. So does the price of keeping everything hidden.

The Partnership Can End. The Damage Can Follow.

A bad partnership can cost more than money.

It can affect your confidence, your reputation, and your willingness to trust yourself. You may find yourself questioning decisions you once felt certain about. You may hesitate to pursue another opportunity because the last one left you exhausted.

Sometimes the hardest part is admitting that something you worked so hard to build is hurting you.

You keep remembering the original vision. You hope one more conversation will fix the problem. You tell yourself that leaving would mean everything you invested was wasted.

But how much more must you lose before you give yourself permission to move forward?

You can believe in collaboration and still recognize when a particular partnership needs to end.

Black Women Deserve Room to Tell the Whole Story

There is room to celebrate Black women’s strength while also making space for their disappointment, anger, and pain.

We should be able to say, “This happened, and it hurt me,” without having to prove that we are strong enough to handle it alone.

We should be able to ask questions about a partnership without being labeled disloyal. We should be able to set boundaries without being called selfish. And we should be able to leave an unhealthy situation without carrying all the blame for its failure.

Supporting our community must include accountability within our community.

A shared background, a familiar face, or an impressive platform does not remove the need for honest communication and follow-through.

We deserve partnerships where respect is visible in the work, the decisions, and the way concerns are handled.

Your Experience Could Help Another Woman Recognize the Warning Signs

When women share what they have learned, others gain something they may desperately need: a clearer picture of what to watch for.

Someone may recognize the pattern of unanswered questions. Someone may realize she has been carrying responsibilities that were supposed to be shared. Someone may finally understand why she feels uncomfortable, even though everyone around her keeps calling the opportunity a blessing.

Speaking up can mean sharing the questions you wish you had asked, the boundaries you wish you had set, or the moment you realized you needed to leave.

It does not require sharing every private detail. A truthful account of your own experience can teach a powerful lesson.

And women who are not ready to speak publicly deserve support, too. The responsibility for harmful behavior belongs to the person who caused it. Sharing a story should be a choice made with care.

For the woman who is ready, her experience may become the warning she wishes someone had given her.

“I Want Out” Is Making Space for This Conversation

The forthcoming collaboration book “I Want Out” brings this conversation into the open.

A collaboration book revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of partnerships—so you can recognize the warning signs, avoid costly mistakes, and protect your future.

The project creates an opportunity for women and men to share experiences and lessons from partnerships—and to help others think more carefully about what they enter, what they accept, and when they choose to leave.

Among the women participating are Toni Moore, Dee Tate, and Coach Gayl Benson, whose professional backgrounds bring different perspectives to the conversation.

Toni Moore is an attorney and business strategist. Her website includes education for entrepreneurs on protecting their brands through trademark knowledge, adding a business protection perspective to the group.

Dee Tate is an award-winning film producer, multidisciplinary artist, poet, and author whose work explores faith, healing, identity, and becoming. She founded Chicago Production Assistants in 2016, growing a community of more than 7,000 members. Her work encourages people to recognize their lived experiences as a source of purpose, creativity, and impact.

Coach Gayl Benson is a Certified Master Life and Cognitive Behavior Coach who helps women challenge limiting beliefs and move toward their next chapter. Through her L.I.E.—Let It End—framework, she guides women in examining the stories they have accepted about themselves and recognizing their power to choose what comes next.

Their backgrounds reflect the range of voices this conversation needs: business knowledge, creative expression, and personal growth.

Meet the Woman Bringing “I Want Out” Together

“I Want Out” is being put together by Taurea “Vision” Avant, who is bringing contributors together to share honest stories and help others make more informed partnership decisions.

Taurea “Vision” Avant is a two-time TEDx speaker, author, and founder of Book Profits Club™. She helps authors, speakers, coaches, and entrepreneurs turn their books into tools for visibility, business growth, and income. Having spoken in more than 10 countries, Taurea brings an international perspective to helping people share their stories with purpose. Through publishing support, collaboration books, training, and media opportunities, she guides authors beyond writing toward building a platform. She also created Author Allstars™ Magazine to spotlight authors worldwide. Her mission is to help 1,000 authors earn more than $10,000 monthly by building businesses around their books.

We Are Looking for More Women and Men to Join Us

Have you experienced a partnership that left you saying, “I want out”?

Did you learn a difficult lesson about trust, boundaries, accountability, or walking away? Could sharing your experience help someone recognize the warning signs sooner or feel less alone?

We are inviting more women and men to become coauthors of “I Want Out.” While this article highlights Black women’s voices, the book welcomes both women and men who want to share honest experiences and valuable lessons about partnerships.

Your story does not have to end with everything perfectly resolved. What you have learned may give someone else the clarity or courage to make a better decision.

To learn about the book and becoming a coauthor, register for the information session at iwantout.collaborationbooks.com.

You cannot change what happened. But your voice may help someone else change what happens next.