"Make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I would get hit in the face," Cassie Ventura testifies. "He would say, 'Watch your mouth.'" The constant tension left her anxious, never knowing whether he would arrive in a good mood or in a rage, leaving her with what she called persistent "stomach-in-knots" anxiety.

In Black communities, internalized misogyny has enabled a culture where women are expected to endure harm silently, often in the name of love, sacrifice, or faith. Too many women have witnessed "grace" coddle violent men, wrapped in the language of forgiveness and survival.

While some women will settle for ironing their husband's clothes before he heads out to cheat and call it love, more women are saying absolutely not. Touting struggle love and calling it a God-ordained vocation is simply not appealing where peace of mind is a priority.