We Are Currently Banned from Facebook

Both of us have been banned from Facebook.

I’ve seen countless friends navigate and have been angry and swearing at the silencing of my friends. But, I have to tell you, its harder to be the one banned. Not being able to connect with your friends, to support them when they post about having hard days… And also not being able to post and share with them the cute and quirky things your kids did. I don’t know if it was the general stress of yesterday and the distance of a good nights sleep between me and it, but there was something my kids did that tickled me so much that I can’t remember right now. I realize that Facebook sharing isn’t so much to get likes and vanity or anything else grumpy old Baby Boomers will do thinkpieces about.

Its about the process of writing, sharing, rereading and remembering.

There are no studies yet about how much Facebook and the rest of social media affect our memories nor the value of the relationships we have made there… To see if worth is based on age even. I don’t know. I’m rambling a bit. But I do know that I met one of my dearest friends on social media. Someone who has walked with on a spiritual journey of self-love, sisterhood and womanhood. I know that I’ve made countless other relationships that fill me almost as much. I know that this has led me to have a forum to interact with all of you.

What a gift it is…

That’s been taken away because someone is targeting us. Someone who didn’t like what I said after my post was removed. This was the only public post on my page and the only thing that could have been reported. I’m certain a recent exchange elsewhere brought someone to my page to report my post. And the racist standards at Facebook led to a ban.

But this ain’t Facebook.

We will speak our truth, we will always speak our truth. That’s truly what BrGOL is about.

“White men are vile.” This is what got my post removed before my ban (which I foreshadowed would come). When there was a fundraiser set up to benefit the care and transportation and potential relocation of the girls who were victims of the terrorist in Portland, a white man wrote an email to one of of the organizers to say that it was insensitive and inappropriate to ask for money for the girls when those two men ‘actually died’. These girls will live with scars that will never heal. Those men’s memories will always live on, hundreds of thousands have already been raised for them, Black girls are *always* left behind. And when they are remembered, someone insists that we let them go.

And nothing will be able to make up for the violence white men have wielded against each other, women, and women of color. I said what I said and I meant it. (Read Jenina’s piece for more: https://browngirlsoutloud.com/2017/05/30/white-men-are-a-hazard-it-is-critical-we-admit-it-part-i/)

We are rightfully upset for having our accounts suspended for speaking our minds. And while these aren’t the nicest things to say about someone else, it pales in comparison to the violence. It pales in comparison to the things that are said about people in our communities, including the image below. We have friends been banned for sharing screenshots of threats of violence and racial, homophobic slurs but the actual original comments and posts that the images are of get to stay up.

Facebook is racist.

White feelings <<<< Black Lives.

Don’t let them go. Don’t let us go. Remember us. Amplify our voices. Listen when we call foul. Witness when we bare out wounds to you. Click here to show your support for the girls who have survived the attack.