Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest.
Lao Tzu
In the 21st century, in our information age, there is a war against truth and honesty. The truth hurts, it’s true, but now we will be punished for speaking it. Our recent bans from Facebook exemplifies this. Speaking up and expressing ourselves about our racial experiences seems to garner quite a bit of anger from the mayonnaise set. My partner and co-founder Asia and I are consistently punished for speaking the truth.
Honesty is something that is demanded of us, as Brown girls. We are held at a standard of delivering truth, but only the safe, comfortable truth, that no one else seems to be held to. Somehow, at the same time, our skin still elicits the idea of untrustworthiness. We grow up carrying two sets of truths: the one that is the whole truth and the one that white people want to hear, the one that reduces negative repercussions from speaking it, the respectable one that makes people comfortable.
In 2017, in this era of post truth and alternative facts, it is our duty as keepers of the truth to speak it. Even when our voice shakes. Even when it is speaking out and against powers much larger than us, we must speak the truth before people forget the sound of it.
Still, even when it’s difficult, we must hold on to the truth! We must remain steadfast in our honesty, especially in the face of denial and alternative facts!
Brown Girls Out Loud 