My heart cried out when Octavia Spencer said the below in the Netflix series “Self Made” inspired by Madam C.J. Walker’s life (see quote image under this section). I even tried to post this very message on Instagram, and it got stuck on send for over nine hours of trying. I found it ironic when I wanted to speak up on the topic, I couldn’t even get it to post…silenced once more; some technical error kept it from posting indefinitely.

I was about to allow my voice to be silenced again, but then I said, “No!” and decided to make this a blog post instead. So often I’ve felt like the only “protection” I could count on was to just be quiet. Why?

I’ve been trained to keep my mouth shut by and since the first time I was violated.

And because nearly every time I opened my mouth and “told” on someone in the family, at the church, at work…or wherever, I was victimized even further, it felt “safer” to just keep my mouth shut. For example:

These two churches in Philadelphia and Atlanta cut me deeper than any other. It still hurts. I told the leaders and somehow the blame fell in my lap.
Certain family members made me out to look like a villain, I spoke up about what they were doing and wasn’t believed.
I got the courage to finally tell HR about workplace experiences and my story didn’t count because I wasn’t a senior executive.

It all adds up to making you feel powerlessly voiceless, and so you want to keep your mouth shut, to avoid feeling worse than you already do.

Sometimes you even cry out to God, wanting somebody, anybody to JUST…PROTECT…ME. It’s like they always get away with it.

You know that keeping your silence only helps them, too, but experience/culture/society/etc. has informed you it’s dangerous to tell.

And although it hurts heavy to stay silent all the time, victimized over and over again, losing your voice to the wicked—you can’t find the courage to tell.

The enemy has been infamously strategic with making sure you even attract more violators through the very silence you think protects you.

I’ll confess. I’ve had to relearn all over again that we have to speak up, anyway.

Even when it hurts.
Even when it’s hard.
Even—unfortunately—when nobody believes us or stands up with us.

We have a voice, and IT IS VALID!

Here’s to not being silenced anymore 🥂!

P.S. I’m not promoting all of the Netflix series content, I found some it inappropriate. However, I was inspired by the portrayal of Madam C.J. Walker’s struggle to press through in the face of racism and sexism.