"Calling someone out online seems like the first/only option for a lot of people in the face of any kind of dissonance."
– adrienne maree brown
I see calling out all the time.
I see canceling masked as accountability.
Punitiveness masked as justice.
Intimidation masked as criticism.
Bullying masked as educating.
Vitriol masked as guidance.
Poison masked as medicine.
Gatekeeping masked as expertise.
Desperation masked as urgency.
Ignorance masked as wisdom.
Performance masked as transformation.
Surely you've seen it all too.
Perhaps you've been the recipient of some or all of it.
Perhaps you've been the perpetrator.
Perhaps you've been fooled into thinking that any of it will lead to change.
And perhaps you know deep down that it hasn't and doesn't and won't.
Perhaps you know that none of it leads to healing, liberation, justice, equity, community, transformation.
Perhaps you realize that judging is different than discerning, that reacting is different than responding, that being attached to outcomes is different than being invested in outcomes.
Perhaps you understand that reflection is an action, that change happens in relationships, that dialogue and debate are not the same thing.
I'm sure you realize that we are better than this.
I'm sure you realize that we must be better than this.