For the past two years, I’ve felt a growing pull away from social media as a Creative. At the time I wasn't sure why, but today was a clear example of why.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln’s administration suppressed numerous newspapers. While these actions were often justified as matters of national security, people understood the underlying purpose: to quiet voices of opposition.
History has shown us that silencing voices is not new, yet and still, waking up today to the arrest of two journalists struck a jarring note. This morning Don Lemon, a former CNN reporter, & Georgia Fort, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, were taken into Federal custody. Both Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were present to cover the protest at a Minnesota church, as claims were that a clergy member was an ICE Director. Now they are being treated as agitators and organizers of a protest rather than as media, press, and journalists covering a story.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was created to protect freedom of speech and of the Press. As a woman who had childhood dreams of working for a newspaper or becoming a news anchor, my goal was always to give a voice to the community. Writing articles for my high school newspaper allowed me to voice the concerns of the student body. Writing for Insite Magazine in college allowed me to shed light on activities happening in the community, that others might not even realize were taking place in their own neighborhoods. I started Designed2Create magazine because I wanted to highlight more than just the hype. I wanted the freedom to voice my opinions without being silenced by the constraints of the publication I worked under. So to see people arrested for doing the very thing I love, to witness storytelling and truth-telling treated as a crime, hit me harder than I expected.
Full transparency, being a part of the media world, I wholeheartedly understand the corruption, media spins, and narrative manipulation that this power of a machine has had from the beginning of time, and I wanted to be a part of the change. Nina Simone said, “The duty of the Artist is to reflect the times.” And it's a scary thing, no matter how often we see it, when the people who provide an unfiltered depiction of the world in real time, are being used as an example to put fear into the hearts of those who desire to take those same steps.
I made a post a few months ago advising people to start writing down things they remember about history, things that are happening now. Because one day those who control the narrative will change it to what suits them to the point of no trace, besides the records we kept. During slavery, all they had was a pen and paper, and we learned so much from those logs. Understand that this is slavery in another form, and we must preserve the legacy on our own. The people in power like to take the people who are on the frontline and make examples of them. Well, the playbook has already been exposed, and I pray that we, as citizens, are able to keep a united front in these times, because there's a cost for everything, even if you're not the one who paid the price. Freedom is never free.