It’s hard to forget the emptiness I felt after George Floyd’s death. I didn’t think I could feel worse until I started scrolling down my IG timeline and noticed a number of Influencers I follow didn’t even acknowledge his death. Ok, I thought. Some people’s feed are planned months in advance. So I moved on to their Stories feed since that has more flexibility. Scroll. Scroll. Scroll. Beach pics. Laughing pics. Cat pics. No acknowledgement of this man’s death or even any sense of outrage that this was even happening in 2020. Scroll. Scroll. Scroll. No changes to the feed and no acknowledgement.

I remember waking up and thinking why am I in an online community that doesn’t care about the issues that matter to me? There were some Influencers that I was honestly too hurt to keep following.  I decided that I needed to take an emotional vacation from their spaces. I had to pause to reflect on what spaces I wanted to be in.

That season taught me three things –

1. I have the power to decide who I will give my money to. Whose goods will I chose to buy and support? I don’t need to take that power for granted but to shop responsibly.
2. I don’t have to sit in a community that does not acknowledge and champion the causes that are close and near and dear to my heart. Before I simply jump into a community looking to level up my business or get financial gains, I have to consider the total cost of being in that space.
3. I have the freedom to curate a community that celebrates what matters to me – my faith, my family, being a black woman, being a Liberian woman, my love for writing and making. Just as I have the power to take a break from a space, I have the power to create a space.

I have the power to leave a space that doesn’t reflect what matters to me.

I have the power to curate a space that does.

by Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield