Students, faculty, and staff of color shouldn’t have to lay bare their trauma in order to be heard and for “change” to happen. And it’s a shame when students, faculty, and staff continue to do so, only to be silenced, marginalized, and/or diminished.

After we bare our entire souls, our trauma, and pain to our oppressors and those complicit in our demise, we are often met with “we hear you but....” and an unwillingness of those in power to create meaningful change.

I think part of the problem is that by laying out our pain and “speaking truth to power”, we seek to be humanized by those who continuously violently dehumanize us. We center the approval and validation from those who really don’t give a damn about us.

That’s what makes white supremacy in particular so insidious. And by “speaking truth to power”, in the end, those who still hurt, those who remain traumatized, are the ones who continue to be marginalized and oppressed.

It’s a vicious cycle.

I hope all the truth tellers out there (looking at my students right now) do not become martyrs in this process. Take care of yourselves and one another.

I hope we can find ways to tell our truths and also care for ourselves in the process.