Naturalle Drea

Happy Black History Month! I celebrate our history all year long but more emphasis in February!

So January is finally done and it was something else. It was crazy how long the month felt like and all the tragic things that happened and still happening. It is crazy about the 2 plane crashes that happened and one in the state next to me. It was just heartbreaking to see the footage and the families that are currently grieving loved ones. I just hope the rest of the year is not like how it started because that was too much.

As a creator when tragic things happen, it makes sense to not post whatever we were going to and acknowledge what has happened. I never want to come across as being insensitive or tone deaf for posting something happy when things are happening in the world. I’ve seen people call out creators for posting, not reading the room or acknowledge the tragedy or event that happened. I get it, the content can wait and it can come off as insensitive but maybe someone needs to see some joy or something funny to take their mind off of what is currently going on.

For me, it is like when is it okay to start posting again or return to the regular program. It is always a somewhat of a waiting game and that is okay. You can use that time to fully understand what recently happened, use your platform to share relief efforts or how people can donate or help. When the California wildfires were happening, I saw a few creators encourage others to donate and shared organizations that were accepting donations and where to send them. They also posted themselves putting together care packages and sending unused PR products to those who needed it.

Being a creator is more than just the creating part, it is also the call to actions and showing up when things happen in the world. I know a lot of us choose not to speak up, don’t know what to say, don’t want to say the wrong thing and that is also okay. I just don’t like when creators are basically bullied into saying something. Some of us are out of words to say, out of tears, don’t know how to address it, may feel differently than everyone else and doesn’t want to say anything and so on. Do we always have to say something? Do we always have to speak up and speak out?