Dear Medium: I Posted The Same Status on Facebook for 7 days, and Here’s what I Learned.
Eric Brown | July 10, 2017

I believe that children should be protected. Not from evil… that, would be impossible. I believe they should be protected from ignorance. Lord have mercy on us all, for we have been ignoring things a long time now. The elephant is “in the room” in this country, and we all just choose to live amongst it all day long.
I assume the meaning of ignorance is to ignore in spite of wisdom. At times I myself have been ignorant. At times I still am. This is not a rite of passage, like acne. No.. it’s more like a canker soar. Ignorance is bliss. It almost feels better than sex, and love. It’s right up there, next to revenge. In fact, revenge is a by product of ignorance. So when I say we have an obvious problem in America, that we have turned a blind eye to since inception — it’s not going to feel good.
If there’s one area of opportunity for growth in this country, it’s being honest about the injustices concerning race relations. We all need to take a long hard look in the face of racism, and say it straight. “You exist… I did not create you, but I help to keep you around. I help by exploiting your advantages; I help by staying silent; I help by staying blind. I will not allow you to punk me, or define me any longer. This… is goodbye.”
I think that President Trump’s campaign slogan was a moniker for the intrisic values of this country, similar to the confederate flag. Some say it represents a history of hate; and others see it as a sign of pride and respect for history.
Make America great again. I’m not sure which word offends me more. “Again.” What do you mean, again? When was America great, and whom was it great for? Oh, and you’re going to “make” it great again, huh? That sounds pretty forceful.
For this country to truly be great, it has to overcome this problem with race. The fear and lack of trust, which hangs constant over our heads, aren’t qualities of something great. I believe we all need to play our part in making our country great. I am attempting to do my part through writing.
Therefore, I decided to find out what would happen if I decided to point and yell “look, look!” at the giant pink elephant. So what I did, was post the same exact Facebook status for 7 straight days. Here are 5 things I learned.

1. It’s Uncomfortable: People get annoyed by social media dominators, no matter the subject. You could post that you’re upset your dog died too many times. You could post picture and you your spouse too many times. You could post messages about Jesus too many times. So posting this status was extremely uncomfortable for me, and some of my friends. — I’m sure I was unfollowed by several of them. I received comments that ranged from: “finally somebody said it,” to the “ugh, we know, we know!” — to even death threats. Ok I’m being a bit dramatic, but that would’ve been pretty awesome if it happened. I would’ve felt the H. Rap Brown of social media. Actually, I intended set to do this experiment for 30 days straight, but it was just too nerve wrecking.
2. There is little glory in being a social media activist: In the immortal words of Gill Scott Heron, “The revolution will not be televised.” I take this in 2 different ways. If it’s on TV, it is not meant for the edification of your mind. It is not designed for you to act on change. It is most likely there for you to become more tolerant to the social norms. It can possibly numb your senses to injustice.
TV is synonymous with Hollywood; and Hollywood with acting. People become characters and then exploit that character; and then personal gain becomes hard to deny. Therefore, I also take it to mean that there is little fame and glory in being an activist. It’s hard work with little thanks and little to no pay. You will have to get your hands dirty.
3. There is little being done: Aside from the Black Lives Matters movement, how many programs or plans of action can you name? I’ll wait. 🤔 The names of organizations and or people, are far and few between.
4. All lives matter too: Apparently, “Black lives matter” isn’t ambiguous or ambitious enough for some people.
5. Talk is cheap in a free speech society: Theres a million words never heard, but all it takes is one voice to make an echo. There’s no platform for those that don’t speak out. My grandmother used to say, silence is golden, but you can’t sell it.
