There is so much power in all of our voices because of Social Media. Everyone has a platform, even if your Social Media following is small. All it takes is ONE re-tweet or repost for something to go viral. As a blogger, constantly trying to engage and grow my following, I sometimes struggle with posting about some hot topics because oftentimes I truly don't give a shit. We are currently living through a worldwide pandemic, Black people continue to be hunted and killed by police officers and vigilantes alike, and I have been completely fucked up since learning about JasFly's death last week. Throughout all of this, people seem to be up in arms about someone named B. Simone.
I've heard of her before. Prior to today, I couldn't tell you exactly what she does if you asked me. Google is free and I still didn't care enough to use it in reference to her until now. She was recently "canceled" because she stated her preference of dating entrepreneurs as opposed to those that work 9-5s. Many people internalized that as 9-5 shaming, I thought; "Let that girl date who she wants". I guess it doesn't bother me because B. Simone's words hold no weight with me. Her opinions don't affect me. Maybe it's because I'm a little older and she isn't someone I look to for guidance or inspiration. For those that do, I urge you to take the good that can be taken from any situation, including this one, and not hold any celebrity's voice higher than your internal voice or the voice of the people that add actual value to your life. Those that have your best interest at heart, that have personally invested in you, maybe not someone that looks at you only as a consumer.
It now seems that B. Simone is being "canceled canceled" as it's recently been brought to light that the self-professed "Manifest Queen" manifested her millions by allegedly lifting words from lesser-known bloggers in her best-selling manifestation book. She has since addressed the allegations via social media while vowing to fix them. If you visit her website, the book is no longer available for purchase, which is only right. However; she is now using the excuse of "outsourcing" to a team that "dropped the ball". B. Simone states she "trusted this team to take my vision and translate it into what I hoped to be a map toward manifestation"; which, What?!? I've heard of people hiring ghostwriters or accomplished authors to help with the writing of books, but not hiring a team to be fully responsible for creating the content to be featured in a book. I can't cancel someone that I never supported to begin with. All I'm saying is be mindful of the influencers/celebrities that people tend to idolize and have no prior track record of success. It's ok to admire and support people, but when these people make mistakes, as stupid as they may be, it should not deeply affect your well-being, or disturb you enough to begin a "cancel movement". It's ok to pull your support from someone if it doesn't align with your personal values or things that you support, but maybe redirect that energy toward someone truly making an impact on the world or someone whose values actually align with yours. Take your pick, there isn't currently a shortage of movements that could currently use your support.
T.Nicole