Dear Silencers,

I know as I grew up, you told me to voice my opinion, to challenge the world and to reach for more than I was handed.

So how come when I actually had a voice, you were the first to cut me off?

You were the first to tell me I should speak up about what I believed in, but would tear me down the moment I opened my mouth to speak.

But I will not allow your ripping of my vocal chords to take away the powerful voice I was given.

Instead, I will speak up. We were given voices to speak out about what makes us feel. We were given these tools to express ourselves and to make a change. You silence me, but you once silenced the voices of Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou and all of the millions of voices that made it possible to have marriage equality.

I know that you told me to be quiet, that it was my fault and that it was no big deal.

But, I will not be silenced.

I will not sit quietly and let others sit in the darkness that I was once in. I will not let you tell me that I am not allowed to speak up, and that these are not important topics.

I will not let others suffer due to the constant message that we are not meant to speak up.

We have voices because they are meant to be heard. We are meant to speak about depression. We are meant to speak about eating disorders; we are meant to speak about terror and fears, about suffering. We are meant to speak about rape. We are meant to speak about all of the horrible things that are happening in this world because without it, we will be stuck in an endless loop of suffering in silence.

We are meant to speak up, because if we don’t, who will? The longer we sit quietly, the longer we are victims.

I will no longer allow myself to be a victim.

I will not be silenced, and neither should you.

Stand up, be heard, Stop The Silence.

Yours truly,

No Longer Silenced