Stand on your own

Having taken bullying, internalized it, and subsequently been so terribly ashamed for a good portion of my formative years, have made two events recently in the news , both painful and wonderful to watch unfold.
The particular circumstances themselves are nothing new, attacks on people, for their appearance, weight, age, orientation, religion, geography, accent, it’s all fodder for the cruel and bored.
The response, though, the sheer volume of people supportive of talking back, not taking it anymore , with a clear and resounding fuck off, is so intense in it’s simplicity, that can only be seen as evidence for the supply side of social media; this is where it shines, demonstrates value and takes on a powerful double edge. Without the constant chatter, and ability to communicate anything to some sort of audience, whether it be divisive horrible stuff or powerful images of institutionally sponsored mistreatment, revealing the behavior, giving it a name, and  opening it up to be scrutinized and dismantled, takes away the efficacy and renders it mostly feeble.