As a fellow Venezuelan, your story resonates deeply. The culture of victimhood can be so alluring because it offers validation without the responsibility of growth. Your journey from self-victimization to self-empowerment is inspiring, especially in a country where real suffering is undeniable. It’s refreshing to see someone embrace nuance in a world that often pushes extremes. Do you think there’s a way to help others break free from the same mindset without pushing them further into it?
I've learned that you can't force anyone to come out of any patter. What we can do is to keep writing and sharing. Having nuanced conversations with people who maybe we wouldn't have thought we could agree with and that's how it starts. If someone is willing to listen, talk to them. If not, walk away and keep showing your values through example. No sabía que eras venezolana, bella, mil gracias por leerme.
Thanks for this great article Belle. Believe me, you are far from "a random Venezuelan". Your natural confidence and positivity places you in my eyes as "an awesome Venezuelan". Look forward to further articles.
WOW! WOW! WOW! 👏👏👏 What an outstanding article by Belle Moon and the Black Sheep! I knew it was only a matter of time before Belle and the Black Sheep did a crossover! This is such an important and timely story! Thank you so much for sharing it Belle! I’m so, so sorry for all the tragedy and hardship you dealt with in you’re life. From being abandoned as a child to the death of your beloved adopted father to you’re mom not initially accepting you’re bisexuality to finding out you had a chronic illness, you went through so much in your life. Yet here you are, continuing to live and thrive. For a time you fell into the toxic world of far-left social justice activism. But in time you came to realize something very important: it’s not that people or the system are unfair, it’s that life is unfair. We all have a hand we’re dealt and we have to make the best of it. You live under a dictatorship in you’re home country of Venezuela and are a bisexual women of color who is neurodivergent and has chronic pain. You are on the top of the heap of the woke pyramid of oppression. But you never played into that or used your identity or life situation as an excuse not to succeed or to think the world owes you something. I can definitely relate to you. I too am neurodivergent (I have Asperger’s Syndrome) and have several mental health conditions. I have faced social ostracism, not being taken seriously, accused of faking, not being able to make decisions about my own life, and discrimination because of this. I nonetheless graduated high school, graduated college summa cum laude and have a job I love. I am not a victim, I am a victor. You have the same mindset despite all the trauma and poor treatment you suffered in your life and living under Nicolas Maduro’s brutal regime, for that I have mad respect for you and salute you! 🫡✊🏻 This article is and I’m not exaggerating, worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. Forget about Ta-Nehisi Coates or Nikole Hannah-Jones, YOU should be the one to get the MacArthur Genius Grant! This piece should be required reading in every K-12 school and college in the nation! This piece makes me think, if I were to give any advice to minority groups in America I think I would give the following three nuggets of wisdom: 1) You are not oppressed, you are underestimated. 2) To quote the great Larry Elder “Hard work wins, you get out of life what you put into it. You are not in control of the outcome but you are 100% in control of your own effort and before you b***h about what someone did to you or said to you, go to the nearest mirror and ask yourself “what could I have done to change the outcome?”” 3) Be patriotic and serve you’re country. America is an imperfect country but it’s a great country and we are always building a more perfect union. Join the military, police department, fire department, or Coast Guard, serve on the PTA, donate to a charity, volunteer at a food bank, serve on the city council, run for public office, etc. This article reminds me of a slam poem that music legend Smokey Robinson did. In it he said to black Americans and I quote “You’re heritage is right here and now no matter what you call yourself or what you say. And a lot of people died to make it that way. Those black soldiers who fought in all America’s wars didn’t fight for Timbuktu or Kenya they fought for Alabama, and Mississippi and Texas, and Virginia! If you say stuff like America’s not ours we were brought here, then you’re playin’ into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan who say they own this land!” Here’s a link to Smokey’s performance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0bIhD6GzYq4&pp=ygUgc21va2V5IHJvYmluc29uIGFmcmljYW4gYW1lcmljYW4%3D
Noah, you´re such a wonderful soul and a warrior I admire. Your words mean the world to me because I know they aren´t just nice words to make me feel better, they are an authentic gesture given with love. The "empathetic left" has forgotten what this means. They virtue-signal or give empty praise, but you? You show me true kindness and compassion. I´m so proud of you and I hope to keep creating by your side. I´m honored to have met you and eternally grateful for your support. I know we can change the world for the better!
Thank you for reading Noah and for leaving this lovely comment! I'm so glad you appreciated Belle's essay. I think it's really special and important too.
And I would love to see this essay get a Pulitzer Prize 😁 And great additional points you made!
Powerlessness is like a sneaky little drug. It’s that thing that feeds your ego’s insatiable need for significance. Social justice activism can just keep filling that void and making the feedback loop spin faster. You fight for a cause, but you’re still stuck in the same spot.
“I said I wanted to become a wild animal tamer and have a tiger and an eagle as best friends. Being bullied was inevitable, but it didn’t stop me.”
I, too, had a weird dream. I wanted to be a philosophizing cartoonist like Bill Watterson and also have a manatee as a best friend, like Hobbes. And I was misunderstood too. But you know what? It didn’t stop me. And I’m guessing it didn’t stop you either.
So well said!! Yes, it's incredible how we can actually find comfort in self-victimization. But like you said, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, as we end up being ineffective and dependent because of our victim identity.
As a fellow Venezuelan, your story resonates deeply. The culture of victimhood can be so alluring because it offers validation without the responsibility of growth. Your journey from self-victimization to self-empowerment is inspiring, especially in a country where real suffering is undeniable. It’s refreshing to see someone embrace nuance in a world that often pushes extremes. Do you think there’s a way to help others break free from the same mindset without pushing them further into it?
I've learned that you can't force anyone to come out of any patter. What we can do is to keep writing and sharing. Having nuanced conversations with people who maybe we wouldn't have thought we could agree with and that's how it starts. If someone is willing to listen, talk to them. If not, walk away and keep showing your values through example. No sabía que eras venezolana, bella, mil gracias por leerme.
Thanks for this great article Belle. Believe me, you are far from "a random Venezuelan". Your natural confidence and positivity places you in my eyes as "an awesome Venezuelan". Look forward to further articles.
This is so kind Michael, so glad you read this one and took the time to show support ❤️
WOW! WOW! WOW! 👏👏👏 What an outstanding article by Belle Moon and the Black Sheep! I knew it was only a matter of time before Belle and the Black Sheep did a crossover! This is such an important and timely story! Thank you so much for sharing it Belle! I’m so, so sorry for all the tragedy and hardship you dealt with in you’re life. From being abandoned as a child to the death of your beloved adopted father to you’re mom not initially accepting you’re bisexuality to finding out you had a chronic illness, you went through so much in your life. Yet here you are, continuing to live and thrive. For a time you fell into the toxic world of far-left social justice activism. But in time you came to realize something very important: it’s not that people or the system are unfair, it’s that life is unfair. We all have a hand we’re dealt and we have to make the best of it. You live under a dictatorship in you’re home country of Venezuela and are a bisexual women of color who is neurodivergent and has chronic pain. You are on the top of the heap of the woke pyramid of oppression. But you never played into that or used your identity or life situation as an excuse not to succeed or to think the world owes you something. I can definitely relate to you. I too am neurodivergent (I have Asperger’s Syndrome) and have several mental health conditions. I have faced social ostracism, not being taken seriously, accused of faking, not being able to make decisions about my own life, and discrimination because of this. I nonetheless graduated high school, graduated college summa cum laude and have a job I love. I am not a victim, I am a victor. You have the same mindset despite all the trauma and poor treatment you suffered in your life and living under Nicolas Maduro’s brutal regime, for that I have mad respect for you and salute you! 🫡✊🏻 This article is and I’m not exaggerating, worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. Forget about Ta-Nehisi Coates or Nikole Hannah-Jones, YOU should be the one to get the MacArthur Genius Grant! This piece should be required reading in every K-12 school and college in the nation! This piece makes me think, if I were to give any advice to minority groups in America I think I would give the following three nuggets of wisdom: 1) You are not oppressed, you are underestimated. 2) To quote the great Larry Elder “Hard work wins, you get out of life what you put into it. You are not in control of the outcome but you are 100% in control of your own effort and before you b***h about what someone did to you or said to you, go to the nearest mirror and ask yourself “what could I have done to change the outcome?”” 3) Be patriotic and serve you’re country. America is an imperfect country but it’s a great country and we are always building a more perfect union. Join the military, police department, fire department, or Coast Guard, serve on the PTA, donate to a charity, volunteer at a food bank, serve on the city council, run for public office, etc. This article reminds me of a slam poem that music legend Smokey Robinson did. In it he said to black Americans and I quote “You’re heritage is right here and now no matter what you call yourself or what you say. And a lot of people died to make it that way. Those black soldiers who fought in all America’s wars didn’t fight for Timbuktu or Kenya they fought for Alabama, and Mississippi and Texas, and Virginia! If you say stuff like America’s not ours we were brought here, then you’re playin’ into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan who say they own this land!” Here’s a link to Smokey’s performance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0bIhD6GzYq4&pp=ygUgc21va2V5IHJvYmluc29uIGFmcmljYW4gYW1lcmljYW4%3D
Noah, you´re such a wonderful soul and a warrior I admire. Your words mean the world to me because I know they aren´t just nice words to make me feel better, they are an authentic gesture given with love. The "empathetic left" has forgotten what this means. They virtue-signal or give empty praise, but you? You show me true kindness and compassion. I´m so proud of you and I hope to keep creating by your side. I´m honored to have met you and eternally grateful for your support. I know we can change the world for the better!
Thank you for reading Noah and for leaving this lovely comment! I'm so glad you appreciated Belle's essay. I think it's really special and important too.
And I would love to see this essay get a Pulitzer Prize 😁 And great additional points you made!
You´re both women I admire so damn much so I´m honored to be seen that way by two great warriors.
Powerlessness is like a sneaky little drug. It’s that thing that feeds your ego’s insatiable need for significance. Social justice activism can just keep filling that void and making the feedback loop spin faster. You fight for a cause, but you’re still stuck in the same spot.
“I said I wanted to become a wild animal tamer and have a tiger and an eagle as best friends. Being bullied was inevitable, but it didn’t stop me.”
I, too, had a weird dream. I wanted to be a philosophizing cartoonist like Bill Watterson and also have a manatee as a best friend, like Hobbes. And I was misunderstood too. But you know what? It didn’t stop me. And I’m guessing it didn’t stop you either.
So well said!! Yes, it's incredible how we can actually find comfort in self-victimization. But like you said, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, as we end up being ineffective and dependent because of our victim identity.