“Who told you that?”

"That's not right. Who told you that?"

Who. TOLD. ME. THAT?

I “told” my damn self.

I cracked open a book every once in a while and did some learning.

I pulled out my phone and instead of only looking at Fox news and doom scroll social media, I researched.

I found actual evidence based information.

I found fact based reviews.

I learned ACTUAL history.

I've learned more about history than I ever could have imagined in school, since being an adult.

Literally history or any sort of "social studies" was my least favorite subject of all time.

There were only 2 history classes I ever enjoyed even though I barely passed with a D.

One was US History I believe. The teacher was the best, most relatable, most understanding teacher I'd had. He used to joke with us but never made me feel uncomfortable in any way. He was reachable. I felt safe going to him and joking with him. I may not have learned anything from his class (due to my own shortcomings) but the lifetime of memories I have from that class, like a friend and her husband meeting in that class when we what 15? maybe 16? (They are still together with 4 kids now. Them meeting is a core memory for me. Shout out if you are reading.)

During a test he would say "the answer is NOT B, if you put down B, you will be WROOOONG." Which meant the answer was B. He knew standardize testing was BS. I appreciate his efforts.

The second was Bible as History.

I know, it's an odd one.

Especially coming from an Atheist.

That class was interesting but our teacher, made that class so memorable for me.

We affectionately called him Mr. Green Bean from a green track suit he was wearing one day and his last name. I remember him telling us he wanted to visit Israel 3 times before he died and he had already been 2 times. That was 21-22 years ago! I hope he got to see Israel one more time. Possibly RIP Mr. Green Bean? (or if you are still kicking, get it bud! I hope you got to see Israel that 3rd time! Thank you for the memories)

He was also my English teacher that year.

I know he was sick and tired of seeing my face at the end of that semester. Haha.

But my best friend was in that class as well!

We would always study together so we had so many inside jokes. "NEBAKANEZA"

We also are really chatty when we are together.

Teachers HATED when they saw both our names on their roster for the same time slot. Bahaha.

In the History class, our teacher made us sit in the same row (vertically) of chairs, I think there were 4 or 5 total. I had to sit in the VERY front (I would get a crick in my neck from looking UP at our teacher he was so close to my desk) and she had to sit in the very back. We still found ways to communicate though... “NEBAKANEZA”! I love you for life!

SQUIRREL.

I've developed a deep love of history.

ALL kinds of history.

Except the wars. Those I pass on.

But I love to learn about the history of religions.

The history of people.

The history of the universe.

The history of the United States.

The history of America.

The Royal History of all countries.

(Royal History in general just fascinates me!)

The list goes on and on.

I’ve learned the REAL history.

The stories that were told and buried by the fallen.

By the defeated.

I've learned scientific evidence based history.

It truly became a passion of mine to absorb as much information I could.

I wanted to know it ALL.

I also went through a gnarly phase of learning a ton about bio hazard cleaning.

A phase of watching every Youtube documentary I could get my hands on about plane crashes. (this was back in 2022, now this is just eerie given recent events of the world, like planes literally colliding into each other mid air at an airport)

Then a dark true crime phase where I learned every single thing I could about a case in my state from 2020. I watched the trial, the interviews, I watched the documentaries. I was HOOKED.

It was the Chandler Halderson case.

My ADHD brain loves to hyper focus on things like that.

So history became a hyper focus.

The point of that rant is;

No one TOLD me anything.

No one TOLD me the knowledge I am relaying to you.

I took the time to look into information and source the information.

I took the time to truly understand the information by consuming it in different forms in different ways.

I took information from those sources and drew a conclusion.

Aka: I used CRITICAL THINKING.

No one TOLD ME anything.

That is so invalidating to say to someone.

So please. Stop.

I just had someone utter those words "Who told you that. It's wrong." to me and my fight or flight instincts were set off.

That is something I used to hear from the most important person in my life at the time when I would try to have an intelligent conversation with them.

It was so degrading, invalidating and rude.

No one TOLD me anything.

And you saying that makes me feel like a child.

Like a 4 year old who misunderstood a rule told to them.

I'm a GROWN ass woman.

And I was a grown ass woman when you used to say it to me!

With my own brain.

My own thoughts.

My own ideas.

My own opinions.

No one TOLD me what to believe.

Side tangent incoming;

^this is NOT a dig at anyone’s religion or their faith!^

That's something I don't even understand about religion.

I don't need the promise of heaven or the fear of hell to be a good person and to love my neighbor.

To not lie or steal or cheat.

To not hoard wealth.

My critical thinking skills solved the equation of; if I help this person, I get this in return and then I can provide to my family and they can grow into the next generation who are collectively helping one another to make a community.

That's my goal.

Society has strayed so far from the idea of working together collectively.

We've become too selfish.

We hoard and dictate resources.

It's honestly embarrassing to even be a human being on planet earth right now in my opinion.

There is no sense of community anymore. But that is a conversation for another time.

Back to those good ole' critical thinking skills.

I have them.

Believe it or not, I do.

My brain is fully developed.

I've lived and experienced things.

And no, you do not get to say what I know you want to. It's already in my head anytime I say it.

Words hurt.

My critical thinking skills put 2 and 2 together and got myself out of two relationships I wasn't sure I would ever find a way out of.

My place is not "pregnant and bare foot in the kitchen." so to speak.

I am so much more than that.

I am a woman.

A POWERFUL woman.

A woman who was held back for too long.

A Lioness ready to fight back to protect her pride, her cubs and her fellow women.

I am fierce.

I am strong.

I am capable.

I am READY.

And I do not need to be TOLD things, because I learn them myself.

We are women.

We are warriors.

We give life.

We use our superpowers.

We break glass ceilings.

We rise and we resist.

Gone are the days of

"Live, Laugh, Love."

Now our walls are lined with:

"Rage, Riot, Resist."

We are teaching a new generation of women to stand up against;

"Who TOLD you that?"

When a woman gives her knowledgeable opinion.

Do not assume it is not hers.

Do not assume someone told her how to think.

Do not assume she does not have critical thinking skills and logic.

Then to follow it up with "that's not right" when it is factually correct...

It's not a good look.

Love and respect women.

We help make the world 🌎🌍🌏 go around.

-The Messy Hippie 🌈✌🏻