just tell the truth already

Reader,

Sometimes the greatest risk isn’t necessarily moving towards someone across a divide.

It’s standing steady and speaking up in the middle of one––to people on your side of it–– when every pressure inside and around you says, "Just shut your mouth and let it go."

During the civil rights movement in the U.S., many white Southerners who personally opposed segregation kept it to themselves—choosing silent survival over public witness

But some didn’t.

Some spoke out––risking their jobs, their families, their reputations and even their lives––to tell the truth:

"This system is wrong.

This harm is real.

These are the same kind of human beings as us."

Their words didn’t always spark immediate change.

Sometimes they were rejected by both sides.

But they spoke up anyway—because real love carries the nerve to tell the truth even when it's costly.

And across the ocean, during Liberia’s brutal civil war, Leymah Gbowee founded the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, bringing together Christian and Muslim women in an unprecedented alliance.

The movement began with women gathering daily in public markets, singing, praying, and demanding an end to the fighting. Leymah's approach was revolutionary in her insistence on direct confrontation with those perpetuating the violence. She led women to block exits during peace talks, refusing to let warlords leave until agreements were reached.

Leymah understood that the act of truth-telling itself was a powerful weapon against the normalized violence. The women documented the atrocities, spoke openly about how sexual violence was used as a war tactic, and refused to tolerate the narrative that the conflict was inevitable.

By naming the violence and its perpetrators, these women stripped away the veneer of political justification and exposed the raw reality of the dehumanizing war.

Leymah demonstrated that when women refuse to accept violence as inevitable and do whatever it takes to work together to expose the truth, they can create what she calls "practical peace"—not just the absence of war, but the active building of a more just society.

Because love demands more than private disapproval, silent outrage, or quiet resignation to the status quo.

​
It requires the courage to name what’s true—
and the integrity to live a life accountable to it.

🧠 Naming: The Practice of Integrity-Rooted Accountability

At its best, accountability isn’t just a reaction to harm.

It’s a sustained commitment to stewarding our lives, relationships, and communities with intention and care.

Real neighboring doesn't mean pretending.

It doesn’t mean sacrificing truth on the altar of temporary peace.

It looks like speaking truth when silence would feel, or even objectively be, safer.

It looks like staying present with pain instead of rushing to fix it or make it palatable.

Naming makes real transformation possible—​
not by disappearing or distorting reality to stay “liked,”
but by holding us responsible to the highest version of ourselves—
as designed by our Creator, not dictated by any member of creation.

🌱 Reflection:

Who might love be asking you to speak the truth to—

even though silence feels safer?

​

Speaking up with you,

Camille

ps: Naming is just one of the topics we'll be exploring together on Zoom this Sunday.

Want to join us? Just hit reply and I’ll send you the details. 💬