Using your voice for positive change

11. This episode is about censorship, speaking up, and using your voice for positive change. I share my thoughts about what's happening with mainstream and social media. I also reveal a special project my colleagues and I have been working on and advocating for our rights.

Join my community at The Authentic Table:  https://authentictable.mn.co
Sign up for my email list:  https://bit.ly/H4Tupdates
Check out the Missouri Nutrition Alliance:  https://www.missourinutritionalliance.org/

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https://brigittefactor.com/happygutkeyquiz

Episode Transcript

Brigitte Factor (00:13):
Hello, and welcome to the hungry for truth
podcast. I'm your host, BrigitteFactor, the truth seeker,
researcher, scientist,nutritionist, teacher in truth
teller, and awakening is coming.
Get ready for it.

(00:47):
Hello, and welcome back to thehungry for truth podcast. I'm so
excited to be back andpodcasting. I don't know where
last month when it was so busyand I was doing a lot of work
behind the scenes which I willshare with you today. And I'm
just happy to be back happy thatyou're tuning in and listening
today. And I have a lot I wantto talk about. Today's episode

(01:09):
is going to be about using yourvoice for change and speaking up
for your rights because whatI've been working on has been
directly related to that. Andit's also related to a topic
that has really been botheringme that I want to raise
awareness about and that iscenter ship, there is a lot of

(01:30):
sensor ship happening on socialmedia, and in mainstream media
as well. And I've just had totake a break from social media
overall, because it was gettingreally frustrating seeing just
the amount of censorship that'shappening, and the negativity

(01:51):
that is surrounding that, andthe lies and that are
surrounding that. So first off,if you're not aware, there are a
growing number of accounts,being d platformed. And what
that means is there's a growingnumber of accounts on Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube, that arejust being taken down

(02:13):
completely. And many of theseaccounts I follow because I am
in the holistic and alternativespace. And I tend to lean more
towards that way of thinking,even as a scientist and I also
get really frustrated with theamount of science peer reviews,
published science that is beingcensored or misconstrued, like

(02:37):
the Facebook fact checkers willput a fact check on a piece of
information and then claimingit's not true. And then you go
in and you read the explanation.
And they're using circulararguments based on nothing, and
they actually don't debunk whatis being said they're just
labeling it as untrue because itdoesn't fit the narrative that

(02:58):
they want. And Facebook is beingsued because of the censorship
that's happening. One of themain accounts that got
deplatformed that I follow isRobert Kennedy. And I admire his
work as an environmentalist.
I've followed him through theMonsanto trials, he's part of

(03:21):
the legal team that has oneafter Monsanto. And if you're
not aware of that Monsanto hasbeen found guilty of basically
knowingly putting a product intothe environment that causes
cancer. So you can look that upif you want to learn more about
that. But so I follow RobertKennedy Jr's work, and I admire

(03:46):
what he stands for. And theinformation that he puts forth
is solid, it's fact based, itcan be referenced, it can be
verified, but he is gettingsmeared a lot in the mainstream
media. And it's reallydisheartening to see, I believe
that free speech and scientificdebate are important for moving

(04:07):
forward for moving ourunderstanding forward. And
that's being shut down rightnow. Critical inquiry and asking
the right questions is importantto explore the right options in
a time of health crisis forpeople. There is no one way or
one size fits all. That's partof why I chose the holistic path

(04:32):
is because I believe in bodilyautonomy and choosing what's the
best path path for you. And thatmedical authority doesn't get
the final say so. So it's reallyfrustrating to see some of this
stuff happening. But I wanted toraise awareness about it because
if you're not following thoseaccounts, you may be completely

(04:52):
unaware of the amount ofcensorship that's happening and
censorship on social media hasbeen going on for a few years.
I've noticed I've had been beena part of groups that have
gotten taken down. I've seenother accounts get blocked, and
and taken down as well. So it isincreasing greatly right now.

(05:16):
And it's unfortunate.
So that brings me to wanting tocome to a place where can we, as
a society, start to ask betterquestions. So when we see
something, and I've talked aboutthis before, in my first
episode, talking aboutunderstanding the science and

(05:37):
how to be your own fact checker,when you see a headline, do not
believe what the headline says,actually go in and investigate
and find the original sourceyourself. And use your own
judgment. Because there's a lotof programming happening in the
mainstream media, that peoplearen't questioning. And it's

(06:00):
really, really sad. So one ofthe questions we can start
asking ourselves, when we seesomething, is asking ourselves,
Is this true? And how do I knowthat's true? So when we find
ourselves wanting to getdefensive about our stance, or
our belief, and we notice thatemotion coming up, where we want

(06:22):
to get defensive about it, usethat as a check, you know, to
check yourself, what is it thatis happening inside of me? Is
this belief that somebody elsehas that's making me question my
own stance? Is this rubbing upagainst me the wrong way,
because I might have somecognitive bias, you know,

(06:45):
cognitive biases, where youcan't take in new information.
Because when you hear anotherperspective, you just can't
believe it, even though it maybe true. And that can cause
people to become defensive aboutthings. And so, really doing
some self exploration and askingourselves, how we know what we

(07:07):
say is true. And to takeresponsibility for the
information that we share withothers even online, and that we
really need to stop parrotingwhat we hear without
investigating it ourselves. Now,when I first started into the
holistic nutrition realm, andfunctional medicine realm and

(07:29):
learning new things, I was superexciting about sharing
information. And posting that onsocial media, I loved sharing
what I was learning. And so I'msure in the past, I am guilty of
sharing things that aren't,weren't quite accurate, but I am
working hard to reallyinvestigate the stuff that I'm

(07:52):
that I share now. And I justwant everyone to realize that
it's really important to reallycheck what we're sharing, and
understand at any moment, ourperspective can change, we can
have new information, and thatcan change the direction or what
we're thinking. So out, alsoallow yourself to ask the

(08:14):
question, What if I'm wrongabout this? Could that be a
possibility? You know, whenyou're in that moment of feeling
defensive about something,really asking, Is it possible
that I can be wrong about this?
Is it possible that myperspective is not accurate? Is
it possible that the person I'mspeaking with that their

(08:36):
perspective isn't accurateeither, and that both of our
perspectives are not accurate?
And you and honestly, that'smostly the case, because one
person can't see everything. Sotrying to look at things from
different perspectives anddifferent directions, to allow

(08:58):
yourself to stay open andcurious about what the truth is.
And realize that everyone hasthe right to speak their mind
and share their opinion withoutdefaming someone else, you know,
without putting other peopledown, when we start insulting
people and insulting theircredentials, or saying they're

(09:21):
not an expert. We're not usinglogical arguments in that. When
I was researching and presentingmy research at scientific
conferences. I never saw anyonestand up and present their
research and say, Just trust me,I'm an expert. They had to speak
to the data, it didn't matterwho they were. And the data

(09:44):
spoke for itself. And there waslots of inquiry and questions
and there was differentperspectives on how to interpret
the data. And this type ofdebate was allowed to go on
because that is how we furtherour understanding of things. And
so this whole concept of onlytrust the experts isn't, isn't

(10:07):
really the way science isapproached. Another piece of
wisdom that I use when I amlooking at things and wanting to
speak about things is Ephesians429. And it says, Don't use foul
or abusive language, buteverything you say be good and
helpful so that your words willbe an encouragement to those who

(10:29):
hear them.
So I really try to speak,positive, encouraging and
helpful words and information.
Now, that doesn't mean at timesthat when I see something that's
wrong, I'm not going to call itout. Because, you know, speaking
truth and love is about callingout things that are that aren't
correct, and that are right. Andthat needs to happen. It is

(10:53):
absolutely imperative that westand up for ourselves, and we
stand up for our rights, and westand up for our beliefs. But we
do that in a loving way. Usingyour voice makes a difference.
And advocating for your rightsis important. It's part of our
Constitution. Free Speech, isthe First Amendment of the

(11:15):
Constitution and fundamental tomaintaining our liberty. One of
the things that I have beenworking on behind the scenes is
actually working to get a billpassed through the state
legislature. There is a billthat we've been trying to get
past for the past few years. Andby we I mean, those of us at the

(11:37):
Missouri nutrition Alliance. I'ma co founder at Missouri
nutrition Alliance, which is amembership based organization
that brings together healthcoaches, and holistic
nutritionists and other healthpractitioners that are not
licensed to bring them togetherto advocate for our profession

(11:58):
and to share with a communitythat what we do so that we can
have a growing awareness andincrease of how important eating
real food is. So those of us atma have been working to get a
bill passed through the house inthe Senate. And I've had to
travel to Jefferson Citymultiple times to get this bill

(12:20):
passed and testify at the Senatehearing and also testify at a
house hearing. So a lot ofthat's been really intense. For
me, I, this is not in my comfortzone at all to do, but I do it
because I feel that it'simportant to modify the law to
allow more holisticpractitioners to practice in our

(12:41):
state. And so that's really whatI've been working on behind the
scenes. And it's taken a lot ofmy mental and physical energy to
do that. But I'm thankful that Iget to be a part of that. And I
get to use my voice for positivechange. And it's just another
example, how a certain group ofpeople feel that their way is

(13:05):
the only way to do things andhow we're trying to make a way
for people that have a differentperspective to work. And do that
do what they do in the state ofMissouri. So you can check out
the Missouri nutrition Alliance,and in look into what we're
doing, if you're curious aboutthat. But I again, I just want

(13:27):
to encourage people to speak upfor your rights. And we have to
start speaking up, we have tostart speaking out against the
censorship that's happening inthe free speech violations that
are happening, or we're going toslowly erode our rights even
more and not get them back.

(13:50):
Another thing I wanted tomention is that using your voice
doesn't mean posting passiveaggressive things on social
media, that those kind of thingsdon't change another person's
mind or have any kind ofpositive effect. Having a real
conversation with people does,having a real conversation with

(14:12):
somebody that thinks differentlyand asking them Why do you think
that way? What is yourbackground? What is it that
brings you to that, and beingable to openly explore different
perspectives from a place ofrespect for each other. Also, if
there is real change that needsto happen, I'm reaching out to

(14:34):
your legislators, they want tohear from you. They want to hear
from their constituents and whattheir constituents want and need
to happen. So because really,our government is meant to be
driven by the people, andworking with the legislators to
make those changes happen. Andif you're not involved in those

(14:56):
conversations, if you You'redon't have an open line of
communication with yourrepresentative or your senator,
then you're not involved inthose conversations. And it's
really important that you'rethat you're making your opinion,
and what you want known. Andyou're doing that in a

(15:17):
respectful manner, just like youwould talking to your friend or
to your neighbor.
So I just wanted to share aboutabout that, and what's been
going on. Since I'm not onsocial media as much, I would
really like to stay connectedwith you. For those that are you
are interested in doing that, Ihave a platform called the

(15:41):
authentic table is my socialmedia alternative. And you're
welcome to join me there forreal conversations around real
food and health. I'm thinkingabout offering some free happy
hour zoom meetings where we cancome together and build
community. And I'd love to haveyou be a part of that. And I'll

(16:03):
post a link in the show notesfor that. And then also be sure
to sign up and get my emailsbecause that's the best way to
stay in communication with me isthrough email, especially if
you're not on social media atall. And so I will post a link
to have you get on my email listas well. And I hope that you

(16:25):
found this information,encouraging and that you take it
to heart that it's important tospeak up and use your voice for
change. Use your voice forpositive change, to do it in a
loving and respectful manner. Tohave those real conversations
ask those difficult questions.
And thank you for listening. Anduntil next time, Grace and peace