They say words are just words.
But those of us doing the sacred work of liberation know:
Language reveals allegiance.
The words we choose, especially when we’re scared, uncertain, or seeking power, tell the truth about who we’re really serving. Not just in theory, but in practice.
Mirror or Funhouse?
Let’s get something straight:
Mirrors don’t refract. They reflect.
— Refraction bends light, alters it, and distorts it. It makes things look softer, smaller, and more palatable.
— Reflection sends light back to the source, unfiltered. It offers what is, not what’s preferred.
And that, beloveds, is the difference between liberatory language and performative posturing.
Some people use language to reflect power back to the people.
Others use it to bend the truth to protect their brand, their job, their ego.
If your language is refraction, softening your truth to stay safe, smiling through your email signature while you uphold violence, weaponizing neutrality in the face of oppression, then it’s time to ask:
Who are you really serving?
Three Core Takeaways
1. Refraction Protects Ego, Reflection Serves Liberation
Example: A school leader who says, “We’ll take your concerns under advisement,” instead of admitting they failed to implement legally required accommodations.
That’s refraction, bending language to sound neutral when the reality is negligent.
Reframe: Refraction is a coping strategy of supremacy culture. Reflection is a strategy of freedom.
Reflection Prompt:
Where am I softening my language to avoid discomfort instead of telling the truth?
2. Language as Currency: Who Gets Paid and Who Pays the Cost?
Example: DEI professionals often use “inclusive” language to maintain contracts but refuse to name whiteness as a problem, patriarchy as a structure, or capitalism as harm. The result? They stay booked, but their work reinforces the very systems they claim to challenge.
Reframe: Liberation can’t be branded. If your message never risks your position, it may not be liberation at all.
Reflection Prompt:
Whose comfort does my language center? Whose liberation does it delay?
3. Mirrors Don’t Lie, They Just Don’t Flatter
Example: You can say you’re committed to “restorative justice” and still create policies that punish students for symptoms of trauma.
You can say you “believe Black lives matter” and still write up the only Black teacher for “tone.”
Language that reflects truth doesn’t just tell a story, it reveals the storyteller’s location.
Reframe: If your mirror only ever flatters, it’s probably a funhouse. Liberation requires clarity, not comfort.
Reflection Prompt:
What truth am I afraid to name aloud? And who taught me that silence was safer?
Featured Clip: Language as a Mirror, Not a Mouthpiece
🕒 Timestamp: 14:09- 17:16
In this powerful segment, we unpack how language, (especially colonial languages like English) often reflects distorted truths rather than our full humanity. From the way “love” is flattened to how sacred texts lose meaning in translation, we explore how the very words we’re given can limit what we’re allowed to feel, name, or reclaim.
“You can’t articulate liberation in the language that was built to oppress you.”
This isn’t just semantics, it’s somatic. What happens to our bodies, our stories, and our futures when we speak only in systems that were never made for us?
Friday Live Teaser – June 9, 9:30am EST
Rest as Rebellion: Permission to Pause
It’s June—and while everything around us seems to shout “go bigger, move faster, do more,” nature is doing something different. The seeds have sprouted. The blooms have arrived. And now? She rests. She deepens. She integrates.
This is the season of sustained expansion, not explosive effort. It’s not the time to push—it’s the time to pause with purpose.
On Friday, we’re gathering to remember that:
Rest isn’t weakness—it’s wisdom.
Slowness isn’t stagnation—it’s strategy.
And restoration isn’t retreat—it’s revolutionary.
You don’t need permission to pause. But if you’ve been waiting for a sign—this is it.
Join me as we reclaim rest as resistance, as rhythm, and as our birthright.
Paywall Pause
To my subscribers, thank you for walking this path with me. This isn’t performative DEI. This is soul-deep, nerve-deep, language-matters-because-people-matter work.
Let’s move from theory to embodiment:
Subscriptions are $8 a month/$80 a year/ $120 a year as an equity partner, and scholarships are available at: Scholarships@DesireeBStephens.com
