{"id":6182,"date":"2026-02-01T14:55:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T14:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/15\/write-of-passage-welcome-to-censorship\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T14:55:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T14:55:41","slug":"write-of-passage-welcome-to-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/01\/write-of-passage-welcome-to-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"Write of Passage: Welcome to Censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6182-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/161364377\/db13ba55b0413f584c954a9ca39661b2.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/161364377\/db13ba55b0413f584c954a9ca39661b2.mp3\">https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/161364377\/db13ba55b0413f584c954a9ca39661b2.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><strong>The Warning That Sparked It All<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"vanes-2079686592\" class=\"vanes-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 2px;margin-right: 2px;margin-bottom: 2px;margin-left: 2px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\" aria-label=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?fit=1706%2C2560&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1706&ssl=1 1706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C1536&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1365%2C2048&ssl=1 1365w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"569\" height=\"853\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>It started with a slide.<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa Riley trying to find peace and missing it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Nine months away from the release of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fountainbookstore.com\/item\/Vus7kAU5V3VC0mTd8pTV_Q\"><em>Fire Sword and Sea<\/em><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fountainbookstore.com\/item\/Vus7kAU5V3VC0mTd8pTV_Q\">,<\/a> my fourth historical fiction novel, I was using Canva\u2014an online design tool\u2014to create character slides. Each slide was a snapshot of a journey: a woman who rose from enslavement to ship captain, a reimagined heroine defying colonial narratives and gender norms. I hit the \u201cadd speaker notes\u201d button, eager to get tips for speaking. I dream big, thinking I\u2019ll be having substantive discussions on my writing and research. And then\u2014Cava flagged me.<\/p>\n<p><p>Thanks for reading Vanessa Riley&#8217;s Write of Passage! This post is public so feel free to share it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Canva warning on my character\u2019s slide.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>It warned me, that is appears I\u2019m working on a political topic which is not supported.<\/p>\n<p>I paused. Political? This wasn\u2019t a manifesto. I didn\u2019t mention government, war, or even the man in the White House. Just a character arc. A woman doing what men historically claimed as their domain. A woman who had been enslaved, now captain of her own destiny. Was that what triggered the flag?<\/p>\n<p>The slide in question. Yes, I still can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Was it because she was Black? Because she was free? Because she existed at all? At the time of this recording Canva has not responded.<\/p>\n<p><p>Vanessa Riley&#8217;s Write of Passage is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Had Happened Was\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a popular phrase in Black vernacular storytelling\u2014\u201cWhat had happened was\u2026\u201d It\u2019s often said with a chuckle, a smile, a pause before unpacking truth. It\u2019s a doorway to context, a map through what might otherwise get dismissed.<\/p>\n<p>So\u2014what had happened was\u2014I was trying to promote a book.<\/p>\n<p>I wasn\u2019t trying to ignite a movement or start a fire. I just wanted to tell a story that mattered. And the tools I used turned on me. These so-called helpers, these digital platforms that were supposed to amplify my voice, were suddenly filtering it.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to say the creator world is dicey right now. We\u2019re all stressed\u2014consumers, readers, artists alike. But we can\u2019t pretend this isn\u2019t something deeper. Truth is under attack. Art is under review. And some of us are being silenced before we even speak.<\/p>\n<p><strong>History Is on the Chopping Block<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll leave you to draw your own conclusions about why Canva flagged that slide with the magic word enslaved. To me it\u2019s simple and diabolical: history\u2014especially Black history\u2014is being erased. It\u2019s happening now, it\u2019s in real time.<\/p>\n<p>We are witnessing the rollback of truth. Not in some distant dystopia, but here and now.<\/p>\n<p>Books are being banned. Curriculum gutted. The \u201cboth sides\u201d rhetoric used to flatten facts into nothingness. Trusted institutions are quiet or complicit. The hunger for moral equivalence is starving out real accountability.<\/p>\n<p>If you think you&#8217;re safe, don\u2019t be fooled. They are coming for you, too. Just ask your Grandma or senior friend who can no longer call their social security office, and now must make inconvenient trips to get questions answered.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Art Is\u2014and Always Has Been\u2014Political<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From the beginning of time, artists have resisted. Protest art existed long before hashtags and headlines:<\/p>\n<p>* Ancient Egyptians carved critiques into pottery and tombs.<\/p>\n<p>* Michelangelo\u2019s <em>David<\/em> stood as a symbol of resistance against the de Medici family.<\/p>\n<p>* Picasso\u2019s <em>Guernica<\/em> screamed against fascism.<\/p>\n<p>* Jean-Michel Basquiat painted the pain of racism and systemic decay on city walls.<\/p>\n<p>Writers too have been on the front lines of protest:<\/p>\n<p>* <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/uncle-tom-s-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe\/17794625?ean=9780553212181&#038;next=t\"><strong>Harriet Beecher Stowe\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/uncle-tom-s-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe\/17794625?ean=9780553212181&#038;next=t\"><strong><em>Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin<\/em><\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/uncle-tom-s-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe\/17794625?ean=9780553212181&#038;next=t\"> <\/a>rattled a nation and helped spur abolition.<\/p>\n<p>* <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/george-orwell-s-1984-the-graphic-novel-george-orwell\/PUXZ2qpR9uH14j7y?ean=9781786750570&#038;next=t\"><strong>George Orwell\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/george-orwell-s-1984-the-graphic-novel-george-orwell\/PUXZ2qpR9uH14j7y?ean=9781786750570&#038;next=t\"><strong><em>1984<\/em><\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/george-orwell-s-1984-the-graphic-novel-george-orwell\/PUXZ2qpR9uH14j7y?ean=9781786750570&#038;next=t\"> <\/a>warned us how language and surveillance would become weapons.<\/p>\n<p>* <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/the-fire-next-time-james-baldwin\/6719846?ean=9780679744726&#038;next=t\"><strong>James Baldwin<\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/the-fire-next-time-james-baldwin\/6719846?ean=9780679744726&#038;next=t\">, in <\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/the-fire-next-time-james-baldwin\/6719846?ean=9780679744726&#038;next=t\"><em>The Fire Next Time<\/em><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/the-fire-next-time-james-baldwin\/6719846?ean=9780679744726&#038;next=t\">,<\/a> broke the illusion of American innocence.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Chinua Achebe<\/strong> reclaimed African voices in <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/things-fall-apart-chinua-achebe\/6698050?ean=9780385474542&#038;next=t\"><em>Things Fall Apart<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/kindred-gift-edition-octavia-butler\/17845054?ean=9780807008096&#038;next=t\"><strong>Octavia Butler\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/kindred-gift-edition-octavia-butler\/17845054?ean=9780807008096&#038;next=t\"><strong><em>Kindred<\/em><\/strong><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/kindred-gift-edition-octavia-butler\/17845054?ean=9780807008096&#038;next=t\"> <\/a>forced readers to time-travel into the inescapable legacy of slavery.<\/p>\n<p>These stories didn\u2019t whisper. They roared.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, many of these works were banned, challenged, or ignored until their creators were no longer threats\u2014until they were dead or despaired . We call them legends now, but in their lifetimes, they faced resistance just for telling the truth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Risk of Telling Stories in 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not comparing myself to these masters. But here\u2019s the truth: you never know how far a writer might go if they weren\u2019t forced to create under duress. What stories never get told because someone\u2019s afraid of losing a contract, a platform, a chance?<\/p>\n<p>As we hurtle toward the release of <em>Fire Sword and Sea<\/em> in January 2026, I know the stakes. This novel challenges colonial history. It questions gender roles and race. It doesn\u2019t hold back. And yes, that means it may face backlash.<\/p>\n<p>But I owe it to my characters\u2014and the ancestors behind them\u2014to be honest. To be bold. I wish it felt better to be a truth-teller right now. But it doesn\u2019t. It feels risky. Lonely. Like shouting into the wind and hoping the algorithm doesn\u2019t mute you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Algorithms Are the New Gatekeepers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Back to that Canva flag. Back to the bots.<\/p>\n<p>We like to pretend the internet is neutral. But algorithms aren\u2019t free-thinking. They\u2019re coded by people. People with biases. People with blind spots. People who might think that a Black woman becoming a ship captain is \u201ctoo political.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These systems decide what gets seen, what gets buried, and what gets flagged. And in this brave new world, even our tools are weapons of control.<\/p>\n<p>So what do we do?<\/p>\n<p>Honestly\u2014I don\u2019t know. I rely on these tools. I use them to work faster, reach farther. But every time I click \u201cpublish,\u201d I wonder: am I aiding my own silencing? Feeding the same beast that\u2019s ready to swallow me?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Still Here. Still Talking.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I have no tidy resolution to offer. But I do have a promise: I\u2019m still here. I\u2019m still writing. Still teaching. Still telling the truth for as long as the bots allow.<\/p>\n<p>Because censorship isn\u2019t always loud. Sometimes it comes as a quiet \u201cwarning.\u201d A flagged slide. A ghosted post. A book pulled from shelves.<\/p>\n<p>And sometimes, yes sometimes, protest are simple acts\u2014 continuing to paint, dance, and create, continuing to speak, continuing to write, continuing to tell our stories.<\/p>\n<p>To be the first to know about Fire Sword and Sea: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/fireswordseaupdate\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/fireswordseaupdate\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/bit.ly\/fireswordseaupdate<\/a><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Show notes include a list of the books mentioned in this broadcast. This week, I&#8217;m highlighting <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fountainbookstore.com\/item\/Vus7kAU5V3VC0mTd8pTV_Q\"><strong>Fountain Bookstore<\/strong><\/a><strong> through their website and <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/shop\/fountainbookstore\"><strong>Bookshop.org<\/strong><\/a><strong> You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanessariley.com\/\"><strong>VanessaRiley.com<\/strong><\/a><strong> under the podcast link in the About tab.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Help fight the bots by hitting like and continuing to share this podcast. You are essential to its growth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thank you for listening. Hopefully, you\u2019ll come again. This is Vanessa Riley.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a public episode. If you&#8217;d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#038;utm_campaign=CTA_2\">vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"rop\"><small>Originally posted 2025-04-15 13:10:00. <\/small><\/p><div id=\"vanes-920925461\" class=\"vanes-after-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 3px;margin-right: 3px;margin-bottom: 3px;margin-left: 3px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?fit=1080%2C1350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Listen to the Write of Passage Weekly Podcast\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?w=1080&ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=819%2C1024&ssl=1 819w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=768%2C960&ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"540\" height=\"675\"   \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Warning That Sparked It All It started with a slide. Vanessa Riley trying to find peace and missing it. Nine months away from the release of Fire Sword and Sea, my fourth historical fiction novel, I was using Canva\u2014an online design tool\u2014to create character slides. Each slide was a snapshot of a journey: a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,793,9,620,756,694],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-stories","category-politics","category-recommended-reading","category-syndication","category-technology","category-tv-and-film"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/f06717dcde90249c5239685f29777b4b-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}