Politixia
After a recent homecoming appearance in Mississippi, Brandy became the center of conversation, not for the new music she was preparing to release, but for how she looked. Fans and others took to social media to question her physical appearance and speculate about her health.
On Saturday, the “Have You Ever” singer took to Instagram to address those concerns and others about making judgments without understanding what a person may or may not be going through. In a lengthy caption alongside a carousel of her in a gold dress serving looks, she made it clear that people need to understand the power of their words and why passing judgment on someone through the lens of social media isn’t always the best look.
“Perhaps we’ve been looking for it in all the wrong places. In youth. In perfection. In approval. In bodies that never change and faces that never age,” she began her post.
She continued, “But life was never meant to leave us untouched. It shapes us. It humbles us. It refines us. Every season leaves its signature upon us. And maybe that’s where beauty has been all along. Not in escaping change, but in becoming through it. I’ve learned that it takes only a moment to form an opinion about someone’s appearance, and a lifetime to understand what they’ve lived through. So may we become gentler with one another. Not because everyone is fragile, but because everyone is carrying a story we cannot see.”
When questions about Brandy’s health and appearance first arose, certain peers of hers defended her on social media. After a fan cautioned fans about making the same mistakes they did in speaking on the physical appearance of Muni Long and Monica, ironically, Brandy’s tourmates on “The Boy Is Mine Tour” last year, Durrand Bernarr added his two cents, pointedly telling those who held empathy for Brandy and others that people sadly won’t extend that same grace.
“The fact that y’all thought the death of Chadwick would incite empathy in the masses is actually a disservice to your own health expecting PEOPLE to not PEOPLE,” he wrote on Threads. “Y’all still have faith and hope in humanity and that’s why you’re upset now. Once you abandon ALL hope and faith in humanity, your life will have a GUARANTEED improvement. Til then, you’ll be stressed and disappointed.”
Announcement
Still, Brandy isn’t running away from the moment and is instead going on the offensive, urging people to be better.
“Our words have weight. Our judgments have weight. Our kindness does too,” she wrote. “The world will always be tempted to measure people by what is visible. But love has never looked only at the surface. Love sees the whole person.”
“She added, “I’ve stopped trying to earn my reflection. I’ve stopped asking the mirror to tell me who I am. I know who I am. And that knowing has given me a freedom no opinion could ever take away.
If this post leaves you with anything, I hope it’s this:
Before you speak about someone’s body, before you speak about someone’s face, before you decide who they are by what you see, remember, you are looking at someone’s child. Someone’s friend. Someone’s dream. Someone’s life. A soul.
And souls have always been more beautiful than surfaces.
love bran.”
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