In a world where silence is profitable and outrage is performative, character still matters. Today I’m asking you a simple question with complicated consequences: Shall you take a stand, or stay seated?
Take a Stand or Take a Seat
I was watching The New York Times interview with Scott Pelley when the reporter asked him to respond to a statement celebrating his firing from 60 Minutes.
The president called him “stiff” and part of a “gang of stupid, crooked people that don’t care about the country.”
Pelley’s response is both tactful and visceral. He didn’t seem to care about being fired for his beliefs. He didn’t seem concerned about answering to power. He stood up right and got fired, when so many others might have said nothing, kept their seats, and protected their paychecks.
I get it.
It’s tough out here.
According to Stanford’s 2026 AI Index Report, 90% of companies using AI-assisted applicant evaluations retain candidate scores for up to 330 days. That means one bad assessment, one poorly matched resume, or one automated rejection can effectively lock you out of opportunities for nearly a year. AI adoption is growing faster than ever. Yet brave researchers buck the trends and report inconsistencies and limitations in these systems. But that doesn’t help if you’re caught in that 330-day lockout.
So yes, I understand why people say nothing and cling to their jobs.
But if an environment demands that you surrender your values to keep your position, it might be worth considering an exit strategy.
Quiet quit.
Update your résumé.
Find another lane.
Because an environment with no morals will eventually consume yours.
Back to Scott.
Accused of being crooked and seditious, he swallows and carefully chooses his words. There’s still more to lose because leadership is being weaponized.
I remember a time when, regardless of party, there was at least an expectation that the occupants of the highest offices in the land would demonstrate empathy and respect for all Americans. Those days feel very far away.
So hearing a journalist described as a “stiff” who “doesn’t care about the country” because he asked difficult questions- well, let’s just call it disappointing.
Watching a news veteran like Scott Pelley visibly choke up when responding to the accusation was moving.
In his interview, Pelley reminded viewers that while he never served in uniform, he spent years reporting from war zones.
“I’ve been in combat for this country in Afghanistan and Iraq. I’ve spent nights in foxholes. You become a journalist because you love the First Amendment. There is no democracy without journalism.”
Scott is someone who stood up and risked his life in pursuit of truth.
It reminds me of people throughout history who believed in something enough to sacrifice for it.
People who risked financial ruin. People who lost family members. People who gave up comfort, status, and sometimes their lives for truth or some big principle.
In an age where everything feels transactional, people like Pelley or Ida B Wells show us that there are things worth fighting for.
The current political and cultural climate sharply reveals the difference between true allyship and performative allyship.
Sitting back, waiting for things to change, costs women—particularly Black women and women of color.
But Vanessa, I’m scared.
I get it. Some things are triggering. I understand that. Everyone must have their own standards and beliefs. But don’t expect others to help you when you are the one in the line of fire.
For me, I believe in the dignity of the human experience. You see my pen write this experience in a Fire Sword and Sea. In the beginning, Jacquotte is a passionate screw-up, but she finds her calling, rises to her feet, and becomes a captain leading an integrated crew of men and women.
I believe laughter is still the best medicine. You see that in A Deal at Dawn when enemies-to-lovers laugh about old times while dealing with the enemy, chronic illness.
I believe hard work matters.
I believe prayer matters.
And I still believe that when you focus, work, and persist, you can move closer to the desires of your heart.
But what troubles me is how often public virtue has become performance.
In 2020 people in publishing sat at home posting black squares. These posts on Instagram cost them nothing. And when many of their Black and brown colleagues were fired in 22-24, they didn’t post anything.
A black square requires no sacrifice. No difficult conversations. No risk. No courage at all.
There’s nothing wrong with capitalism. Nothing wrong with protecting your peace and your pockets. Just don’t confuse me by making me think you care. I’d respect you more if you were openly scheming aka JR Ewing of Dallas not that backstabbing Iago from Othello. Please don’t be the deceiving Uriah Heep from David Copperfield—humble while plotting my doom.
I don’t need that kind of disappointment and heartache in my life.
But this is America.
Companies can hire and fire people for many reasons. In most places, employment remains largely at-will.
If there was a legal way to know the workplace is amoral, doesn’t like to hire women, is loath to put a Black woman in charge—I’d like to know. Is that a Reddit or Threads feed?
If you have preferences or prejudices, own it. Trust me. We expect you to stay in your seat, way over there.
In a matter, I truly want to call, “ You don’t want us, so leave us alone,”
There’s a lawsuit filed by Colorado dermatologist Dr. Travis Morrell and the advocacy group, Do No Harm, against Find A Black Doctor, a directory created to help patients locate Black physicians. The lawsuit argues that restricting listings to Black doctors constitutes discrimination.
The irony is hard to ignore.
Black Americans make up only a small percentage of physicians nationwide. Patients often seek doctors who understand their cultural experiences:
John Hopkins has found:
Black patients are much more likely than white patients to discover language in those records that indicates they are not believed by their physicians. – What in the DEI?
So let me get this straight. Instead of building new resources or even working to dismantle disparities, you’d rather dismantle a system trying to fix it. Dr. Morrell be honest.
Black people constitute 4% of Colorado. Perhaps this doctor and his conservative group should spend more on advertising to reach that 4% or I don’t know…post some research to show how your treatments benefit Black skin. But you can’t because all skin matters, even if some hydrate and respond differently.
The question isn’t really lotion. It’s access.
Deep down, it’s ownership.
Who gets to create community spaces? Who plans where the number of tables and where the seats go?
And who gets to benefit from the dollars at those tables?
Meanwhile, small farmers continue to discover what happens when their voting preferences have real-world consequences.
The current administration has issued federal cuts reducing funding for local food purchasing programs that used small farms to service schools and food banks. Farmers like Iowan Anna Pesek have warned that losing this funding hurts already razor-thin margins and weakens local food economies.
At the same time, Congress has advanced proposals to reduce WIC funding by $200 million. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, those cuts could reduce fruit and vegetable benefits by more than $141 million for approximately 5.4 million women and children.
Actions have consequences.
Votes have consequences.
Policies have consequences.
Character has consequences.
Demonizing programs that helped the elderly, moms,
and children now hurts small farms. Generational legacies are being lost. These are consequences.
I care about lost legacies. It hurts a lot of tables. Farms collapsing is a recipe for humanitarian and economic disasters.
So what are you saying, Vanessa. Well, have a seat.
I need you to think about what you stand for. I want you to think long and hard about it.
Make up your mind with facts, not social media or even online essays like this.
I spend a fair amount of time on social media. Social media can be fun, informative, a start point.
But it is first and foremost a commerce lane. For authors, we use it to scream, stand up for causes and especially, marketing.
Most writers would gladly choose a quiet afternoon with a cup of tea, a stack of books, and a manuscript over creating content.
The modern author is expected to write, market, advertise, brand-build, create videos, manage newsletters, cultivate audiences, and somehow still produce books.
I’m grateful I spent years as an indie author because it taught me guerrilla marketing and how to approach social media without completely burning out.
That being said, a lot that’s on these streets should be taken with a grain of salt.
Since the 2020 George Floyd Black Squares, I dread performative cycles. MLK Day and Juneteenth are Meccas for performance.
Juneteenth is June 19th.
Soon there will be posts, statements, logos, campaigns, and carefully crafted declarations of solidarity.
Then June 20 arrives.
No more posts.
The conversations stop. Things happen, and people keep their seats, not standing up when they see problems.
The performative advocates who publicly celebrate women and Black voices return to ignoring them in meetings, overtalking colleagues while avoiding difficult conversations.
They keep their seats, choosing their comfort over courage.
Scott Pelley chokes up when leadership questions his patriotism. I choke up when humanity falters.
How we respond to the humanity of others is something baked into our character.
Character still matters. It’s our universal legacy. It’s a DNA record of us standing up and sitting down. It mirrors the company we keep at our tables. This is us.
So I find myself asking simple questions:
Where do you stand?
What are you actually doing that makes a difference?
What are you willing to do even when it’s uncomfortable?
I write about characters who get out of their chairs to inspire and encourage others.
They stand. They speak the truth. And in the end, they do what’s right.
Now, if we can just get the rest of the seated to do the same.
This week’s reading list includes:
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin — A searing examination of race, conscience, and the moral courage required to confront injustice.
Crusade for Justice by Ida B. Wells — The autobiography of a journalist who refused to stay silent when speaking the truth could cost her everything.
Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. — A timeless argument for action when waiting quietly becomes a form of complicity.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee — A story about standing for justice even when doing so makes you vulnerable.
Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times by Scott Pelley — Drawing on decades of reporting, Pelley explores courage, sacrifice, and moral choices.
Fire Sword and Sea by Vanessa Riley — A young woman discovers that leadership begins the moment she stops waiting for permission and chooses to stand.
Or, if you are in need of laughs and inclusivity, and to see the good guy standing up and winning, preorder A Deal at Dawn or review it on NetGalley, and request it at your local library.
Get these books from The Book Cellar, in Conyers, GA. They still have a few signed copies of Fire Sword and Sea.
You can also try one of my partners in the fight, bookstores large and small, who are in the trenches with me.
You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com, under the podcast link in the About tab.
Hey. Let’s keep rising and creating together. I need you. Like, share, subscribe, and stay connected to Write of Passage.
Thank you for being here.
I want you to come again. This is Vanessa Riley.
PS. Catch me at the Nantucket Book Festival. Join me @nantucketbookfestival on Saturday, June 13th at 9 am at The Methodist Church located at 2 Centre Street. I will be in conversation with @dawn.tripp about my book, “Fire, Sword, and Sea.” To view the full schedule of events for the 15th annual Nantucket Book Festival, visit nantucketbookfestival.org.
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