There’s a strange loneliness in being visible for the wrong reasons.
People think they know you from a headline.
They hear rumours, see search results, maybe even scroll past an old article —
and just like that, your name means something you never agreed to.
But here’s what they missed:
While they were whispering,
I was working.
🧭 Reputation doesn’t get repaired by fighting online. It gets rebuilt offline.
I’ve spent months doing things no one’s bothered to ask about:
Organising second-hand phone donations for domestic abuse survivors Quietly helping young men clean up their social media history before job interviews Standing at community events handing out printouts explaining Subject Access Requests — not because I had to, but because I knew what it feels like when no one explains your rights
This wasn’t about proving anything.
It was about purpose.
Because if the worst version of me could trend —
then the real version better show up somewhere that mattered.
💡 I’ve taught people how to defend themselves against defamation.
I’ve sat beside people filing police reports they were too scared to submit alone.
I’ve helped people write takedown requests in their own name, even when their voice was shaking.
And not once did I ask for anything in return.
Because I remember what it felt like to have no one.
This isn’t image management.
It’s damage control — for others, this time.
The kind I wish someone had done for me.
📌 Here’s what I’ve learned from the ground up:
Rebuilding your name means rebuilding trust, not just your search result. Doing the right thing when no one’s watching still matters — especially then. You don’t need the media to validate you. You need people to witness you.
So let this be that record.
Of showing up.
Of doing the work.
Of refusing to disappear — no matter how many people hoped I would.
📎 The Full Archive:
⚫ The Black Files — Platform failure exposed
📂 The Public File — Evidence and action
🛤️ The Long Return — Surviving with strategy
🎭 Playback Series — Countering distortion
🟨 Not Just a Name (Current) — Reclaiming visibility, one post at a time
Truth & Advocacy By Calvin-Lee Hardie - Inverness 