Silenced By Design

In Evanston, Illinois, I’ve experienced firsthand how Non-Profits and other Corporate Entities use digital platforms—especially those that claim to serve the public—to systematically silence the truth and exposure of their failures to those they are supposed to serve. Whether it's reviews of Connections for the Homeless and McGaw YMCA disappearing from Google, or YouTube comments being shadowbanned on community-focused videos, it’s clear that this isn’t just an isolated incidence—it’s happening right here. When even local truths are filtered out of the conversation, we have a problem worth confronting. This essay documents what censorship now looks like in the digital age, and why every local voice should care.

There was a time when I legit thought that the internet was like a lifeline. A last remaining frontier for the unseen, the discredited, the marginalized, the exiled. We were told it was the great equalizer. It wasn’t. It's not. It became just another stage—another mask—for the same parasitic empire. Now, dissent is a filter setting. Visibility is a privilege, not a right. And your local Non-Profits are part of the censorship machine.
I know, because I’ve watched my voice disappear in real time.
Not in a dramatic ban. Not in a hostile takedown. Not even with an email. Just gone—soft-deleted from public view like it was never there. But I was there. I said it. I wrote it. I posted it. I remember.

Shadowbanning is the New Silencing Tool

While Google and YouTube lets me comment on entities such as Connections for the Homeless and McGaw YMCA of Evanston, only I get to see it. Google counts my reviews in the review numbers, but hides my review unless I am logged in. There is no profanity, no hate, no spam, just facts and truth. Truth apparently CFTH and McGaw YMCA and other Evanston officials don't want to be seen. The algorithm doesn't shut me down-it ghosts me. My speech is technically there, but is functionally erased. The platforms (Google & YouTube) will say it's a "glitch". They will say I violated some vague community guideline. But I've played this game long enough to know when I've been flagged as "inconvenient". Let's be clear: This is not content moderation-it's information laundering. And the worst part? They don't have to admit it. The internet is protecting corruption and malfeasance.

The Lunacy of Being Silenced Without Acknowledgment

It sometimes gets to me, it gets in my head. The silence. The lack of engagement. The absence of replies. The lack of validation. I start wondering: Did I do something wrong? Did I lose relevance? Am I just yelling into a vapid void? (Yes, yes, apparently I'm yelling into a void of controlled content). But then I check. I check again. I test. I test again. I log out, open a private browser-and there it is. Nothing. My comments are gone. My essays are wiped or covered up. It's not that people didn't hear me, it's that my words were never allowed to reach The People in the first place. This is a form of information manipulation and is a form of psychological warfare. I speak out about the injustices and expose the truths about organizations like Connections for the Homeless and McGaw YMCA, and the system and platforms pretends it never happened. Sometimes it leaves me questioning my own reality, while these types of organizations use the algorithms of censorship to hum along-sterilizing my thoughts, filtering my truthful accounts of first hand experiences and deleting the proof.

Platforms That Still Let You Speak (For Now)

While YELP and GLASSDSOOR are not entirely perfect, they at least have a system of protection in place against those entities like Conections for the Homeless and McGaw YMCA. A visible one: A review posts. A flag appears. I get notified of the "infraction" or "policy violation" and am given the opportunity to edit for compliance. There is at least transparency. Not digital sight-of-hand. Not like that which exists on Google and YouTube. Not like the rest of corporatized censorship machines wrapped in the illusion of free speech and free expression. They gaslight the masses through censorship. Fact. Period. They only exist to amplify the compliant and the complacent. And then they have the audacity to call it fair and balanced.

This isn't just happening to me, and if it is happening to you: You are not imagining things. You didn't get boring or irrelevant. You didn't get ignored. You got filtered out. Quietly and with a surgical precision. Without due process. A lot of people either don't or won't care about this. Some will likely not even believe it. And, there are those who will say "Who Cares?!" Well let me tell you, here is the danger: when a platform or platforms that work together with Non-Profits, Corporations or public figures and entities to control who gets seen, it controls what becomes truth. It controls what what is perceived as reality which dictates action or inaction. That is the real crime here - Non Profits like Connections for the Homeless and McGaw YMCA get to use these platforms to manipulate the facts and get to re-write the collective record by having truth and facts omitted from their online reviews. This is not content moderation. It is ideological grooming by seemingly paranoid individuals who want to control the narrative so they can keep profiting off of the backs of the marginalized. Philanthropy Theatre in a nutshell.

I Refuse To Vanish. I Refuse To Go Away!

And so, here I am. I am writing this essay with all the fervor I can muster in the moment. I doubt anyone will ever actually get to read this other than the gatekeepers, and this will likely never get to be read by The People, based on its content and based on its unapologetic truth telling. I will likely be filtered and wiped from public consumption. So much for the First Amendment. Let me also be clear: I am not writing this because I think it will go viral. I'm not that naive, nor am I an ego driven individual. I am also not writing this because I believe this platform is immune either, because it is likely not. I write to share my truth because I know it is what is right for society. I write because I refuse top let these types of people and organizations silence me. I will not let those who fear the truth and who fear necessary change and accountability try to convince me and others that my silence is best. I refuse to to let those with the power to dictate my worth or validity by cloaking my visibility and silencing my voice. I will not give Connections for the Homeless and McGaw YMCA the satisfaction of my surrender. I will not satisfy them with silence. I can only hope and pray that this gets seen and gets the visibility it deserves since it is truth and fact. I refuse to let them continue a narrative that I am the "inconvenient" one. I refuse to let them create false narratives where I am the perceived threat. I will speak up anyway, as much as I can. Not just for me, but most importantly for the next person they try to devalue and exterminate.