I Survived Extreme Bullying - Suede Brooks - storybooth Stars

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Do you all know who Suede Brooks is? If you don't, you should, and if you hadn't, you will, because Suede is an amazing young woman with a huge heart and deep soul who has overcome tons of challenges to start her journey as a rising star - all the way to the very top! She's a social media influencer, a Vlogger, a fashion & beauty enthusiast and expert, a model, and a seriously powerful activist for anti-bullying. And, all of this just as she turns the corner on 18 years old.

But, getting to where she is now wasn't easy, especially given where she started. When Suede was eleven years old she was severely bullied - not mildly, or sometimes, or for a few weeks, but really and truly bullied in the worst ways.

Every single day she would wake up in fear, not wanting to get out of bed, afraid for what the day at school would bring, who was going to pick on her, how badly would she get bullied, would her classmates try to beat her up? Not only was she scared about what each day at school would bring, but also, and simply, that it would just never stop - to her, there was no real end in sight.

But when she was twelve years old everything got even more intense, more real, and more severe. The bullying got to the point where Suede had to file restraining orders on kids at school, and law suits against others, just to protect herself. Her feelings were being truly crushed by these mean kids at school, and at the end of the day, she needed to do whatever was necessary to protect those internal feelings - of self worth and confidence and calm - or else risk her very life.

Things had escalated to the point where she was so unhappy and alone feeling that she would lock herself in her room for twelve hours a day, not eating or drinking, not talking to her mom and dad, and just sitting in her sadness.

This behavior didn't help and eventually, because she was feeling so awful about her life, and her self, she stopped taking care of herself, and even began to hurt herself in real ways.She became so self conscious and fearful - she didn't want anyone to see her, didn't want anyone to talk to her or even look at her. She felt overwhelmed and intimidated by everything and everyone. Even when she could avoid the bullying on any given day, still, these dark feelings stayed with her.

With nothing else to do, and tired of just wallowing, she started making YouTube videos, and she liked it. She mad her first and posted it, then her second, third, fourth, and so on, and, to her surprise, people really liked it. She started gaining subscribers and people began coming back and getting familiar with her. It was an escape for her, but there was more in it than that.

When subscribers and viewers found out she was only fourteen, that's when her young audience really took off - she was becoming recognized, and people were listening to her. She realized she had a voice, and once she saw that she also realized that she had a point of view, an important one. And, she also started earning money from her videos, which was really empowering.

Suede realized then that she could do much more than just earn a living on social media and YouTube, she could tell her story so that other young girls and boys, and the LGBTQ community know that they too can have a voice, and that people will listen!

Suede has launched a popular Instagram channel, her YouTube channel is growing fast, and she's a successful model and voice for change. She doesn't have solutions for bullying, but she dose know that all those who have been bullied must use their stories and experiences and voices to help others.

Suede has learned that the only way to light up a dark room is to strike a match - you cannot remove the darkness in any other way than to bring in the light.

Go check out Suede's amazing YouTube channel!    / msftxgypsy  

And her Instagram:   / suedebrooks  

If you're ready to take a stand against bullying, visit http://www.boo2bullying.org/

Inquiries for Suede Brooks, please contact [email protected]
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If you liked this storybooth animation watch our themed playlist collections:

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https://goo.gl/89enEN

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Embarrassing and Funny:
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Bullies and Mean People:
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Overcoming Challenges:
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