TikTok Told Me I Lack Integrity. Here’s What They’re Really Trying to Ban.

From 1.5% to Censored: The Link Between Silencing Black Men in Schools and on TikTok

Let me tell you the first words I saw when I opened TikTok today:
“You may lose your account.”

Nothing insults my intelligence more than an accusation of inauthenticity—especially when I’m dissecting issues like the Epstein files, or the systemic defunding of public education, or the fact that Black men make up just 1.5% of public school teachers in this country.

Let that sit.

We’re living through a moment where the need for Black male educators has never been more urgent—and yet the systems that marginalize those voices are the very same ones policing platforms like TikTok. My content exists to bridge that gap: to move beyond surface-level takes and speak the researched truth about power, race, and justice.

And now, after six years on this app, the pattern is clear. The suppression isn’t random; it’s targeted. I’ve received two community guideline strikes in two months—both citing “inauthenticity,” both centered on Donald Trump. First about Charlie Kirk, now about the Epstein files. My critique, it seems, is breaking the camel’s back.

Two things can be true at once:

#1: Trump’s administration removed the smoke screen around TikTok, twisting its arm into becoming an extension of American and Israeli propaganda.

#2: TikTok has always censored marginalized voices—like mine, like so many others speaking truth from the margins. This isn’t new. It’s just newly weaponized.

They’re waiting for a third strike. And when the topic is the silencing of Black male perspectives—in the classroom or on your timeline—the loss isn’t just about an account. It’s about another engine of truth being shut down.

This work is powered by people, not corporations. Your support isn’t just appreciation—it’s resistance.

I’m waiting on an appeal now. Will I win? Will I not? Either way, the message is clear: they’d rather ban a Black man speaking truth than tolerate a system being held to account.

But we keep going. Beyond their strikes. Beyond their silences.

Regardless of that appeal, this moment has crystalized something for me. It’s a screaming reminder that I need to be fiercely intentional about building my community outside of these compromised, traditional spaces. Spaces being reshaped by fascism. By Trump’s regime.

2.8 million followers. Six to seven years of building. All of it, in jeopardy. Over what? Over my so-called lack of integrity?

My heart is filled with integrity. My pores seep authenticity. What the hell are they even talking about?

This takes me right back to 2020, when I first had major trouble with TikTok. The white supremacist oppression of my platform was so blatant, it caught the eye of Forbes. Shout out to Ashlie Preston at “Forbes The Culture”, who interviewed me about exactly this—about how TikTok suppresses and censors particular voices.

Consider this Substack article a reminder: Yes, Trump is uniquely fucking things up right now. In many ways? Some of this shit was already fucked. The censorship on TikTok didn’t start with his presidency. It’s been there.

I appreciate what TikTok has done for my career, however it’s been a tumultuous relationship.

A lot of folks get lost in the sauce on the First Amendment. That freedom is from the government, not from private corporations. That’s the loophole. That’s how TikTok, Meta, all of them—get away with the bullshit. They’re private entities. They can do what they want.

Let this be your friendly, urgent reminder: Go find your favorite content creator, your favorite truth-teller, on Substack. Follow them like yesterday. These other apps? They’re crumbling. The lies are bare.

Remember how Cory Booker and the Democrats spent all of 2023 telling us TikTok had to be sold? A threat to national security? Chinese data mining?

The whole time, they were helping the state of Israel do every single thing to American citizens that they accused China of doing.

Did y’all ever read the fine print of these updated community guidelines? PLEAASE DO!

I’d argue that the forced sale of TikTok proves that “democracy” was always a smokescreen. A curtain for the elite to do what they want. They needed private entities to act on behalf of the empire—the so-called “number one democracy” in the Middle East and its partner—to make sure dissent was always, always curbed.

Too much Free Palestine.
Too much anti-colonial sentiment.
Too much Fuck ICE.
Too much Donald Trump sucks.

1. They had to do something about it. They couldn’t get the cooperation they wanted from the old TikTok, so they had to buy it. Oracle owns the shit now. Here we are.

I learned something getting my degree in human relations: Too often, the very laws and community guidelines created to “protect” are the same ones weaponized against the oppressed. Against minority communities. Against the truth-tellers.

Education is elevation.

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This Is Why We’re Here: Research Over MeSearch

That’s the core of what I’m building over here. Research Over MeSearch is my project dedicated to cutting through the noise with rigorous analysis on the education, politics, and news that shape our world. In an era of overwhelming misinformation and under-reported crises, I provide the context and clarity you need.

The stark reality? Black men represent only 1.5% of all public school teachers in America at a time when public education, especially for Black students, faces systematic defunding and politicized attacks. My content exists to dissect these urgent issues, moving beyond surface-level takes to deliver the researched truth.

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The landscape of education is a battleground. From the eradication of Black history curricula to the diversion of public funds, the very foundation of equitable opportunity is under threat. Research Over MeSearch dives deep into the data, history, and policies behind these trends—topics too often sidelined by mainstream media. Drawing on my experience as an educator and researcher, I connect the dots between policy, politics, and the classroom to arm you with knowledge.

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This is my stand. This is our space.

I actually have some wonderful things—this entire mission—for my community. My kinfolks. My neighbors right here on Substack.

I promise you, y’all don’t want to go nowhere.

I’m not a rapper. I wrote a song. It’s becoming the theme song for everything I’ve got in store for you, especially here.

Do this for me: Tell a friend to tell a friend. Find Research Over MeSearch. Search my name on Substack.

Look what they’re doing over there on TikTok. 2.8 million followers, potentially gone. All in the name of “authenticity and integrity,” enforced by people who wouldn’t know either if it bit them.

Middle finger to Donald Trump. Kick rocks Elon Musk. Free Palestine.

The lines are drawn. I know which side I’m on. I’m building here, with my people. Building a platform that can’t be bought, silenced, or algorithmized away.

You’re ready to move beyond the mess and commit to the research, you’re home.

Subscribe today. Let’s build a more conscious, informed, and equitable future—together.

Yours, for the long haul,

Education is Elevation