Is there such a thing as “good trouble?†Absolutely, said best-selling author Luvvie Ajayi Jones during the opening general session, which kicked off PLA 2022 on Wednesday morning (Mar. 23). Ajayi Jones began by telling the audience that from a young age, she had the tendency to speak up – and it wasn’t to be disrespectful, but rather to defend herself. “I was the kid who got in trouble for her mouth,†she said. “Growing up I was little, so I had this complex that just because I was small, I didn’t want people to take advantage of me. I can’t help myself not to say something when I feel something isn’t right.â€
Her latest book, Professional Troublemaker – The Fear Fighter Manual, became an instant best seller and raised the question, what is a troublemaker? “Professional troublemakers are the people that commit themselves to elevate the rooms that they are in,†said Ajayi Jones. She continued, stating that troublemakers are the disruptors, those that challenge the people that they love and those that start hard conversations. “It’s not negative – we live in a world that’s deeply unjust and has a lot of broken systems,†said Ajayi Jones.
An example she gave the audience was the late Congressman John Lewis, who she said, “dedicated himself to making good trouble.â€
The plan had been to become a doctor. But a challenging chemistry class led her to rethink that dream, and start on a new path. As a college freshman, she started a blog that documented her undergraduate years. “This blog gave me the practice and love of writing outside of school,†she said. “It brought out the love of writing, just talking about my life.†Then after graduation, she deleted that blog and started a new blog where she captured her thoughts about the world as she saw it. But writing was still a hobby, something she’d do when she came home from her marketing and communication jobs. Then…her blog started winning awards. “I was writing for me, as if no one was reading,†said Ajayi Jones. And people were connecting with it, because she was saying what they were thinking, without them having to say it.
Ajayi Jones has been told that she’s fearless, because she speaks openly and may not hesitate to be direct. But, she said, she’s not fearless. “As my blog and career grew, I started lying to myself,†she explained. “I kept telling myself that I was not a writer. I was afraid to call myself a writer because I didn’t live up to it…the fear of the unknown that came with writing. I was afraid to take the leap that I was supposed to take.†It took being laid off that led her to face the truth. “It was not until 2012 that I started calling myself a writer,†she said. “I think about how fear keeps us from doing our purpose. In the rooms that we are in, how are we leading with fear?â€
What does a troublemaker do? They make an impact in the rooms that they are in. But it is easy to be too afraid to speak up. She explained that there’s always someone afraid to speak up to say or do what would be considered difficult. Ajayi Jones discussed some reasons that we may hesitate to speak up, which included feeling that it’s not in our department, the hesitance to ruffle feathers, or the feeling that you’re always the one speaking up.
“The impact we can make in the world starts with the people in the room with us,†she said. “If we don’t use our influence on them, then who are we using our influence on. I think about what’s on the line when I decide to speak up and do something difficult.â€
We often hesitate to act because we’re afraid to put ourselves at risk. “We build up our fears into big dragons and we end up being silent about important things,†said Ajayi Jones.
She encouraged the audience to think about these three questions when you’re hesitant to speak up:
- Do I mean it?
- Can I defend it?
- Can I say it thoughtfully?
Then, Ajayi Jones added, ask yourself, “Will my silence convict me? Will you be proud of your inaction? I never want my silence to convict me, because I’ll beat myself up.â€
Ajayi Jones closed by thanking the audience. She spoke about her experience going to the library every Saturday to check her email. “You are enabling the knowledge – at a time when history is being erased because they don’t want people to feel bad,†she said. “Libraries are very important to me; as a writer and life-long nerd, lover of reading – the things that you challenge and insist on are changing lives. The access that you are allowing people to have is transformative.â€
Ajayi Jones stressed the need to stand up in uncomfortable moments. “I want us to normalize the fear of uncomfortable moments,†she said. “You are going to be afraid, but what I think fearless means is I am not letting my fear do less.†Courage, she explained, is a habit that we build. “I think we make choices to be courageous,†she said. “Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t show courage. Commit to being courageous moving forward.â€
Ajayi Jones’ next book, Rising Trouble Maker – A Fear Fighter Manual for Teens, will be out in May. â–
