Essentially Samantha

  I already knew of Jason Arday. I knew his story — the autistic boy who didn’t speak until 11, learned to read and write at 18, and went on to become an academic, becoming the youngest Black professor appointed at Cambridge at just 37. What I didn’t know was what had been unfolding around him recently. I hadn’t followed the headlines or the scale of the public conversation. So when I heard yesterday that Jason had died at just 41, I started reading. And honestly, it was heartbreaking. Because at some point, online scrutiny stops being scrutiny. Jason’s family have described him as having endured a “campaign of sustained abuse” for more than three years and has asked for it to stop. But, when did being talked about publicly start meaning someone loses their right to be treated like a human being? The internet makes it feel like individual actions don’t matter. “ I only shared it.” “ I only commented.” “ I only made a joke.” But thousands of “onlys” still land ...