Singer-Songwriter, BROOKE HUMMEL Opens Up About Bullying, Her Anti-Bullying Campaign and The Inspiration Behind Her New Song, “Cruel”

Meet 16 year old singer-songwriter pop-stress, Brooke Hummel. As a young teen traveling through her high school years, Brooke has documented her struggles with bullies in a very raw, delicate, and personal new song. “Cruel” fleshes out every emotional bullying encounter she has faced and wrote a song to help others.

Photo Credit- Kenya B

Watch the video for “Cruel” here:

Along with this breathtaking and intimate song, Brooke will be hosting a “Stop, Block, Tell” teen summit in her hometown of Charlotte, NC next month. The intuitive event will allow local teens to tackle bullying head on with unique skits, poems, powerful talks, and more.

Brooke shared the following about her experience with bullying and why it’s so important to speak out against it today:

For me, being bullied was a lot more than someone excluding me from a group, or not liking me. It was the intense emotional hurt from people telling you that you weren’t going to be good enough or pretty enough and because of all of these things they said that was wrong with me  they told me they wanted me to die. I can remember countless times going out to my mom’s car after school, crying because people would scream things like “jump off a bridge brooke” or “kill yourself we don’t want you here” as I would walk thru the hallway. Not only was it in person but it was also online. ¼ kids suffer with cyberbullying every single day. Negative messages, tweets, DMs, and comments all make their way into the category of bullying.

With my bullying experience  I have found multiple ways of coping. One of my favorites (obviously) is through my music. My new song “Cruel” talks all about my experience as a victim of bullying. Not only can people relate to the feeling of being so down and alone, but some may even experience thoughts of suicide.  In my song I talk about the initial feelings and stages of bullying, but in the end there is a very big breakthrough and empowering moment where I come to the realization I don’t have to be what they say I am.

From my point of view, the best thing you can do for bullying is to not let that person control your happiness. Letting them see that they made you upset is letting them get what they want, and that is to hurt you. No matter how difficult it may seem to keep your head up in front of them, you have to in order for them to know that they aren’t winning against you.

Nobody should have to go thru this alone. Talk to either a parent, grandparent or friend. Anyone who you can tell what’s happening and express your feelings so you don’t have to suffer in silence. Along with my anti-bullying campaign, there is “stopblocktell.org”.  Here you can find helpful tips, a video explaining bullying and how it effects others, help and resources, along with ways to get in contact with me and the team.