Written by By Celia Jacobs, CNN
My wife, among many others, used to be a private detective. It’s how they met and met our daughter, thanks to no more than a flashlight and a few months of detective work.
In those days, if I told a story, I had to do so in public. Public sources, that is. And sometimes that included living out of a suitcase and falling on everything that happened to someone in the dark of night.
A peek into this world isn’t uncommon with others in this line of work. In their path, they pass the story directly from detective to whistle-blower.
Now, if we share a secret no one else will, someone will connect the dots, email them a link to the source — the identity, if they’d like — who at some point has given their source — the identity, if they’d like — both trouble and a warning.
When we live in this world, everyone’s a whistle-blower.
-@RandiMattix on Twitter
Social identities
Ozoma Blew — who we’ll call Cissy — is the person I’m talking about. She’s also Cissy’s story — a sort of witness.
For those who don’t know Ozoma, she’s a woman with a strong social identity, a throng of fans and a straightforward and different personality than her public persona on social media. Before she created the beautiful Instagram profile above, she had more than 300k followers (and counting).
Then there was the “real Cissy.” One of them. There was no twin Cissy, just Cissy Blew, in her own distinct way.
There was one point.
‘It was a deep feeling’
In September 2016, around the same time people started creating public images that showed black lives matter, Cissy got a call from her ex-husband and legal guardian, Tracy Morgan.
It was a call that her friends also had to listen to. And they didn’t like it.
Bold, Bali trip Nothin’s better than Bali. This Indonesian wedding needs a Closer. Go to the wall. This image by @robyndrian would u wear? #mediapatlowall #experimentshop #thefaadjail #enhanceddistressed @homeboycogh_ @homeboycwa @homeboycoffee
Sometimes difficult to digest, the call was the first of a series of shocking and demoralizing events.
I’m not proud to go into detail here. It’s part of the story, it really is.
After the call Cissy, became an activist. She created and spoke at college and teacher conferences about the story that happened between herself and Tracy. One of those parts was the ending.
‘His life had been ruined’
On Wednesday, “Daily Politics” called to interview Cissy.
When I told her I’d be doing this in front of her, she seemed a little nervous, even uncomfortable.
A little…
“This is serious,” she said when I said we could roll the tape.
“When somebody passes you a sensitive file, where it is not a weapon, you’re in a legal situation, you have a whistleblower — they protect you, then they take you off the list, saying your job is now done.”
That night, the news broke on UK television where I live.
“I’m so scared. My husband’s been destroyed. I can’t believe it,” Cissy told me.
Her message was loud and clear: Be who you are on social media, not who you aren’t — even if it is you being protected.
To find out what they had to say about working in the private detective trade, go to Cissy’s site: