Back in June, General Hospital star Tabyana Ali took to social media to clap back at some racist trolls who were posting hateful things about her online. Shortly thereafter, the soap itself defended the young actress and declared: “Racism has no place in Port Charles.” Now, Ali has penned a column for Deadline, in which she opened up about the whole experience.

“No one told me I had to maintain a social media presence,” she wrote, “but in this era of the industry, it certainly feels like there’s an unspoken expectation to maintain a presence. Social media allows you to help build your brand while giving fans an opportunity to relate to you by sharing a glimpse of your life.

“I first found out about the trolls from another cast member who was sharing their own experience with online bullying and explaining why they have their social media platforms set up the way they do,” Ali continued. “Eventually, I got my own taste of it. It started out with the small things at first, but it got progressively worse and eventually resulted in racially charged and life-threatening comments that were incredibly hurtful and damaging.”

Although the actress initially didn’t give too much weight to the anonymous comments, that changed over time. “Eventually I started having self-esteem issues that led to me to start questioning my self-worth,” Ali confessed. “I would see comments suggesting that because I’m Black, I’m not as attractive as my on-screen counterparts and that I shouldn’t be in an interracial relationship. They said that my value and talent didn’t compare.”

After speaking with a friend who had also been through a similar situation with online bullying that caused her not to like herself anymore, Ali was stunned. “I couldn’t believe she would say anything like that,” she revealed. “I had always viewed her as exuding grace and confidence, with a magnetic energy. I started to feel like god was putting a mirror in my face and showing me how silly I was to be surrendering to the people hiding behind their computer screens.

“Even with all the accomplishments I had made in my career and beyond, I still accepted the negative comments as some part of the truth,” Ali added. “It took some months of letting go of the narrative and accepting that I’m not mediocre, that I’m beautiful, that I have value, and that I am talented. I look in the mirror now and wonder why I ever questioned that in the first place.”

Once she was in a better place mentally, Ali went public. “I decided to say something because I was witnessing other soap stars, friends, and castmates deal with hate, bigotry, and racism online and I wanted to take a stand,” she explained. “I wanted the trolls to know that I see them and not just ‘I see your comments’ but I see your ‘pain’ and that online hate isn’t the way for them to be seen.”

Grateful for the support she has received from ABC, GH, castmates, and friends, Ali now urges other actors not to take these kinds of comments personally. And as she did back in June, she advocates kindness above all. “Don’t stoop to their level,” she declared. “That’s what the haters want. Don’t give them the satisfaction.”