What is Truth?

Her phone rang. Bank’s calling. When she answered, they had all the important information: her address, account information, everything you could think of. But when the people who showed up to pick up her debit card spent $10,000 of her saved funds that day, she knew she had been scammed. His friends planned a senior year pre-graduation getaway. The house had a pool, a real pool! Paying the fee upfront was one small cost for an incredible experience, and they were willing. It had to be legit—the owner of the place showed them his ID. But when they arrived at the spot, “This is not for rent,” is what they heard. The “owner” lied. And the website they used to rent the place wasn’t even close to Airbnb quality. Their money? Gone. Her grandpa has a kind heart. So when her cousin called asking him for money, of course he sent the cash. He would never withhold necessary funds from someone he loves, especially not his nephew! Unfortunately, though, the person on the other end of the phone wa...

“We're stuck in a reality that is based on our perception,” said one of my survey respondents during my 20-question truth interview with her. Her comment made me think: what are times in my life when reality wasn’t based on the truth, but instead on someone’s perception of the events? And the first image that popped up in my head? This pair of clear pink scissors: Since I learned what colors were, pink has always been my favorite. In first grade, our classroom had a shared bucket of scissors. It was only natural that the pink ones were the only ones I would agree to use.  But another little girl in my class loved these pink scissors as much as I did. Her name was Kayla. I am not sure what series of events led to this point, but one day, Kayla and I found ourselves fighting over this pair of highly coveted scissors. It was a fair fight. And somehow, Kayla’s little hand got cut in the scuffle. Immediately, she ran crying to the teacher. “Lydia cut me!” And that was it. The next thing...

“Me? Well I’ve been a thief since I had baby teeth.” These iconic words, spoken by Charlie Croker when introducing himself in The Italian Job , made me think back to when I had baby teeth. At six years old, deep into the first grade, I was swindled for the first time. Her name was Victoria Jarmon. The most popular girl at my elementary school, soon-to-become second- and third- grade class president, she was a pretty normal kid. With big brown eyes, long dark brown hair, and a family so large I lost count (she had about seven siblings, I think), middle-child Victoria had a face and personality that could convince just about anyone. So, when she finally revealed one of her proudest accomplishments to our class, it made sense that she would be believed. One day, during free time, she announced to us all: she was Selena Gomez’s little sister. It was too good to be true! Selena. Gomez. Disney Channel star. Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place. Lead singer in Selena Gomez & the Scene...

The conspiracy theory I chose for this week’s research is the death of Jeffrey Epstein. For a conspiracy to hold its title, it must involve two or more people, some secret action, and a motive, as explained by Karen Douglas in a LiveScience article . However, they also often have an extra element: an exciting, new explanation or belief. I’ve heard the phrase “Epstein didn’t kill himself” more times than I can count. So, I thought, why not explore it? On August 10, 2019, at 6:30 am, inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City (NYC), Jeffrey Epstein, an inmate, was found dead (Wikipedia) . Epstein was a prominent figure in the American business world and was a convicted sex offender and alleged trafficker. In a previous incident months before he died, on July 23, 2019, Epstein was found with injuries to his neck, semiconscious inside his cell (Wikipedia) . His cellmate was cleared by the prison of any involvement in Epstein’s injuries, but their origins remain contested....

Turns out, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) raid in 1993 was not the first time Mount Carmel—what the Branch Davidians affectionately called their home near Waco—was under siege. While casually browsing their Wikipedia page on a random Wednesday (as one does), I came across a detail we had not discussed in class: David Koresh was the leader of a siege before the siege. But first, a quick recap. Before he was David Koresh, he was Vernon Wayne Howell, a bullied kid with a lonely past who arrived at Mount Carmel in his early twenties. Howell barely had time to learn everyone’s name before he began an affair with Lois Roden and challenged her son George’s claim to the Davidian throne. After both Lois and her husband, Benjamin, died, George inherited power. Once Davidians, now members of the town of “Rodenville.” Howell wasn’t having it. He left, his loyal band of followers by his side, leaving the Rodenites to fend for themselves.  In a desperate bid for...

Laughter is a universal language. While watching Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , our class communicated in that intrinsic mother tongue at specific moments of irony, embarrassment, or just plain humor. In many of the film’s moments, I found myself chuckling when a character would say something and the punchline of the joke landed slowly, like at the beginning of the film when Freddy Benson (the American hustler) sat across the table from a wealthy lady and cited his grandma as “the one who taught me it is better to be truthful and good… than to not.” As a class, we were thrown into a fit of giggles when jokes were made at another’s expense. For example: When Lawrence Jamieson (a British con artist) descended into an extended allegory about being a bad painter and recognizing his own limitations, but concluded his story by telling Freddy, “You are a moron.” When Janet Colgate opened the door to “Dr. Emil Schaufhaussen!” (Lawrence), as Freddy watched in complete shock. When Lawrence asked Fred...

What does “innocence” really mean? Is it the absence of guilt? Childlike naivety? A person’s chastity? Or is it racism in disguise, a microaggression where Black and brown people are blatantly cast into the role of “guilty” or “impure” before we’ve had the chance to speak? I am used to being cast as the villain, onstage and off, because of my outspoken nature. Whether I’m performing or simply existing, the “angry Black woman” stereotype hangs on me like a chain I never agreed to wear. And though I recognize I carry a boldness that others covet, I cannot help but feel, ever since I was a little girl, that I will never get to be the “innocent” victim or the pure-hearted heroine. After all, even when giving the world its first animated Black princess, Disney relegated Tiana to life as a green frog for the majority of her film. Black women are always the sassy sister, the wise grandmother, or the fierce executive; never the girl-next-door, the damsel in distress, or the “pure” love intere...