What is Truth?

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...

For my blog post this week, I wrote a parody of the opening song in Hamilton, “Alexander Hamilton,” based on the early life of William Miller, the originator of the Millerite movement. I wanted to know: what in the world happened in Miller’s childhood that traumatized him so much that he felt compelled to create an “end of the world” movement as a part of his ministry? And why did people believe him? In the wise words of Busta Rhymes , “Hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal.” So what’s the truth about William Miller? Let’s use rap to find out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lights up on CAPTAIN MILLER, SR. and WILLIAM MILLER, mid-conversation. The rhythm picks up, echoing the cadence of Hamilton . COMPANY stands at different levels on construction scaffolding, resembling a partially built church chapel. Spotlights hit ea...

I can remember being 12 years old. Middle school was a rough time in my life. I was constantly comparing myself to others and seeking attention from those I found admirable. I cannot imagine being the eldest of ten siblings, likely receiving zero attention at home from my parents, with no TV, iPad, or even school to keep me busy. I can see why Ann Putnam, Jr., one of the “afflicted girls” in the Salem Witch Trials, engaged so fervently in her courtroom accusations—the simple fact of being 12 years old in a world that did not see her. Last week, I explored the hysteria about alleged “witchcraft” in Salem Village, Massachusetts. This week, I decided to research one of the accusers, Ann Jr., a young woman involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Her story confirmed for me a sentiment I expressed in my previous blog article : “...even widely disseminated, commonly held beliefs can be untrue.” Ann Putnam, Jr. was born in 1679 to a wealthy family that had lived in Salem for four generations. Gi...

        One of the first few topics in my quest for truth is the hysteria surrounding alleged witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts, in 1692. After reviewing the YouTube video and History.com article provided for class, I began to wonder: how could this falsified narrative, created by teenage girls, become the fuel for a series of trials that led to the wrongful death of nineteen people in Salem?           Our class discussions first challenged my commonly held beliefs about witchcraft when I realized that the insights shared by one of my peers were indeed accurate. I was surprised to learn, after reading this Vice article , that a common feature of the witch’s uniform, perpetuated in the media—a pointy, black hat—originated from beer sellers in the marketplaces of the time. The “alewives” were women wh o brewed beer at home as part of their domestic duties.           I found this interesting ...