25 - From Under One Rock...

"I just don’t believe that when people are being unjustly oppressed that they should let someone else set the rules for them by which they can come out from under that oppression."

               -Malcolm X


       Oppression can be a bottomless pit. Constantly falling, failing, fighting. No matter the amount of effort, small whiffs of success or relief are swept away by the tornado of stigmatizations. When one seeks oppression refuge, it would make sense to want complete separation from their old oppressors. New laws and acts created by a government or group, however, often set forth this liberation. This is a confounding idea, going from under the suppression of one group to a regulated “liberation” under another. Malcolm X struggles with this concept, noted mostly in his statement, “I just don’t believe that when people are being unjustly oppressed that they should let someone else set the rules for them by which they can come out from under that oppression.” It is a bewildering concept to say the least, supposedly being liberated, only to be placed under restrictions (less than before, but restrictions nonetheless) by a secondary group. This can be shown as the case in the establishment of the United States in 1776.


       The original 13 British colonies in eastern North America were a happy group in the early times of colonization. However, over time, the English government began to see the colonies as less of a people and more of a bother, less of an extension of Britain and more of an economic or commercial revenue source. In essence, the American colonists were greatly oppressed by the English government. With the independence in 1776, one would assume that the colonists, having just come from an oppressive government, would be free and individualistic. Quite the opposite happened: the colonists allowed elites of their population to join together and create new laws and government for the new nation. Essentially, the colonists emerged from under one type of oppression, and then immediately began to regulate their freedom. This perfectly feeds into Malcolm X’s point: as this new population is budding, its progress should not be immediately stifled by new oppressive regulations, when that is what it is trying to leave behind.

24 - Catchphrases are not Superheroes

"Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions"

               -Edward Murrow

       In a world of upheaval and resistance at every turn, the global population is searching for solutions. Problems with the globe and its people alike have pit civilization against itself in a winless tug-of-war with no end in sight. This endless war has led to a worldwide search for answers fueled by desperation. Out of this search, Edward Murrow points out a flaw when he states, “our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions”. His concern is that out of desperation, the population will latch itself onto an idea that is really just a tagline, not a true solution. Casted by blindness, the population will mistake this catchphrase for a working solution, when in reality it is another coy for power and publicity. This storyline is shown to be the case with one instance, Donald Trump’s presidency and campaign promises.



       Donald Trump arguably won the US presidential election in 2016 because he was an outsider. People connected with him because he wanted to “drain the swamp”, boost jobs, increase the military, and “make America great again”. That was his campaign slogan- “make America great again”; but that was all that it was, simply a slogan. His catchphrase, mind-hooker, tagline. “Make America great again” is not a solution, though many people affiliated his tagline with a true solution of fixing America’s problems. Trump’s campaign was full of these little sound bites that hooked the public’s ear, soothing them into a false sense of security that he was the magical antidote to all of their problems. In reality, the public elected a reality-TV show host, a coy businessman, a glorified toddler with an ego the size of Mount Kilimanjaro, a racist and sexist fool, not a president. The public allowed an ignorant, egotistical racist to become the commander-in-chief of the United States, therefore not living up to their individual obligations to “not mistake slogans for solutions”.

23 - Truth is Powerful

“Truth is powerful, and it prevails”

               -Sojourner Truth

       The truth is a powerful idea. The concept that one idea trumps all others in its category due to its supposed undeniable certainty is extremely influential. In a similar way, this dominant idea always rises to the top over other ideas. These two philosophies of ideological certainty and superiority are illustrated by Sojourner Truth when she said, “truth is powerful, and it prevails.” This is especially the case when it comes to, coincidentally, Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman”, but this idea is now in question due to the claims of our current political administration.



       Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech, delivered in 1851, is recorded in two very different ways. One rendition was published in the Anti-Slavery Bugle shortly after Truth gave the speech. This rendition is very formal and grammatically correct. However, there is a second rendition that was recounted by an individual years after Truth first gave it; this time, Truth is quoted as using a very thick African-American English dialect. Though both versions greatly contrast, there are some similar themes. Both accounts describe Truth holding up and referring to the strength in her arm, as well as references to intellect and intelligence. Because of this, we can find truth in the fact that in her speech, Truth spoke of these few things. In that aspect, the truth of what she said is “prevailing” over other unsubsidized claims.

22 - Who Killed Her?

I listened to the first episode of Serial, called “The Alibi”. I was excited in the beginning because I love murders and mysteries; I had read them since elementary school. Starting in about second or third grade I started with Encyclopedia Brown, and progressed on from there. Therefore, I went into this with high expectations. If I am being honest, it was dreadful. I am excited by the mystery and thrill of murders and investigations, but the politics of this story drive me up a wall. The game of “he said, she said” annoys me to the very core. You either remember or you don’t, and the farther from the time of the crime, the worse the recollection is. This is the storyline of “The Alibi”: a high-school girl, Hae Min Lee, is murdered and the police later arrest her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. He has a shotty recollection of the night, and is basically convicted on the case of one “witness” testimony from a teen named Jay. Family and friends of Adnan blame the defense lawyer and claim that she intentionally lost the case in the interest of getting more money for the appeals. The defense claims to have a witness that could exonerate Adnan, but now 15 years later, the case is too far gone. In essence, the episode ends in a “cliff-hanger”, for the story continues throughout other episodes. This was the cherry on top of the dread for me- I would have to continue through this ping-pong of politics to find out the final answer. However it ends, I hope the correct person is convicted, for I will not be pursuing the matter past the end of this paragraph.



https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/1/the-alibi