Voices and Visions - Spring 2020

Voices and Visions

Art and Writing from the Middle School Spring 2020

Zoë Holmes ‘24

Editor: Stephen Hatfield ‘24 Faculty Advisor: Marsha Kleinman Layout and Design: Diane Giangreco Visual Arts Teacher and Curator: Joelle Francht 8th Grade, Class of 2024 7th Grade, Class of 2025 6th Grade, Class of 2026 5th Grade, Class of 2027 4th Grade, Class of 2028 Cover art: Gemma Siry ‘25

Voices and Visions

Art and Writing from the Middle School VOICES: Madison Bartie ‘26 Shea Branigan ‘24 Zoe Chen ‘26 Emma Choy ‘24 Lauren Chung ‘26 Katie Chung ‘24 May Cotter ‘26 Luis Crespo ‘24 Jocelyn Engel ‘24 Carl Flocco ‘25 Stephen Hatfield ‘24 Tyler Ho ‘26 Max Huang ‘24 Mila Huang ‘26 Kellen Ievers ‘24 Julia Jacobson ‘24 Mauritz Knagge ‘26 Evan Koserowski ‘25 Teddy Krenteras ‘24 Andy Liu ‘26 Julian Mathew ‘26 Sam Naughton ‘26 Serena Nguyen ‘26 Ethan Offei-Addo ‘26 Dwij Patel ‘24 Slater Sackman ‘26 Caio Santagata ‘26 Ivi Sluis ‘24 Eli Solomon ‘24 Hudson Stovall ‘24 Raymond Xu ‘25

Note from the Editor:

VISIONS: Seline Abdulhayoglu ‘28 Georgia Aitken ‘28 Viraj Bansal ‘24 Matthew Bonarti ‘24 Eliza Bishop ‘28 Noah Cesareo ‘28 Milagros Carbajal-Diaz ‘24 Zoe Chen ‘26 Emma Choy ‘24 Daniel Chung ‘27 Katie Chung ‘24 Caroline Corbett ‘24 Stella Coviello ‘28 Alec Delgado ‘24 Mason Ewing ‘28 Pierce Finkle ‘25 Lindsay Fouché ‘25 Sebastian Gonzalez ‘24 Helena Hejna ‘28 Allison Hobbs ‘24 Yaelin Hough ‘24 Max Huang ‘24 Zoë Holmes ‘24 Kellen Ievers ‘24 Lila Jung ‘24 Kurt Kiang ‘28 Willow Killebrew ‘25 Daniel Kim ‘27 Teddy Krenteras ‘24 Kaavya Krishnan ‘24 Rowan Kuick ‘28

Chelsea Lee ‘26 Madison Lee ‘28 Hanna Levine ‘24 Andy Liu ‘26 Ellery Nowak ‘26 Sophia Ochs ‘28 Charlie O’Hara ‘26 Damian Polanskyj ‘27 Caroline Piccolo ‘25 Evan Pratt ‘27 Shreya Ramesh ‘28 Teddy Salzman ‘28 Orly Sedransk ‘24 Sadie Shapiro ‘25 Olga Shandarivska ‘24 Joonkyu Shim ‘28 Gemma Siry ‘25 Eva Sluis ‘26 Ivi Sluis ‘24 Ashley Slutzky ‘28 Ella Somaiya ‘24 Otto Spehar ‘24 Maggie Stanford ‘25 Ella Szilagyi ‘28 Atyana Thomas ‘27 Imanuel Udofia ‘24 Nahlia Udofia ‘26 Elizabeth Wager ‘28 K. J. Wade ‘28 Kitty Williams ‘24 Osias Williams ’24

Voices & Visions is a literary and artistic display of the hard work and determination of MKA’s finest.

Throughout the publication, masterful art and writing are presented through a creative and innovative perspective. As the editor of this magazine, I want to personally commend each and every writer and artist for the truly remarkable pieces that were produced. MKA teaches its students the importance of technique and building upon skill, and this year’s edition of Voices & Visions proves that the faculty did an exceptional job. The literature and art selected were far more advanced for this age group than I have previously encountered. The writers and artists chosen fully displayed mastery in their respective fields, while also incorporating their own emotional, entertaining, and humorous styles. It has been an immense pleasure to read and see everything that was accepted for publication. MKA’s Spring 2020 issue of Voices & Visions represents and acknowledges all of the hard work and devotion that the writers and artists engaged in throughout the year, but especially during our time of quarantine. I was both inspired and awed by the thoughtful work, and I know you will be, too.

Enjoy!

-Stephen Hatfield ‘24

Ivi Sluis ‘24

Kellen Ievers ‘24

Katie Chung ‘24

Caroline Corbett ‘24

Imperfections They might be Smaller, Bigger, Shorter, or Taller But it doesn’t mean you act differently to people You don’t know what someone’s going through Your place is to sit and not judge You keep them afloat when they’re about to sink The person you called too skinny and unhealthy They’re battling an eating disorder The person you called overweight Their parents just split and that’s their coping mechanism

Chelsea Lee ‘26

That’s how they express themselves When they say “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” They’re lying: people have different tolerances and different boundaries They don’t always have thick skin You might, but know that once those words have left your mouth Who knows how they’re going to deal with it?

You’re just a bully.

-May Cotter ‘26

What’s Your Race?

Are you Native American?

No. Are you Hispanic?

No, I’mLet me guess.

Okay…

Are you Asian?

No, why would you think that?

You have small eyes.

That’s just a stereotype.

So, what are you?

I’m African American.

What? You don’t look African American. Are you sure?

Zoë Holmes ‘24

-Madison Bartie ‘26

“The Puritan Law and Justice System Under the Lasting Impacts of Religious Beliefs” Katie Chung ‘24 Religion, its practices, and its beliefs significantly influenced the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s law and justice system. During colonial times, ambitious worshippers dreamed of forming a colony that would fulfill their religious needs. These colonists came to be known as Puritans: English protestants who immigrated and formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As a colony that was developed primarily for religious purposes, Puritans’ lives were restricted by regulations created by the church. Increase Mather, a Puritan clergyman, established one of the community’s most prominent principles: “That excesse in wickedness doth bring untimely Death.”1 Citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony lived by this ideology throughout their entire lives, striving to veer away from sin. In other words, the Puritans were an extremely devout group of colonists who greatly valued their religious practices and applied their beliefs to all aspects of their lives, especially their law and justice system.

Puritan religious beliefs greatly affected the relationship between their community and government. During colonial times, each colony had individual practices and traditions. These beliefs typically caused subtle changes in the colony’s law and justice systems. In the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, however, their practices did not merely reside in the church - instead, they controlled the entire government. Changes stemmed from the principal reason of the Puritans’ colonies: to form godly communities of devout believers, and conduct worship in churches cleared of “irrelevant” ceremonies.2 In order to achieve this ideal society, the civilians incorporated their ambitions into their law and justice system. Thus, many of the government’s leaders prioritized religion as their prime concern. Leaders observed society’s religious needs and promptly passed regulations regarding their practices. Another Puritan ideology was that God assessed people as a community, not just as individuals, and so it was necessary to eliminate sins.3 This further pressured the government into reinforcing “God-fearing behavior.” In their eyes, one individual’s act of blasphemy could determine the entire colony’s doom. This feeling of impending disaster urged the government to maintain a pious civilization; as a result, authorities constantly scrutinized civilians’ behavior for potential impiety. In short, the Puritan law and justice system went through countless modifications to adapt to the community’s religious needs.

Puritan laws were specifically designed and modified to conform to religious priorities. Seeing that the Puritans desired a colony that pleased the Lord, laws became effective tools for administering unholy conduct. One such law restricted the entrance of new colonists into the religion-oriented community: colonists who wished to join were required to receive permission from the General Court.4 To 1 Increase Mather, The Wicked Mans Portion, 1675, sermon title page in Christine Leigh Heyrman, “Puritanism and Predestination,” National Humanities Center, last modified January 2008, accessed November 18, 2019, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/puritan.htm.

2 Kevin Butterfield, “Puritans in Colonial Virginia,” Encyclopedia Virginia, last modified July 17, 2014, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Puritans_in_Colonial_Virginia.

3 Leslie Patrick, “Crime and Punishment in Colonial America,” Infobase, last modified 2017, https://online.infobase.com/HRC/ Search/Details/2?articleId=207920&q=crime%20and%20punishment.

4 Tim McNeese, “The Pilgrims’ Legacy,” American History, last modified 2007, https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/2?articleId=358246&q=puritan%20.

obtain approval from the court, they underwent examinations to confirm that they were faithful, practicing Puritans. The anticipated result was to form an extremely religious colony without potential sinners; according to the Puritans’ beliefs, a “perfectly” spiritual colony determined the Puritans’ road to Heaven and eternal life.

Another regulation was one that concerned the “proper” upbringing of young Puritans. Children were considered a prominent part of the society - after all, the youth were the next generations responsible for conserving their strictly Protestant population. If parents of a child were recognized for committing irreligious crimes, the court would remove the child from their current family.5 Although splitting families may have seemed unnecessarily harsh, this was a measure Puritans were willing to take as compensation for a family’s unholy acts. This unwavering acceptance of sacrifices was one of the colony’s most salient - and infamous - traits. Puritans were not afraid of passing laws solely dedicated to the advancement of their religion.

Puritan religion impacted the government’s identification of crimes and misdeeds. In the process of maturing as a community, it was vital for the court to have clear guidelines on what actions were deemed official “crimes.” Because of the colony’s emphasis on religious morality, most crimes were sins against God. Some crimes were only valid during certain situations - such as crimes during the Sabbath, an especially sacred period of time. Examples of violations against the Sabbath were excess work, smoking tobacco, picking fruit, brewing beer, and intercourse.6 These normal actions seemed unusual when labeled as crimes; but to the Puritans, these actions may have been death sentences to the entire community. As a result, the government categorized sinful behavior as crimes to lessen God’s wrath against His worshippers. One of the most notorious crimes was the use of witchcraft. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was incredibly famous for its persecution of “witches.” Witchcraft was viewed as a devilish lifestyle, making it one of the worst atrocities in Puritan villages.7 Thus, hatred of devils encouraged authorities to recognize witchcraft as a major offense - not only in religion, but in the government as well.

This desire to please God impelled officials to perceive numerous sins as crimes.

As destruction of the soul was a grave fear for the Puritans, they believed corporal punishments were warranted and considered necessary. Although fines were still implemented in the Puritan punishment systems, corporal penalties proved to be more effective.

It was conventional knowledge that physical consequences left a more memorable impact on criminals, discouraging them from repeating blasphemous crimes.8 This understanding encouraged the government to develop a discipline system revolving mainly around physical consequences rather than financial. It was in the Puritans’ best interest to prevent their citizens from sinning. Other than the ultimate penalty of death, the following were additional corporal penalties: whipping, scarring, maiming, and amputating the wrongdoer’s body.9 At first glance, these punishments seem to contradict the Bible - was it not wrong to murder others or inflict physical harm upon one’s “neighbors”? Surely the Puritans did not forget such an important command in the Bible? Indeed, the Puritans did believe murder and maiming of others was immoral; nonetheless, they justified their 5 John A. Grigg, “The Puritan Family,” American History, last modified 2019, https://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1340012?terms=puritans&sTypeId=2.

6 Grigg, “The Puritan.”

7 Tom Head and David B. Wolcott, “Introduction: Crime and Punishment in America,” Infobase, last modified 2010, https://online. infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/2?articleId=195489&q=punishment.

8 Patrick, “Crime and Punishment.”

9 Patrick, “Crime and Punishment.”

brutal retributions with the conviction that God approved of them, and that He would have done the same.10 No matter how gruesome a punishment was, Puritans “rationalized” their decisions with what they assumed were God’s motives.

Public shame was another concept promoted and exploited by the Massachusetts Bay Colony government. Humiliation, an emotion that no one was fond of, was an attempt at reformation for felons. Similar to corporal punishments, public shame was intended to discourage delinquents from returning to sinful habits. Careful thought and design went into creating punishment devices specifically for the criminals’ embarrassment. Stockades were one particular device used primarily for public shame. Not only did they cause discomfort by locking the delinquents in place for long periods of time, but they also humiliated them in front of large crowds.11 Using this sadistic method, penalties like stockades incited shame in the “immoral.”

Since embarrassment was a feeling avoided by most, Puritans expected fewer people to commit religious felonies. An additional rationalization for public shame was the effect on the spectators. As long as large audiences swarmed to witness punishments, they too would dread the possible consequences of sacrilegious crimes.12 This analysis enabled the Puritans to discern the natural, human fear of public shame. Once they acknowledged the effect of humiliation on both audience and criminal, the Massachusetts Bay Colony used it for religious purposes. Therefore, public shame became a useful tool for restricting unholy behavior.

In Puritan colonies, religion induced discrimination in the government. Traditional beliefs caused certain social classes, jobs, and genders to receive different treatment. To the Puritans, this sense of separation was never discrimination; rather, it was believed to be God’s plans for the community and its citizens. For instance, priests were immune to certain penalties of the law.13 Out of all the Puritans, priests were understood to be the closest to God and the Heavens. If they held the most intimate relationship with God, it was only natural for them to receive special privileges - seeing that God favored them, why should they be punished? Unsurprisingly, many priests took advantage of their exemptions by using them for personal gains. Sexism, inequity between genders, was another common type of discrimination. According to Puritan traditions, women were weak and easily seduced by the devil.14 This sexist belief had roots in the Bible: Eve, a woman, had been tricked by Satan to eat the forbidden fruit before Adam. Sexism from religion can also connect to the Salem witch trials, as most convicts were women. Discrimination, unjust treatment of different groups of people, was one of the many governmental consequences of religion.

The basis of the Puritans’ government was built from their religious beliefs and traditions. A close relationship with God and avoidance of impiety were two main ideologies that influenced the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s justice system. As the colony’s government grew and advanced, its community contributed their beliefs to more powerful officials. Soon, officials designed laws and identified religious crimes according to the church’s practices. New laws began considering corporal punishments for wrongdoers and 10 Brandon Lyles, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

11 Patrick, “Crime and Punishment.”

12 Rebecca Stefoff et al., Colonial Life (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2008), [Page 24].

13 History.com Editors, “The Puritans,” History.com, last modified October 29, 2009, accessed October 29, 2019, https://www. history.com/topics/colonial-america/puritanism.

14 Frederic Stowell, “Puritans and Fear in a Frontier Culture,” American History, last modified 2019, https://americanhistory.abcclio.com/Search/Display/1948570?terms=puritans&sTypeId=2.

implementing public shame as a method for preventing additional sins. Alas, discrimination also became a common issue in the society’s systems; specific groups of people received disadvantages and advantages depending on the Bible’s views. All of these factors supported the great impact that the church has had on the Puritan government. Ultimately, it was religion and its principles that governed the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s entire law and justice system.

Bibliography Butterfield, Kevin. “Puritans in Colonial Virginia.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Last modified July 17, 2014. https://www. encyclopediavirginia.org/Puritans_in_Colonial_Virginia.

Grigg, John A. “The Puritan Family.” American History. Last modified 2019. https://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/ Display/1340012?terms=puritans&sTypeId=2.

Head, Tom, and David B. Wolcott. “Introduction: Crime and Punishment in America.” Infobase. Last modified 2010. https://online.infobase. com/HRC/Search/Details/2?articleId=195489&q=punishment.

History.com Editors. “The Puritans.” History.com. Last modified October 29, 2009. Accessed October 29, 2019. https://www.history. com/topics/colonial-america/puritanism.

Lyles, Brandon. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Mather, Increase. The Wicked Mans Portion. 1675. Sermon Title Page.

McNeese, Tim. “The Pilgrims’ Legacy.” American History.

Last modified 2007. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/ Details/2?articleId=358246&q=puritan%20.

Patrick, Leslie. “Crime and Punishment in Colonial America.” Infobase.

Last modified 2017. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/ Details/2?articleId=207920&q=crime%20and%20punishment.

Stefoff, Rebecca, Linda Jacobs Altman, Kathryn Hinds, Martin Kelly, and Melissa Kelly. Colonial Life. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2008.

Stowell, Frederic. “Puritans and Fear in a Frontier Culture.” American History. Last modified 2019. https://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/ Search/Display/1948570?terms=puritans&sTypeId=2.

Andy Liu ‘26

Questions of People How tiny are we?

The world is massive, And people are just tiny specks.

How big are we?

The world is full of atoms, And people are just giants.

How advanced are we?

We build cities and buildings that touch the sky.

We make objects that bring death with them.

How bad are we?

The world is full of people, And people are capable of terrible things.

How good are we?

The world is full of people, And people are capable of magnificent things.

Allison Hobbs and Kaavya Krishnan ‘24

How can we?

We must put all things behind us in order to live.

Our race, gender, age, beliefs, and situations Don’t make us bad or unworthy people.

We must realize we are all one species; We are all people.

Salty after Sweet Salty after sweet The green crunches neat Under my tongue Waves roll But not just one Can it be possible That this could exist In a world that is so different?

I want to explore To find this treasure Looking deeper Stopping, never I want to feel What the crunch has seen From this little snack That is all too green.

- Sam Naughton ‘26

-Ethan Offei-Addo ‘26

Lindsay Fouché ‘25

10 Haikus The story Witness,

The feared Johnny Reeves,

book of mystery.

leads himself to death.

written by Karen Hesse, a

a part of the KKK,

A story of hatred,

Merlin Van Tornhout,

but persisting through.

but chose to be right.

filled with racism and fear,

forced to poison Sutter’s well,

1924,

Merlin was accused

the Ku Klux Klan moves in.

but Merlin was framed.

in a small Vermont town,

They were vindictive,

of slaughtering Mr. Hirsh,

nobody was safe from them,

Reeves was the culprit, Leanora knew the truth,

crimes each day occur.

Merlin’s fate was hers.

The protagonist,

At night, at the well,

Leanora Sutter,

a

they both locked eyes with each other,

twelve-year-old black girl.

both filled with terror.

There is Esther Hirsh,

She did the right thing,

who lives on a farm.

now the KKK is gone.

a six-year-old Jewish girl,

Otto Spehar ‘24 and Osias Williams ‘24

saved Merlin’s life from jail,

-Zoe Chen ‘26

“North American Colonialism’s Religious Divide” Eli Solomon ‘24 North American colonialism involved much religious divide. Colonies were formed on the basis of religious beliefs and practice, and most colonial governments were pious and intolerant.

This type of narrow-minded sectarianism was reflected in the way these governments and their corresponding citizenry worked to the disadvantage of nonconformists. Religious conformity was strictly enforced in North American colonies, and the resulting social and political impacts had a negative effect on religious minorities.

Many New England colonies implemented laws and systems of government to prevent followers of different sects of Christianity from practicing their religion or residing in those colonies. The targets of this victimization were often small, avant-garde denominations not previously known in Europe. One of these denominations, frequently referred to as Quakers, were persecuted throughout New England by law enforcement through physical torture and exile.1 Hostility curtailed the observance of Quaker religion, as most of its followers either converted to the official religion of the particular colony in which they lived or fled their colony with the objective of forming a new colonial establishment curated specifically to the Quaker religious community.

In any case, the epidemic of persecution in New England reached far beyond Quakers. In colonies such as Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut, any citizen who abstained from conformity to Puritanism faced lawful consequence for their dissent—which frequently took the shape of death by hanging.2 Through these harrowing punishments and targeted oppression, New England was able to effectively terminate the observance of outside religions within its colonies.

New England governments were theocratic to some extent, and thus used their power to maintain conformity and uphold a particular system of religious belief. In most New England colonies, all government officials were constituents of Puritan clergy, and it was their duty as clergymen to use their political power to enforce religious observance. John Winthrop, a member of the Puritan clergy, became the first governor of Massachusetts Bay and was critical to the establishment of New England Puritan theocracies like Connecticut and New Hampshire.3 John Winthrop was one of a multitude of clergymen who aided in the formation of theocratic governments all through New England, with the objective of achieving total religious conformity. These governments were able to maintain conformity through victimization. Law enforcement oppressed nonconformists in minor ways such as restricting voter rights, as well as more severe ways such as torture or deportation.4 In this way, the government was able to largely confine religious practice to Puritanism.

While most colonies did not outlaw every non-dominant religion, the vast majority of colonial governments upheld laws restricting the practice of certain faiths. In colonies where one preexisting religion was already prevalent, burgeoning flocks and other religious minorities were seen as a disruption to their functioning society and were therefore persecuted. Eight out of thirteen British 1 Tom Head, Freedom of Religion (New York, NY: Facts on File, 2005), [Page 42].

2 Facing History and Ourselves, “Religion in Colonial America: Trends, Regulations, and Beliefs,” Facing History and Ourselves, last modified 2019, accessed October 1, 2019, https://www. facinghistory.org/nobigotry/religion-colonial-america-trends-regulations-and-beliefs.

3 Richard S. Dunn, “John Winthrop,” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, last modified August 16, 2019, https://www.britannica. com/biography/John-Winthrop-American-colonial-governor.

4 Facing History and Ourselves, “Religion in Colonial,” Facing History and Ourselves.

colonies had official faiths and churches, and individuals who practiced different religions or refused to observe the official one were disciplined legally.5 The penalties for dissent were numerous and ranged drastically in severity; hence, few dissenters practiced their faith publicly, if at all. Even colonies widely known for their tolerance of all religious observance maintained narrow restrictions.

In one of these colonies, Virginia, it was a felony to hold a Roman Catholic mass—this offense was punishable by death.6 All of these legal restrictions on religious practice conveyed a rather demoralizing notion: any individual who chose to practice a religion other than what was already dominant in the light of the public was subject to legal consequence regardless of where they lived or where they fled to.

Religious minorities simply could not escape persecution.

The various punishments used to enforce religious laws were extremely harsh and had lasting negative effects on the nonconformists subjected to them. Some of these punishments left many families motherless or fatherless. In Virginia, all religious offenses were penalized by hanging until death.7 Families of the dead were owed no reparations from the government, and they would oftentimes be left without a steady income to meet their basic needs. Ergo, consequences for committing the crime of dissent extended past the death of an individual and straight to their families. In other parts of North America, punishments for religious crimes were draconian and repugnant. New England churches integrated a series of severe corporal punishments into their system of religious laws, including cutting the ears off of Quakers or whipping Baptists.8 Due to the handicapping nature of these punishments, victims were often impeded from hunting and working in the fields, which made providing for their families a near impossibility. Much like Virginia, consequences for dissent and heresy in New England had a direct impact on the victim’s family, making it extraordinarily difficult for families to practice minor religions openly without risking significant loss.

Nonconformists often took a significant financial hit in colonies with a singular established religion due to a series of religious taxes imposed upon them as a form of punishment, as well as a lack of access to financial services provided by the state Church. Virginia’s House of Burgesses was composed entirely of Protestants and also possessed total authority in terms of tax law. Exploiting their hegemony, the House of Burgesses passed a law declaring that dissenters were required to pay higher taxes to the colony’s Protestant Church than most commoners as retribution for practicing their own faith.9 Because the House was and could be made up solely of Protestants, nonconformists were not able to change the tax law, and the Virginian government continued to work against them. The injustice persisted as nonconformists were denied access to a fund maintained by the Church of England which helped pay for medical care,10 despite the fact that their taxes made up a large part of the fund’s fiscal resources.11 The aforementioned incidents of unjust taxation serve as exemplars of a governing body that works against religious minorities.

Judiciary practices unfair to religious minorities were 5 Facing History and Ourselves, “Religion in Colonial,” Facing History and Ourselves.

6 Patricia Chilton, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

7 Chilton, interview by the author.

8 Facing History and Ourselves, “Religion in Colonial,” Facing History and Ourselves.

9 Chilton, interview by the author.

10 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The Anglican Church in Virginia,” Colonial Williamsburg, last modified 2019, accessed November 10, 2019, https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/religion/ religiondfn.cfm.

11 Chilton, interview by the author.

consistently exercised. Older and more widely practiced faiths were able to use the law as a weapon with which to disrupt communities of nonconformers, even if they were practicing in a colony established specifically for their religious practices, as was the case with Maryland. A bill of law called “The Act Concerning Religion” allowed for individuals who practiced any denomination of Christianity to be accepted into Maryland citizenry, so it acted as a safe haven for heavily persecuted religious groups, especially Roman Catholics (by whom it was established). Protestants soon took over Maryland’s government and did away with the Act, effectively outlawing Roman Catholic religious service despite the fact that Maryland was a Catholic colony.

While the Catholics were able to take the colony back in 1657 and restore the Act, Protestants overthrew Maryland’s government yet again in 1689 and permanently rid it of the Act Concerning Religion.12 Similar unjust religious law practices took place in Virginia. Court proceedings almost invariably favored Protestants in cases involving religion due to its Protestant government, court system, and law enforcement.13 Unjust treatment was inescapable—even a colony established and governed so as to provide a peaceful livelihood for all denominations of Christianity was insufficient in the effort to escape religious persecution.

While dissenters faced grievous legal consequences for the practice of their religion, they also faced difficult social consequences, such as repudiation. Due to Virginia’s fairly lenient laws with respect to religious practice, minorities practiced more openly than they did in neighboring colonies. As a result, these minorities often had to form separate communities within their respective towns and cities because Protestants refused to fraternize with them.14 This reflected tensions between Virginian religious groups. Some minorities fled to Virginia from colonies in which they were being persecuted, only to uncover yet another hostile environment (despite the fact that most of this hostility was stemming from the Protestant community rather than the law). Because of this plight, some dissenters and religious groups only practiced their faith behind closed doors.15 These instances were rather infrequent (in view of the aforementioned lenient laws), but they still manifested an aura of intolerance and bigotry surrounding Virginia. Said aura was visible throughout the rest of colonial society as well. In fact, by the mid-1800s, religious ostracization became a regular practice throughout North American colonies.16 In addition to oppression that occurred through government and law, religious nonconformists experienced hatred and prejudice through their daily interactions with their community. This made their efforts towards a nonviolent, tranquil life doubly difficult.

Governments and media spread negative propaganda in regards to religious minorities, which affected how they were held in the public eye. This agitprop was spread through multiple means, including artwork, lists, and the press. The “Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations with a Briefe Rehearsall of Their False and Dangerous Tenents” is a work of art that appeared in a Virginian newspaper in 1647.17 It is drawn up as a 12 Queen, Edward L. “Religion during the Colonial Period.”

Encyclopedia of American Religious History, Fourth Edition. Facts On File, 2018. Accessed October 1, 2019. online.infobase.com/Auth/ Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=194992.

13 Chilton, interview by the author.

14 Chilton, interview by the author.

15 Chilton, interview by the author.

16 Pyle, Ralph E., and James D. Davidson. “The Origins of Religious Stratification in Colonial America.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42, no. 1 (2003): 57-76. www.jstor.org/stable/1387985.

17 Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and o\ther Nations with a Briefe Rehearsall of Their False and

list of religions that incorporate “false and dangerous” beliefs, and each item on this list is accompanied by a derisive, prejudiced artistic representation of that religion. As previously mentioned, governments also worked to mislead the public about religious minorities. They attempted to forward the notion that dissenters and nonconformists were threats to the order of society and religious law.18 Because this disinformation was fed to the public by a trusted and magisterial source and outside sources of news were limited, the conforming public gave credence to their government’s deceitful headlines.

Colonists were expected to follow the dominant religion of their respective colony, and the consequences for not doing so, both social and political, had an adverse impact on religious minorities.

These nonconformists could not reap the benefits of the freedoms and quality of life that all the other colonists were able to enjoy. The unjust and prejudiced lawmaking and justice systems of North American colonies and their religious citizenry oppressed nonconformists, and in doing so, worked against the struggle for peace and unity amongst colonists. Only when governments and communities began to accept and tolerate religious minorities and nonconformists and put an end to the longstanding hatred for these groups of people that had been rooted deep within the colonial populace and government were they able to form a peaceful society.

Bibliography Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations with a Briefe Rehearsall of Their False and Dangerous Tenents in the Thomason Collection. 1647. Pen on Paper. Dissenting Experience.

Chilton, Patricia. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “The Anglican Church in Virginia.”

Colonial Williamsburg. Last modified 2019. Accessed November 10, 2019. https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/religion/religiondfn.cfm.

Dunn, Richard S. “John Winthrop.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Last modified August 16, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/JohnWinthrop-American-colonial-governor.

Facing History and Ourselves. “Religion in Colonial America: Trends, Regulations, and Beliefs.” Facing History and Ourselves. Last modified 2019.

Accessed October 1, 2019. https://www.facinghistory.org/nobigotry/religioncolonial-america-trends-regulations-and-beliefs.

Head, Tom. Freedom of Religion. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2005.

Pyle, Ralph E., and James D. Davidson. “The Origins of Religious Stratification in Colonial America.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42, no. 1 (2003): 57-76. www.jstor.org/stable/1387985.

Queen, Edward L. “Religion during the Colonial Period.”

Encyclopedia of American Religious History, Fourth Edition. Facts On File, 2018. Accessed October 1, 2019. online.infobase.com/Auth/ Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=194992.

Dangerous Tenents in the Thomason Collection, 1647, pen on paper, Dissenting Experience.

18 Facing History and Ourselves, “Religion in Colonial,” Facing History and Ourselves.

The One to Watch I’m the one to watch The start of the show The only problem is It’s for the wrong reasons I am watched Not because of who I am But because of who I am People not seeing The bigger picture Of ME Only what they want To see.

I hate the stares The constant looks All because You think I’m a crook?

I’m not ashamed It’s more just pain

When the teacher looks And guesses your name “Devonte?”

No, Ethan I say.

But that doesn’t matter Because it goes on anyway.

The color of my skin Has everybody on the E D G E. Like you and I Don’t say the same Pledge.

So I ask this Yet again Please acknowledge ME. -Ethan Offei-Addo ‘26

Allison Hobbs ‘24

Teddy Krenteras ‘24

Lila Jung ‘24

The Chair I stand on the tile floor Daydreaming about what will happen Sometimes the smell can get Unbearable, but I’m forced to do nothing These beings are weird They make unusual noises I can’t understand Sometimes there can be No light for hours or days at a time I am used as a coat hanger Or a desk when the purpose serves I wonder When can these legs rest?

-Tyler Ho ‘26 Emma Choy ‘24

Acrostic Poem Raucous Aggressive Nutty Great Electric Rambunctious Super Fanatic Amazing Naughty Screaming

Osias Williams ‘24

-Caio Santagata ‘26

“The Impact of Native Americans on Colonial Food Culture” Julia Jacobson ‘24 When colonists arrived in America, the first thing they needed to do was learn to survive in their new environment. Food was one of the most important ingredients necessary for survival.

Colonists arrived in America without much prior knowledge of what foods they would find there. Luckily, people were already in America who knew what to do. Although colonists had an opinion of Native Americans that was disdainful at best, Native Americans shared important knowledge of agriculture and cooking with the colonists that helped the colonists survive and thrive in their new surroundings. Despite a rocky relationship, colonists’ interactions with Native Americans were crucial in shaping colonial food culture because Native Americans introduced them to new foods and farming practices that helped them adapt to the New World.

Relations between colonists and Native Americans were difficult because the colonists thought they were superior to and did not need to learn from Native Americans. Colonists had a very defined idea of what was “good,” and anything that went against their ideas of what was the right thing to do was nearly impossible for them to understand. For this reason, they had difficulty relating to Native American cultures and ways of life.1 Adrien van der Donck wrote about his inability to understand native people living in America, saying, “In food and drink, even on their feast days, the Indians are not excessive, spendthrift, frivolous, or lavish, and easily contented so long as they have something to keep body and soul together and satisfy hunger and thirst. Nor is it customary among them as it is with us that the highest-placed, noblest, or richest expects to be treated accordingly and better than a poor devil or a common man, but always and everywhere their food and drink are sufficient and, according to season, the same for all…”2 This was very different from the attitude of colonists, who thought that it was good to have luxurious feasts and that the rich and poor should eat different food. The two people’s inability to understand one another, combined with the lack of a common language, made getting along difficult and sometimes impossible.

Differences of opinion were not the only problems that colonists and Native Americans faced when trying to coexist.

Colonists’ animals also created tensions between colonists and Native Americans. When the colonists arrived in America, they brought with them domestic animals such as cows and pigs, which they permitted to run loose. The animals destroyed Native American crops, and when Native Americans killed the animals to stop this damage, colonists grew angry.3 This only made matters worse. Colonists believed they would never get along with Native Americans, and for this reason, they considered it important not just to be the most powerful people on the land, but to do so without help. Even though several of the crops they were used to farming were far more difficult to grow in America, colonists consistently refused the help that Native Americans offered. Colonists did not want to learn from Native Americans unless they were truly desperate.4 Soon, however, hope for a peaceful relationship would 1 Sandra L. Oliver, Food in Colonial and Federal America (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005), 8.

2 Adriaen van der Donck’s A Description of New Netherlands, translated by Diederick Goedhuys Snow, Dean R., Charles T. Gehring, and William A. Starna. In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives about Native People. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996.

3 Oliver, Food in Colonial, 8.

4 Oliver, Food in Colonial, 8.

appear.

There were some Native Americans whose help the colonists accepted and whose advice proved to be transformational.

One such friendly face was Squanto. Squanto was an Algonquian who had been taken to Britain years before and had learned English there.5 This common language made it easier for him to be trusted by colonists and for them to accept his help. Once they did, Squanto became an important link between colonists and native peoples, teaching colonists Native American methods for planting corn, beans, and squash.6 These became staples of the Native American diet, and once colonists were introduced to and accepted these foods, they quickly permeated colonial food culture. Soon enough, these three foods found their way into several popular colonial dishes. Squanto also taught colonists ways to maintain their crops and keep them healthy, such as teaching colonists the way Native Americans had learned to fertilize corn: by burying a fish with each cornstalk.7 Squanto ensured that not only would the colonists have an easier time finding food, they would also have an easier time growing it. Before Squanto’s help, colonists risked starving if a food shipment was late. With his help, colonists became more self-sufficient. Squanto’s crucial contributions not only helped colonists to survive and affected the foods they ate, they also helped to bridge the wide abyss between colonists and native peoples in America.

Native Americans introduced colonists to new and unfamiliar foods that changed the face of American cooking permanently. Because colonists were far from Britain and America’s climate was different, several of their favorite staple foods were much harder to access. Apples were just one example of British foods that were harder to come by in America. Since apples were harder to find, colonists replaced them in pies with Native American pumpkins.8 Replacing their staple foods with new ingredients was a way of distancing colonists from Britain as well as paving the way for new colonial specialties. To that end, perhaps the most important food that Native Americans introduced colonists to was corn. Corn grew better in the colonies than English staples such as wheat, barley, and oats.9 Without corn, colonists would have had to wait for British supply ships to bring grains. Thanks to corn, a substitute grain was accessible to everyone in the colonies. The biggest impact of corn, though, was its affordability. Corn was cheaper to grow than wheat because colonists could grow more corn on less land.10 The convenience and affordability of corn benefited everyone, from the farmers who needed to grow it to the families who needed to purchase it. Corn soon became the colonists’ number one grain, and it found its way into many a colonial dish. Substitutions of Native American staples lessened colonists’ dependence on British shipments, and these foods also changed colonial cooking for good.

Learning to accept these new foods was only part of the 5 Lila Perl, Slumps, Grunts, and Snickerdoodles: What Colonial America Ate and Why, illus. Richard Cuffari (New York: Clarion Books, 1975), 19.

6 Perl, Slumps, Grunts, 19.

7 Oliver, Food in Colonial, 9.

8 Paula Marcoux, Daily Life and Material Culture in U.S. History, Themes in U.S. History (n.p., 2018), https://online.infobase. com/Auth/Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=358068.

9 Oliver, Food in Colonial, 10.

10 Teal Brooks, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 24, 2019.

battle. Colonists also had to learn from Native Americans how to farm these foods in the American environment. With colonists far from British peas, beans were a useful substitute. Colonists learned from Native Americans an incredibly simple method for growing beans: using corn stalks as poles for the beans to climb.11 This straightforward system saved time and space. With better knowledge of how to grow beans and corn, colonists became more capable of adding these foods to their diet. Sure enough, dishes containing beans, corn, and cornmeal became popular on the colonial table. Ways to grow food were not the only things Native Americans taught colonists. Native Americans taught other survival skills, too: how to make syrup by tapping trees, how to effectively fish and hunt, and, perhaps most importantly, how to make cornmeal.12 This significantly increased the number of foods that the colonists were able to produce on their own, further lessening their dependence on British food shipments.

Where there is farming, there must be cooking, and Native American influence on cooking practices were quite evident in the colonial kitchen. Occasionally, colonists would prepare Native American dishes they found familiar. A particular favorite was succotash, a dish of the new native foods corn and beans, which colonists thought was similar to European pottages.13 Its similarity to a familiar dish helped its case, so it was easily adopted by the colonists and created a way of understanding the new foods colonists had been introduced to by Native Americans. Adopted dishes like these helped to create a new food culture that was different from the British food they already knew. While cooking Native American dishes, though, colonists also tried to find ways to make Native American food more British. For example, colonists took Native American pone, a small cornmeal cake cooked in the ashes of a fire, and attempted to turn it into a raised loaf of bread by adding sugar, salt, milk, and yeast. When their attempts literally fell flat (due to corn’s lack of gluten), they returned to baking flat pone but kept in the ingredients of milk, sugar, and salt. Rather than cooking it in ashes, colonists decided to bake it on a griddle, and johnnycakes were born.14 These became a colonial staple. They were not quite colonists’ own invention, but they still differed from the dish that inspired them. They were something brand new. In this way, Native American dishes became new colonial specialties.

Native Americans and colonists had a very strained relationship, but Native Americans contributed greatly to colonists’ food culture by opening colonists’ eyes to new cooking and farming practices. They helped colonists figure out how to make the most of the foods native to their new surroundings. In doing so, they made it easier for colonists to survive. They also helped colonists become independent from Britain by lessening their reliance on food shipments. Native Americans also introduced new dishes using these staple foods to colonists. These dishes became adopted into colonial cuisine and forever intertwined themselves with British food to make a food culture all the colonists’ own. Native American contributions to food culture were crucial in helping colonists survive and thrive in America.

11 Perl, Slumps, Grunts, 25.

12 Deborah C. Taylor, Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition, 3rd ed., Encyclopedia of American History (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005), https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=212442.

13 Oliver, Food in Colonial, 10.

14 Perl, Slumps, Grunts, 30.

Bibliography Brooks, Teal. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 24, 2019.

Oliver, Sandra L. Food in Colonial and Federal America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005.

Adriaen van der Donck’s A Description of New Netherlands, translated by Diederick Goedhuys, Snow, Dean R., Charles T. Gehring, and William A. Starna. In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives about Native People. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996.

Marcoux, Paula. Daily Life and Material Culture in U.S. History.

Themes in U.S. History. N.p., 2018. h t t p s : / / o n l i n e . i n f o b a s e . c o m / A u t h / Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=358068.

Taylor, Deborah C. Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition. 3rd ed. Encyclopedia of American History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. h t t p s : / / o n l i n e . i n f o b a s e . c o m / A u t h / Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=212442.

Perl, Lila. Slumps, Grunts, and Snickerdoodles: What Colonial America Ate and Why. Illustrated by Richard Cuffari. New York: Clarion Books, 1975.

Charlie O’Hara ‘26

E llery N ow a k ‘ 2 6

Z o e C he n ‘ 2 6

E va S l u is ‘ 2 6

Grape In front of me lays an ellipsoid object with a green, semi-opaque, fleshy inside, and a purple, firm, yet smooth, outside.

It’s very cold

5 senses of skiing Feeling skis scraping the snow.

Seeing nothing but whiteness.

Smelling the icy air.

Hearing wind pass me.

and hurts my teeth, but the fruit remains so sweet, so I will still eat nature’s valuable treat.

Tasting salt on my ski mask.

-Madison Bartie ‘26

-Mauritz Knagge ‘26

Ella Somaiya ‘24

Kaavya Krishnan ‘24

Kitty Williams ‘24 in-progress

Orly Sedransk ‘24

“The Vital Role of Hessians, Black Loyalists, and Native Americans in the Revolutionary War” Stephen Hatfield ‘24 Three groups of people: Germans, enslaved black men, and Native Americans participated in the Revolutionary War for various reasons. During the 18th century, many Germans immigrated to Britain, and British Loyalists sought to use this to their advantage for their armies. Many of these German soldiers ended up living in the colonies after the Revolution. Similarly, Lord John Dunmore of Virginia released a Proclamation in 1775 addressed to black enslaved men in order to aid his military forces. Sir Henry Clinton expanded upon Dunmore’s ideas in his own Pittsburgh Proclamation, which he thought would entice black men to ally with the Loyalists even more.

Following the Revolution, most black Loyalists immigrated to Nova Scotia, where they tried to live out the rest of their lives in peace.

Native Americans were not very fond of the colonists, and they had a strong trading relationship with the British. However, these indigenous people did not end up receiving the economic benefits that they wanted after the war. German mercenary soldiers, enslaved black men, and Native Americans fought in the Revolutionary War for very personal reasons, which affected their social and economic standing, but each situation did not result in the desired outcome for these groups of people; in fact, they did quite the opposite.

German mercenary soldiers, also known as Hessians, fought for the British army during the American Revolution because they received a substantial salary after each day of working for the service. Hessians had no real interest in British politics or government.

Surprisingly, however, during the American Revolution, many Germans immigrated to Britain, and the population rose immensely.

This increase in people greatly benefitted the British armies, as they were lacking troops and needed everything that they could get for the battles against the Patriots. To enhance their likelihood of winning the Revolutionary War, various princes of Britain hired German mercenary soldiers to be in their armies, with an astounding daily salary of $1.25.

Approximately 30,000 mercenary soldiers were sent to the small state in Germany of Hesse-Cassel. Here, a ruler of the region trained them. This location gave the German troops the nickname Hessians.

Although they were trained well, they expressed no interest in the war and did not fight competently.1 After the Revolutionary War, the Patriots captured many Hessians and imprisoned them in the region of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They were incarcerated here because this area primarily spoke German, and it was located far away from the battles of the war.2 Between 40% to 50% of these soldiers did not return to Britain or Germany after the war. Sometimes, they did not return because of casualties from the war, which resulted in death, but around 3,000 Hessians grew quite fond of America and wanted to stay.3 Many were intrigued by the opportunity of freedom and independence.

Like the Hessians, enslaved black men fought for the British during the Revolutionary War. They allied with the Loyalists because, in order to increase their chances of victory, the British offered black men who fought on their side freedom from their enslavers. However, it 1 Dennis Wepman, “The American Revolution and After: 1776–1813,” in Immigration, American Experience (New York, NY: Facts on File, 2008), https://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/2?articleId=202993.

2 “Hessians,” American Battlefield Trust, accessed December 1, 2019, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/hessians.

3 “Hessians,” American Battlefield Trust; David Head, “Hessians,” Mount Vernon, accessed December 1, 2019, https://www. mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ hessians/.

was a little more complicated than saying that if one were to fight for the Loyalists, they would instantly be freed; several factors came into play when joining a side during the war. Lord Dunmore’s “Proclamation” in 1775, stated: “... I do hereby all indentured Servants, Negroes or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty’s Troops as [soon] as may be ...”4 In the Proclamation, he only offered freedom to able, enslaved black men if they abandoned their Patriot-masters to fight for Dunmore. If an enslaved person and their owner were both already on Dunmore’s side, they could not earn freedom for participating in the war. It was both complicated and compelling. Around eight-hundred black men went to fight for the British cause after the Proclamation was released.5 These numbers significantly improved the chance of survival for the Loyalists during the war. Unfortunately, the black soldiers were treated poorly in the army, and the Loyalists gave them more physical work than white soldiers. Nevertheless, Dunmore did keep his promise after the Revolution, and the remaining enslaved black soldiers in the army were freed from their enslavers.6 Be that as it may, Dunmore never wanted to help enslaved black men; he never desperately needed them for his army.7 He wanted to turn the men against their enslavers that supported the Patriot cause.

Dunmore believed that black Loyalists could not only damage the Americans physically but also from the inside out. He thought that turning black enslaved people to the Loyalist side would damage their social and economic systems. By encouraging slaves to flee, Dunmore believed the colonists’ economic systems would be destroyed because most Americans relied on enslaved black labor for plantations and housework.8 Additionally, he thought that it would harm their social systems because black people were usually at the lowest class.9 If they were freed, in a social class, that now free black person would be equal to a destitute white person. Colonists were not accustomed to this equivalency. These two facts caused black soldiers to hold much higher value among the British.

Dunmore’s Proclamation worked, and many enslaved black people did end up supporting the British cause; however, this did not last very long. Some slaves did not fight for Dunmore because they were scared that their enslavers would harm their families.10 Due to this and the fact that these specific soldiers were so valuable to the British, the Commander-in-chief at New York, Sir Henry Clinton, issued the Pittsburgh Proclamation.11 This decree broadened the scale of Dunmore’s Proclamation by adding that if any enslaved black man abandoned their enslaver, they would not only be presented with freedom by the British, but they would also receive full protection and land. Following the Pittsburgh Proclamation, not only hundreds, but thousands of men joined the British cause. Still, this effort, 4 John Dunmore, “A Proclamation.,” 1775.

5 “Dunmore’s Proclamation: A Time to Choose,” The Colonial Williamsburg History and Citizenship Site, accessed November 5, 2019, https://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aadunpro. cfm; David O. White, Connecticut’s Black Soldiers, 1775-1783 (Guilford: Globe Pequot Press, 2017), [7].

6 Bill Drury, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

7 CherylAnne Amendola, interview by Stephen Michael Hatfield, 201 Valley Road, Montclair, NJ, November 5, 2019.

8 “The Pittsburgh Proclamation,” Black Loyalists, accessed November 30, 2019, http://blackloyalist.com/cdc/story/revolution/ philipsburg.htm.

9 Amendola, interview.

10 “The Pittsburgh,” Black Loyalists.

11 “Remembering Black Loyalists,” Nova Scotia Museum, last modified 2001, accessed November 30, 2019, https://novascotia.ca/ museum/blackloyalists/who.htm.

unfortunately, resulted in the Independence of America and the loss of the British, causing most of these soldiers to leave the colonies.

Following the war, Sir Guy Carleton, a Loyalist general, and General George Washington of the Patriots made a deal where instead of returning the enslaved black soldiers to the colonies, the Americans would receive money. Additionally, the British-American commission found black soldiers and handed out “certificates of freedom” to them that were signed by British generals.12 In order to make sure every soldier that fought for the British cause was granted a certificate, each troop’s name was recorded in an archive called the Book of Negroes.

Around 3,000 black soldiers were registered in this document, and around 5,000 emigrated from New York to Nova Scotia, the West Indies, Quebec, England, Germany, and Belgium.

Black Loyalists primarily immigrated to Nova Scotia after the American Revolution. Around 3,500 of them settled in Annapolis Royal, Cornwallis/Horton, Weymouth, Digby, Windsor, Preston, Sydney, Fort Cumberland, Parrsboro, Halifax, as well as Shelburne, Birchtown, and Port Mouton. Also, around 1,200 free black people established residences in a region of Shelburne County called Birchtown. This area was named after one of the British generals who signed the certificates of freedom, and, here, under the leadership of Colonel Stephen Bucke, the Loyalists formed the most massive black township in North America at the time. Nevertheless, life in Nova Scotia was not perfect. Most black Loyalists arrived in the fall, and Nova Scotia was not prepared for that many new conferees. During the winter, many lived in tents and makeshift huts in the woods, and only 29% of black Loyalists received the land that Britain promised in the Pittsburgh Proclamation. As a result, many could not make a living from farming, and even if they were not landless, in many cases, their land was inadequate for crop production. As a consequence, black citizens became blacksmiths, bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, teachers, ministers, coopers, boatbuilders, pilots of boats, and navigators; yet, they were still paid less than white residents. Sometimes, life was so challenging economically that they had to indenture themselves to white settlers to survive. Not only poverty and the lack of employment impacted black Loyalists, but disease, sickness, and bleak winters also resulted in the death of many black Nova Scotians.13 Native Americans fought for the British army during the Revolutionary War because they wanted to maintain their economic relationships with the British. Native Americans allied with whichever side held the most value to them, and for most, this side was the British. The British were the most long-standing trade partners with the indigenous people.14 These people wanted to keep their trading systems with the British, which was their primary source of outside equipment, materials, and goods. These people also wanted to continue living in their villages, and occasionally, colonists prohibited that.15 For example, some colonists on the Atlantic coast were conquering Native American villages and even enslaving Native Americans.

Another threat to their communities was the possibility that the British could burn down Native American villages and damage their civilizations while they were fighting the Patriots. Native Americans who fought for the British also received all of the supplies that they needed for battles from the Loyalist army, which made working for them much more manageable. These supplies consisted of weapons, 12 “Remembering Black,” Nova Scotia Museum.

13 “Remembering Black,” Nova Scotia Museum.

14 Talon Silverhorn, interview by Stephen Michael Hatfield, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

15 David Jaffee and Megan Mehr, “Native Americans and the American Revolution: Choosing Sides,” EDSITEment!, last modified November 13, 2009, accessed October 16, 2019, https://edsitement. neh.gov/lesson-plans/native-americans-role-american-revolution-choosing-sides.

ammunition, medical equipment, and various other items.16 Following the American Revolution, the British severely deceived Native Americans. Despite their support for the British cause, these tribes were ignored in the European treaty negotiations with the Patriots after the war concluded. As a consequence, Native Americans obtained incredibly inferior treatment in political arrangements. These deals stated that the Loyalists would continue to possess the land to the north and the west of the Great Lakes, while the Patriots would receive the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. However, Native Americans already populated the land that the Patriots acquired. The fact that colonists now had access to this land did not benefit the Native Americans whatsoever because these treaty negotiations prohibited them from continuing to live in their villages by allowing colonists to conquer more territory indigenous to these tribes and kick the Native Americans out or even enslave them.

Additionally, because of the political arrangements solely allowing Britain to have control over the regions north and west of the Great Lakes, the distance that traders would have to travel was much more significant, causing trading to be much more complicated between the British and the Native Americans.17 Hessians, black Loyalists, and Native Americans all played a vital role in the Revolutionary War. Every one of these groups participated in the war for various social and economic reasons. For Hessians, it was the money that they were intrigued by the most.

For enslaved black men, it was the chance to obtain freedom that enticed some, but, if that did not do the trick, Sir Henry Clinton’s Pittsburgh Proclamation, which offered free land and protection as well as freedom, definitely encouraged them enough to ally with the Loyalists. Native Americans joined the side that held the most value to them economically which, at the time, was the Loyalists. The British were the Native Americans’ most long-standing trade partners, and in order to maintain that economic relationship, Native American tribes supported them in the war to the best of their ability. Many Hessians ended up in America following the war, living their best life with the independence and freedom that the colonies provided. Many black Loyalists immigrated to Nova Scotia, where they tried their hardest to make livings, but various factors and obstacles came into play, which prevented them from peaceful lives. Finally, Native Americans possibly ended up in even a worse position than what they were in before the war began; not only were they still being conquered by colonists, but now Britain had no control over the colonies, and the act of trading was much more challenging to complete. Each group’s social and economic positions were affected differently after the war, and it is essential to understand why these groups ended up where they were after the Independence of America was established.

Bibliography Amendola, CherylAnne. Interview by Stephen Michael Hatfield. 201 Valley Road, Montclair, NJ. November 5, 2019.

Drury, Bill. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Dunmore, John. “A Proclamation.” 1775.

“Dunmore’s Proclamation: A Time to Choose.” The Colonial Williamsburg History and Citizenship Site. Accessed November 5, 2019. https://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aadunpro. cfm.

16 Silverhorn, interview.

17 “Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans,” U.S. History, accessed December 1, 2019, https://www.ushistory.org/us/13f.asp.

Gilje, Paul A. “American Revolution, American Indians and.”

In Revolution and New Nation. 3rd ed. New York, N.Y.: Facts On File, 2017. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/ Details/2?articleId=201733&q=native%20americans%20during%20 the%20american%20revolution.

Head, David. “Hessians.” Mount Vernon. Accessed December 1, 2019. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digitalencyclopedia/article/hessians/.

“Hessians.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed December 1, 2019. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/hessians.

Jaffee, David, and Megan Mehr. “Native Americans and the American Revolution: Choosing Sides.” EDSITEment! Last modified November 13, 2009. Accessed October 16, 2019. https://edsitement.neh.gov/ lesson-plans/native-americans-role-american-revolution-choosingsides.

“The Pittsburgh Proclamation.” Black Loyalists. Accessed November 30, 2019. http://blackloyalist.com/cdc/story/revolution/philipsburg. htm.

“Remembering Black Loyalists.” Nova Scotia Museum. Last modified 2001. Accessed November 30, 2019. https://novascotia.ca/museum/ blackloyalists/who.htm.

“Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans.” U.S. History. Accessed December 1, 2019. https://www.ushistory.org/us/13f.asp.

Silverhorn, Talon. Interview by Stephen Michael Hatfield. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Wepman, Dennis. “The American Revolution and After: 1776– 1813.” In Immigration. American Experience. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2008. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/ Details/2?articleId=202993.

White, David O. Connecticut’s Black Soldiers, 1775-1783. Guilford: Globe Pequot Press, 2017.

Eva Sluis ‘26

“The Colonial Era: A Time of Injustice for Women of All Races and Social Classes” Ivi Sluis ‘24 In Colonial America, women were viewed as subordinate to men. This idea came from religion and caused the different genders to be categorized into separate spheres; women in the domestic sphere and men in the public sphere. For white women, this mainly included working in the household, and birthing and taking care of children.

Black women, both free and enslaved, worked in the field as well as in the house. The expectations for women in Colonial America were to please and obey men; however, the way they met these expectations depended on their race and social class.

During the Colonial Era, women were viewed solely as helpmates to men. It was believed that women had been placed under the obedience of their husbands, and were created to assist them. Women’s innate inclination was expected to be compliance, faithfulness, and industriousness, whilst their main role was to have and nurture children.

Starting at birth, girls were taught that their purpose as a woman was to obey men. This was demonstrated when Cotton Mather gave a sermon urging a woman to be an “ornament of Zion” by looking upon her “husband as her guide”.1 Mather stated that women should comply and follow the orders of their husbands. This belief is derived from religion.

The understanding that God created women inferior to men led to laws that prevented this from changing. Life during the Colonial period revolved around the traditional belief that God and nature controlled the roles and expectations of women, proven by a passage from the Bible stating, “it is not good for [Adam] to be alone.

I will make a helper suitable for him.”2 This shows that Eve was only created to assist Adam, certifying the thought that women are beneath men in the eyes of God.3 Another passage further explaining this thought is: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife…” This passage is claiming that women should adhere to their husband’s wishes because their husband is in charge of them. These interpretations of the Bible led to persecution and unfairness, resulting in women not being permitted government positions or money of their own, as well as not being seen as real people in the eyes of the law.4 Religion further encouraged the already existing opinion of women and their role in life.

All the books available to women at the time were filled with stereotypical beliefs about them such as: a wife had to comply with her husband’s will and judgment, she had to be amiable, and must avoid idleness and prove her housewifely abilities.5 The book, The Polite Academy, published in London in 1762, states the rules of etiquette for women during that time period. It declares that women should not talk loudly in public, need to be humble and discreet, have to dress modestly, are not permitted to be curious or ask questions, and should not take flattery as it was seen as a man trying to seduce you. It further explains that women should not be flirts, and are only a love object for 1 Carol Berkin, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence (New York: Knopf, 2005), 4.

2 AUTHOR Q&A,” Penguin Random House, accessed October 13, 2019, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/12528/ revolutionary-mothers-by-carol-berkin/#targetText=About%20Revolutionary%20Mothers&targetText=The%20women%20of%20the%20 Revolution,husbands%2C%20brothers%20and%20fathers%20died.

3 “Adam and Eve,” BibleGateway, accessed November 5, 2019, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A4-3%3A24&version=NIV. 4 Berkin, Revolutionary Mothers, 4.

5 Carol Berkin, Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives: Documents in Early American History (Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press, 1998), 49.

men.6 Women, no matter their race, were considered to be there solely for men’s pleasure.

At the time of the American Revolution, white women had privileges over women of color but still followed the expected female roles. In a standard white home, the work of a wife encompassed leading the household, as well as completing the domestic duties such as cooking, cleaning, spinning yarn, and weaving and sewing fabric.7 While both rich and poor white women led the household tasks, the richer ones could order around the slaves, whilst the poorer ones performed the tasks herself. One example of a white woman is Martha Washington. She spent her youth by preparing to manage a plantation household, learning several needlework arts, and playing musical instruments. When Martha married George Washington, she was responsible for managing the staff of servants and slaves.

Furthermore, she also had to harvest, prepare and preserve the items for medicines, household products, and foods needed for those who stayed at Mount Vernon.8 Her main role was still to serve her husband, but because she was white and in a higher social class, she could order around her servants instead of having to perform the tasks herself.

Unmarried and married women had a set of different rules that applied to them. When women got married, their legal status changed dramatically. Married women, also referred to as “feme covert,” kept their legal rights, but lost their autonomy. Because of this, they were almost completely dependent on their husbands. This dependence is called coverture.9 The laws of coverture explain that once a woman is married, she loses her legal identity, controlling her income becomes illegal, and owning property or signing legal goods was prohibited.10 Yet, without marrying a man, women did not see their full potential, and they thought it was mandatory to marry to gain any potential in life. The rules of coverture did not apply to any unmarried woman.

The rights for them were similar to those of the males, with the exception of serving on juries, being able to vote, and holding office.

Single women, providing they reached the age of adulthood, could sue in court, buy or sell land or other property, enter into contracts, be a guardian to a minor, and make a will. The rules of coverture were invalidated after the passing away of a woman’s husband. Throughout widowhood, women reclaimed the rights of single women.11 So while unmarried women and widows kept their rights, married women lost them, and became the property of their husbands.

Slavery was customary throughout the thirteen colonies during the Colonial Era. Slaves were only people of color because of the racial hierarchy.12 Mothers passed on their status, and children of

only ⅛ black were still regarded as slaves.13 Enslaved women were considered the belonging of their owner and were required to complete the tasks assigned. Female slaves became part of their master’s legal status, and just like how coverture applied to all married women, the same rules counted for the enslaved, married or single.14 Enslaved girls would spin thread and make cloth until the age of seventeen, after which they would proceed to work in the household or field. Slaves or servants customarily did similar work to men, either at home or in the field.15 As a result of the restricted education for enslaved, most of the work available for the enslaved was unskilled field or household work.16 An example of an enslaved woman is Priscilla Hemmings, the wife of John Hemmings. She was the property of Jefferson’s son-in-law and daughter, Thomas Mann and Martha Randolph. Her job at Monticello was to be a nursemaid for their children. Edmund Bacon, the overseer at Monticello, recalled: “She took charge of all the children that were not in school.” Priscilla looked after the Randolph children and portrays an enslaved woman working in the household.17 Though the way enslaved women had to perform tasks differed from other social classes, they still completed the tasks assigned.

Enslaved women had several ways to gain freedom, but in the end their main job was still to help men and do the unwanted but necessary work. Even though there were several free African Americans, they were seldom treated with equal respect as white women. There were some different ways African Americans could gain freedom. One of these is performing the terms of their contracts. They could also buy their own freedom. Another way to obtain freedom was named manumission. Manumission is the voluntary freeing of a slave by the master which might have been because of hard work or good deeds, but this seldom occurred. Some slaves even achieved freedom through an escape, despite the dangers included.18 Free women had the right to choose a job they were best at and had the option to quit the work if the circumstances were oppressive. Nonetheless, their ethnicity still played a role in limiting job opportunities.19 Even though freed black women had more job choices than the enslaved, their main role still consisted of pleasing men and doing the jobs the other people did not want.

Childbirth was a hard and dangerous occurrence for all females, but it was an important procedure that characterized the lives of women during the Colonial Era. Typically, women gave birth to around 5 through 8 children, resulting in a 1 in 8 chance of dying during pregnancy. When in labor, women received no painkillers apart from alcohol, because it was recognized as God’s punishment for

6 The Polite Academy (London, England, n.d.), xii, http:// hockliffe.dmu.ac.uk/items/0619pages.html?page=008.

7 “The Role of Women in the Colonies,” Boundless US history, accessed November 17, 2019, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ boundless-ushistory/chapter/the-role-of-women-in-the-colonies/.

8 “First Lady Biography: Martha Washington,” First Ladies, accessed November 9, 2019, http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/ firstladies.aspx?biography=1.

9 The Legal Status of Women, 1776–1830, last modified 20092019, accessed October 2, 2019, https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/ legal-status-women-1776%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C1830.

10 Allison Lange, “Women’s rights in the Early Republic,” National women’s history museum, last modified 2015, accessed October 11, 2019, http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/early-republic.

11 “Women’s Rights: Women, Wives, and Widows,” Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet, accessed November 11, 2019, https://genfiles. com/articles/womens-rights/.

12 “Colonial Williamsburg,” Introduction to Colonial African American Life, accessed October 30, 2019, https://www.history.org/ almanack/people/african/aaintro.cfm.

13 “Women and Family during the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras,” Infobase, last modified 2011, https://online.infobase.com/HRC/ Search/Details/2?articleId=165742&q=Women%20and%20Family%20during%20the%20Colonial%20and%20Revolutionary%20Eras.

14 “Women, Enterprise & Society,” Women and the Law, accessed November 7, 2019, https://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/wes/collections/women_law/.

15 “Woman’s Page,” Positions of African-American Slave Women, accessed October 30, 2019, http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/2000/ women/slavewomenpage.htm.

16 Danna Kelly, interview by the author, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville, October 22, 2019.

17 “Landscape of Slavery,” Priscilla Hemmings, accessed November 7, 2019, https://www.monticello.org/mulberry-row/people/ priscilla-hemmings.

18 “6e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era,” U.S. History, accessed November 11, 2019, http://www.ushistory.org/us/6e. asp.

19 Wilma King, The Essence of Liberty (University of Missouri Press, 2006), 66.

Eve’s crime of consuming the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.20 Instead, they had to be patient, and restrain their cries and groans, as to not discourage their friends and family.21 Even though pregnancy was life-threatening, men needed to have an heir so the family name could be passed on.

Colonial America was a time in which gender played a huge role in determining the opportunities of people, and race and social class contributed to this. White women of the upper classes had the privilege of managing the household and being able to command the servants; poor white women performed these tasks herself; free black women could legally have the same tasks as white women, but because of the racial bias, this was restricted; and the enslaved women performed the tasks given, and worked in the house as well as in the field. The Colonial Era was a time of injustice for women of all races and social classes, resulting in inequality.

Bibliography “6e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era.” U.S. History.

Accessed November 11, 2019. http://www.ushistory.org/us/6e.asp.

“Adam and Eve.” BibleGateway. Accessed November 5, 2019. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A43%3A24&version=NIV.

“AUTHOR Q&A.” Penguin Random House. Accessed October 13, 2019. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/12528/ revolutionary-mothers-by-carol-berkin/#targetText=About%20 Revolutionary%20Mothers&targetText=The%20women%20 of%20the%20Revolution,husbands%2C%20brothers%20and%20 fathers%20died.

Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence. New York: Knopf, 2005.

“Childbirth in Early America.” Digital History. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/topic_display.cfm?tcid=70.

“Colonial Williamsburg.” Introduction to Colonial African American Life. Accessed October 30, 2019. https://www.history.org/almanack/ people/african/aaintro.cfm.

“First Lady Biography: Martha Washington.” First Ladies. Accessed November 9, 2019. http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies. aspx?biography=1.

Kelly, Danna. Interview by the author. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville. October 22, 2019.

King, Wilma. The Essence of Liberty. University of Missouri Press, 2006.

“Landscape of Slavery.” Priscilla Hemmings. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.monticello.org/mulberry-row/people/priscillahemmings.

20 Robert V. Wells, “Fertility during the Colonial Period,” https://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/2?articleId=212439.

21 “Childbirth in Early America,” Digital History, accessed November 14, 2019, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/topic_display. cfm?tcid=70.

Lange, Allison. “Women’s rights in the Early Republic.” National women’s history museum. Last modified 2015. Accessed October 11, 2019. http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/early-republic.

The Legal Status of Women, 1776–1830. Last modified 2009-2019.

Accessed October 2, 2019. https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/legalstatus-women-1776%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C1830.

The Polite Academy. London, England, n.d. http://hockliffe.dmu. ac.uk/items/0619pages.html?page=008 “The Role of Women in the Colonies.” Boundless US history. Accessed November 17, 2019. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundlessushistory/chapter/the-role-of-women-in-the-colonies/.

Wells, Robert V. “Fertility during the Colonial Period.” https://online. infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/2?articleId=212439.

“Woman’s Page.” Positions of African-American Slave Women.

Accessed October 30, 2019. http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/2000/ women/slavewomenpage.htm.

“Women and Family during the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras.” Infobase. Last modified 2011. https://online.infobase. com/HRC/Search/Details/2?articleId=165742&q=Women%20 and%20Family%20during%20the%20Colonial%20and%20 Revolutionary%20Eras.

“Women, Enterprise & Society.” Women and the Law. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/wes/collections/ women_law/.

“Women’s Rights: Women, Wives, and Widows.” Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet. Accessed November 11, 2019. https://genfiles.com/ articles/womens-rights/.

Nahlia Udofia ‘26

“The Lasting Battle for Legal Freedoms for the Enslaved in the Colonial Era” Hudson Stovall

When the first Africans arrived on the shores of Virginia in 1619, little did they know of the limited life that would lie ahead of them. Throughout the next two centuries, these enslaved people and their descendants would be deprived of their rights, freedoms, and identities. Under the control of white colonists, enslaved people were forced to make new lives for themselves. During the colonial era, slaves were chattel and had minimal access to the vast opportunities the advancing colonial world had to offer. Enslaved people during the 18th century were deeply affected by their lack of freedoms and opportunities caused by the hatred in colonial America.

Enslaved people throughout the colonial era were deprived of many social opportunities. For example, it was unlawful for enslaved people to marry, as they were considered chattel and people of no social status .1 They could not marry in the church because slave marriage was not sanctioned by the Christian Church. Despite this, many enslaved people had unofficial marriages in secret ceremonies behind churches.2 In some instances, slaves could not even choose who they wanted to unofficially marry because their mates were determined by their slave owners. In addition to marriage, social relationships between enslaved people were controlled by their slave owners and could be terminated at any time.3 Enslaved people not only had a lack of freedom with regards to whom they chose to marry, but also with who was in their social circle and how frequently they met.

Another example of the limited social opportunities of enslaved people was the restrictions on their family lives. Whether it be on the fields or in their cabins, enslaved people had little to no time for themselves. Enslaved people worked from sunrise to sundown, with little to no breaks or stops.4 The average family only saw each other early in the morning or late at night. With the tremendous amount of work slaves were forced to complete, enslaved people had minimal time to be with their families. Often this family time was dedicated to cooking, harvesting, or completing work for themselves.5 The constant workload that enslaved people had to endure left them with little time to bond and nurture meaningful relationships. For instance, on Saturdays men traveled for hours just to see and meet with their loved ones living outside of their own plantations.6

Another devastating social restriction was the lack of family security. As an enslaved person, there was always a risk of being sold. Even the death of a slave owner or his spouse could result in 1 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The African American Family,” Colonial Williamsburg, accessed October 1, 2019, https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/family/black.cfm.

2 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The African American Family,” Colonial Williamsburg, accessed October 1, 2019, https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/family/black.cfm.

3 Tera W. Hunter, “Enslaved Couples Faced Wrenching Separations, or Even Choosing Family Over Freedom,” History, last modified September 20, 2019, accessed November 6, 2019, https:// www.history.com/news/african-american-slavery-marriage-family-separation.

4 Pam Douglas, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

5 James Ciment, “Family Lives For Slaves,” in Atlas of African-American History, Revised Edition (n.p.: Facts On File, 2012), https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/5?articleId=159755&q=lives%20of%20slaves.

6 CRF-USA.ORG, “Slavery in the American South,” Constitutional Rights Foundation, last modified 2019, accessed October 13, 2019, https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/slavery-in-theamerican-south.

the separation of an enslaved family. Slave families were usually sold in packages, one consisting solely of the father and the other of the mother and children. However, in some cases children were separated from both parents.7 Enslaved people could be put in plantations miles away from their families, never being able to see their family again. In fact, an ad in the Boston News Letter dated May 1, 1732, advertised the sale of a nineteen-year-old woman and her infant son.

The ad stated: “together or apart.”8 Children and adults alike had to live through the perpetual and haunting possibility of separation.9 The separation of families was one of the most ruinous aspects of enslaved people’s social limitations.

In addition to the social limitations throughout the colonial era, enslaved people were deprived of almost every economic opportunity that was available during this period, leaving enslaved people in immense poverty. Enslaved people were unpaid and received some but not all of their basic necessities from their slave masters.

They only received one-fourth of a pound of flour and one pound of beef or pork a year, which was not nearly enough to feed them.10 Enslaved people often planted gardens on their owner’s property to have enough food to survive. These gardens were not only used to provide additional food for their nourishment, but also as a means of income. They used the harvest from their gardens to sell to the local markets or to their slave owners. This was the main source of their frugal income. There were also other ways enslaved people acquired money; for example, slave owners usually gifted their slaves with one pent or dollar for Christmas. Unfortunately, that was the extent to which enslaved people were usually paid. Their hard labor was not rewarded and enslaved people barely made enough money to survive without their slave master’s care.11 Moreover, their profit was almost one hundred times less than what was needed to buy their freedom.12 This left enslaved people in a state of perpetual poverty. Without basic economic opportunities, enslaved people rarely made enough money to buy items they desired, let alone their freedom.

During the colonial period, African-Americans, regardless of status, were economically targeted because of their race.13 Some Caucasians in Virginia, in particular, did not believe in the economic growth of free African-Americans or enslaved people. During this time period, African-American families were mixed with relatives who had a different economic status. For example, a free husband or wife could buy the other freedom or at least buy the enslaved 7 Donald R. Wright, “The African-American Family in Colonial America,” in African-American Culture, by Harlan Davidson (n.p., 2016), https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/5?articleId=404703&q=separation%20of%20family.

8 Donald R. Wright, “The African-American Family in Colonial America,” in African-American Culture, by Harlan Davidson (n.p., 2016), [The Boston News Letter (Boston, MA), May 1, 1732,] https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/5?articleId=404703&q=separation%20of%20family.

9 Heather Andrea Williams, “How Slavery Affected African American Families,” nationalhumanitiescenter, last modified 2005, accessed November 20, 2019, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ tserve/freedom/1609-1865/essays/aafamilies.htm.

10 Frank Clark, interview, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

11 Clark, interview.

12 Clark, interview.

13 David W. Southern, “What Racism Wrought: The Social and Economic Conditions of Blacks,” in African Americans and Southern Progressivism, by Harlan Davidson (n.p., 2016), https:// online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/5?articleId=404867&q=social.

spouse extra food.14 However, this was sometimes frowned upon in the colonists’ community. Some Caucasians even made clans and mobs to incite the downfall of successful African-American families. In Virginia, there were mobs called “Whitecaps” that clearly proclaimed war on African-American farmers.15 They burnt houses, barns, and possessions, killing or injuring African-Americans in the process. Additionally, some Caucasians made it significantly harder for free African-Americans to buy land. In some cases, African-Americans would have to be approved to buy land by Caucasians in the area or enslaved people would have to pass a test of respect in order to buy real estate.16 With these limited economic opportunities caused by racial biases, it was a challenge for even free African-Americans to earn money, especially accumulating enough to buy the freedom of an enslaved relative.

Beyond the social and economic limitations placed on enslaved people during the colonial era, government systems, especially in colonial Virginia, were unfair and biased against enslaved people. One of the most common biases was the denial of freedom to enslaved people by the changing of laws. Specifically, when enslaved people tried to bring lawsuits against slavery, the laws were always changed to ensure that slavery remained legal.17 One example of this occurred in the 1650s when a group of slaves asked for their freedom on the basis of their baptism as Christians. The slaves argued that because the Bible states that baptized Christians cannot be property or owned, their enslavement, therefore should be illegal.18 However, the slaves’ pleas were denied by the Virginia judges. Later, in 1667 the Virginia legislature passed a law stating that baptism does not give freedom to an enslaved person.19 The lawmakers in Virginia wanted to make sure slavery remained intact and legal by denying enslaved persons their rights.

Another example of a political restriction occurred in 1705.

During that year, Virginia lawmakers passed a law to determine the status of a slave with mixed heritage. Specifically, the court determined if an enslaved mother gave birth to a child with a free or white father the child would be considered enslaved. The Virginia lawmakers wanted to cement slavery by making sure that children of mixed heritage were enslaved.20 Most enslaved people of mixed heritage during the time had enslaved mothers; the lawmakers noticed this and changed the law accordingly.21 The unfair lawmakers throughout the colonial era limited enslaved people by making it nearly impossible to win their freedom.

The slave codes were still another devastating political limitation that constantly affected enslaved people. The slave codes were a compilation of political rules that managed the rights of enslaved people. Although slave codes were different in each colony, generally some of the slave codes were consistent with each other.22 Some common examples of these slave codes included: having to submit a written permission to leave plantations; the punishment of death for murder and rape; and the extreme punishments given for the association with whites.23 Generally, slave codes were very harsh and limiting. To 14 Pam Douglas, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

15 Southern, “What Racism,”.

16 Southern, “What Racism,”.

17 Douglas, interview by the author.

18 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The African,” Colonial Williamsburg.

19 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The African,” Colonial Williamsburg.

20 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The African,” Colonial Williamsburg.

21 Douglas, interview by the author.

22 CRF-USA.ORG, “Slavery in the American,” Constitutional Rights Foundation.

23 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “The African,” Colonial Williamsburg.

further elucidate, slaves would have to write permission slips to leave their plantations and this could only occur on Saturdays. However, one of the most significant rules was the punishment. Enslaved people, if suspected of committing a major offense would be killed, in some cases, without a trial.24 The slave codes also prevented slaves from voting, learning, and experiencing other basic human rights.25 The slave codes were one of the most devastating political limitations that affected enslaved people.

Slavery during the colonial era put many social, economic, and political limitations on the lives of enslaved people. These restrictions negatively affected family life, wealth, and opportunities to achieve freedom. Enslaved people were not accepted into the colonists’ society and were frowned upon based on their status. Although enslaved people contributed to the development of colonial America, they were considered chattel and of little importance. Overall, throughout the 18th century, enslaved people were left with a lack of social, economic, and political freedoms and opportunities. It would take more than two hundred years for their ancestors to achieve these basic rights that they so longed for.

Bibliography The Boston News Letter (Boston, MA), May 1, 1732.

Ciment, James. “Family Lives for Slaves.” In Atlas of African-American History, Revised Edition. N.p.: Facts On File, 2012. https://online. infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/5?articleId=159755&q=lives%20 of%20 slaves.

In this reference source, the main focus is on the family life of enslaved African-Americans. The whole article goes in-depth about the obstacles slaves persevered in meeting with their families. Additionally, there is a paragraph covering how religion played a role in the slave’s lives.

Using this book would help me write about the slaves family lives and religion through the lens of how a combination of races intersect to determine a group’s or individuals life experience.

Clark, Frank. Interview. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “The African American Family.” Colonial Williamsburg. Accessed October 1, 2019. https:// www.history.org/Almanack/life/family/black.cfm.

This is a source directly from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

There are many categories on the website. Specifically, there is a section of personal accounts that describes a lot of slave’s lives. The site also goes in-depth about the family of slaves. Using this book would help me write about the slave’s family lives and work through the lens of how a combination of races intersect to determine a group’s or an individual’s life experience.

CRF-USA.ORG. “Slavery in the American South.” Constitutional Rights Foundation. Last modified 2019. Accessed October 13, 2019. https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/slavery-in-theamerican-south.

In this webpage, the main focus is on the family life of enslaved AfricanAmericans. The whole article goes in-depth about the obstacles slaves persevered in meeting with their families. Additionally, there is a paragraph covering slaves’ codes and laws. Using this book would help me write about the slaves’ family lives and laws through the lens of how a combination of race intersect to determine a group’s or individuals life experience.

24 Clark, interview.

25 Clark, interview.

Douglas, Pam. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Hunter, Tera W. “Enslaved Couples Faced Wrenching Separations, or Even Choosing Family Over Freedom.” History. Last modified September 20, 2019. Accessed November 6, 2019. https://www.history.com/news/african-american-slavery-marriagefamily-separation.

Rouse, Jr., Parke. Planters and Pioneers Life in Colonial Virginia.

N.p.: Hastings House Publishers, 1968.

In the book Planters and Pioneers, there is an entire section on slaves. In particular, in the middle of the section, there is a paragraph describing the social and family lives of salves and there work. Using this book would help me write about the social and family lives of slaves through the lens of how a combination of race, socioeconomic status, and politics intersect to determine a group’s or an individual’s life experience.

Southern, David W. “What Racism Wrought: The Social and Economic Conditions of Blacks.” In African Americans and Southern Progressivism, by Harlan Davidson. N.p., 2016. https://online. infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/5?articleId=404867&q=social.

This reference source goes mostly in-depth about the social lives of African-Americans during the colonial period. It describes recreation time between slaves and other activities they partook in. Additionally, it also describes what economic privileges some free and enslaved African-Americans had. Overall, I think this source will help me find out a little more about the work slaves ere required to do through the lens of how a combination of race intersects to determine a group’s or individual’s life experience.

Ushistory.org. “Free African Americans in the Colonial Era.” U.S. History Online Textbook.

Accessed October 3, 2019. http://www.ushistory.org/us/6e.asp.

This is a webpage, that goes mostly in-depth about the lives of free African-Americans. Specifically, in the last paragraph of the article, the author explains a lot about how free African-Americans were accepted in the colonial society. I think this source will help me find out a little more about the work slaves ere required to do through the lens of how a combination of race and social status intersects to determine a group’s or individual’s life experience.

Williams, Heather Andrea. “How Slavery Affected African American Families.” nationalhumanitiescenter. Last modified 2005. Accessed November 20, 2019. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/ freedom/1609-1865/essays/aafamilies.htm.

Wright, Donald R. “The African-American Family in Colonial America.” In African-American Culture, by Harlan Davidson.

N.p., 2016. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/ Details/5?articleId=404703&q=separation%20o f%20family.

In this reference source, the main focus is on the family life of enslaved African-Americans. The whole article goes in-depth about the obstacles slaves persevered in meeting with their families. Additionally, there is a paragraph covering how slaves were separated. Using this book would help me write about the separation in the slave’s family life through the lens of how a combination of races intersects to determine a group’s or individual’s life experience.

Imanuel Udofia ‘24

“The Battle Against Smallpox in the Colonial Era” Max Huang ‘24 When the colonists first came to the New World, they were looking for a new life. Unfortunately, this was made more difficult by the malnutrition, disease, and lack of medical knowledge from 1607-1721, which brought death and made smallpox one of the worst diseases in Colonial America. During this time, malnutrition was a large problem that made people more susceptible to diseases such as smallpox, also referred to as variola. This disease, appearing in different locations approximately once a generation, ruined the lives of colonists. At first, doctors did not recognize smallpox and, thus, did not know how to treat it. Fortunately, they were able to discover an inoculation that drastically reduced death rates. In Colonial America, smallpox ruined many lives, but better understanding resulted in improved medical treatments and outcomes.

Smallpox was the most feared disease in Colonial America.

This was not surprising considering the harsh symptoms. Preliminary stages of smallpox included three to four days of high fevers and pulse.1 Later, vascular, then pustular, skin eruptions would begin to appear all over the victim.2 These symptoms were horrible and feared especially by parents who were worried about their children, who were much more susceptible to smallpox.3 This disease was not just infecting young children, though: It contaminated everyone across all ages. This was one of the many reasons why smallpox ruined and took so many lives of colonists. Deaths were not the only thing that made colonists fear smallpox, though. If people survived smallpox, their bodies would be left covered with ugly, large scars.4 These scars reminded the victim of the pain they went through and ultimately brought back the fear of death that they once had. So, the fear that smallpox brought to colonists was one of the reasons which forced improved medical treatments.

The deadly nature of smallpox was another thing that inspired doctors to seek new treatments. According to records, twenty to sixty percent of infected people died.5 Although the exact number of deaths from smallpox is not recorded, it is known that in just one epidemic itself, approximately fifty-five percent of the Boston population had cases of smallpox and 850 of those people were reported to be dying from the disease.6 This was not the only case, though - other outbreaks occurred and killed thousands as well. Smallpox was not only prevalent in major cities; it was far more deadly than most realized and occurred everywhere, including on the battlefields. George Washington knew it to be even more deadly than combat.7 The number of casualties from

1

David A. Geier, and Mark R. Geier, “Disease and Epidemics, 15851763,” Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2017, accessed October 1, 2019, online.infobase.com/Auth/ Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=208153.

2 Geier, and Geier, “Disease and,” Facts On File.

3 Anthony Connors, and Billy G. Smith, “Smallpox, 15851763,” Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2017, accessed October 7, 2019, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=210015.

4 Stefan Riedel, “Edward Jenner and the History of Smallpox and Vaccination,”Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings 18, no. 1 (2005): 21–25, https://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2005.1192802 8.

5 Riedel, “Edward Jenner,” Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings.

6 Riedel, “Edward Jenner,” Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings.

7 Jeanne E. Abrams, Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health (New York: New

smallpox drew attention from everyone, including powerful leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, who raised awareness and emphasized the need for improved medical treatments.

Smallpox did not just kill people; it was a harsh, deadly disease, which negatively affected how colonists lived. Since it was extremely easy to get smallpox on a ship, once in a while passengers were forced to be isolated before being allowed to set foot on land.8 This meant that the colonists had to wait longer for products that were being shipped in from other places. This would have been frustrating for some of the settlers as they traveled from long distances to reach port cities. The reason they had to travel further was that they were forced to move inland where the river provided cleaner freshwater and more wells from which they drank.9 They did this because cities near the coast did not supply clean water and malnutrition made people more susceptible to disease. Another thing was that if during the winter, someone was waiting for goods, they would most likely want to wait indoors. Unfortunately, smallpox was spread much more easily across larger cities where people were clumped together indoors.10 This also meant that people were forced to stay at home and could not attend larger, fun events. All these things together made the colonists’ lives worse, which was why they looked for improved medical treatments.

At first, doctors did not know much about smallpox, which made it a difficult disease to prevent. During the early outbreaks of smallpox, everyone, including doctors, just identified it as an awful cold with unusually bad symptoms. It was not until later that they recognized these symptoms as smallpox. The only problem was that although they knew what the disease was, they did not know the cause of it.11 So, during the years before 1722, doctors were under extreme pressure as people were dying and getting sick, and everyone was looking to the doctors for help, in desperate need of anything. At this time, almost every colonist was religious. A lot of religious people believed that the only way to get rid of smallpox was to pray because they thought smallpox was a punishment from God.12 This did not help because some religious doctors pretty much did not try to find a medical or scientific way to prevent or lessen the effects of smallpox.

In all, the lack of knowledge in the medical world made it difficult to improve medical treatments. Even after all of this, though, the inoculation for smallpox was introduced and became a huge success.

Inoculations were one of the most important medical procedures discovered in Colonial America, which ultimately saved many lives. When smallpox struck Boston in 1721-1722, Cotton Mather and Zabdiel Boylston created the first inoculation for smallpox.13 Their invention was one that would be remembered forever. The main reason that it was an extremely effective process was that a person was six times less likely to die than if they were just exposed to smallpox elsewhere.14 This was extraordinary because, at the time, there had still been nothing close to a cure to this horrible disease. Even though some people still died as a result of being inoculated, the inoculation was still considered a huge success. After all, only one in a thousand people died from this procedure.15 Mather and Boylston’s invention ultimately lowered death rates and raised the spirits of many people. Not only was the inoculation one of the most York University Press, 2013), 55.

8 Geier, and Geier, “Disease and,” Facts On File.

9 Geier, and Geier, “Disease and,” Facts On File.

10 Abrams, Revolutionary Medicine, 12.

11 Connors, and Smith, “Smallpox, 15851763,” Facts on File 12 Connors, and Smith, “Smallpox, 15851763,” Facts on File 13 Connors, and Smith, “Smallpox, 15851763,” Facts on File 14 Connors, and Smith, “Smallpox, 15851763,” Facts on File 15 C. Keith Wilbur, Revolutionary Medicine, 1700-1800 (Old Saybrook, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press, 1997), 13.

important medical procedures because of its result, but it was also a great medical procedure because of its simplicity.

The process of the inoculation itself was simple and easy to perform. It was a quick and straightforward process, but just because it was uncomplicated does not mean it was not thorough; it was, as proven by its results. Unlike other medical procedures, this one only required three steps. First, a transparent serum was collected from healthy volunteers. Then, matter was collected from a smaller, recent pock, which was then pierced with a toothpick. Finally, the serum was placed into a small opening on the arm of the patient.16 The purpose of using the toothpick instead of a needle or something else was to make the patient feel as comfortable as possible.17 After all, doctors wanted to inoculate their patients because it was best for the patient and they got paid for it. Because this process was so quick - doctors were able to inoculate colonists at much faster rates - it saved many lives. The inoculation was, in numerous ways, an extremely efficient medical procedure; however, almost every procedure can have negative side effects.

Quarantine after inoculation was a difficult time to get through.

Part of this was that most people had to stay in bed by themselves.

This was bad because most of the horrible, regular smallpox symptoms were the same.18 The effects of the inoculation on someone were pretty much the same as the effects of smallpox itself, with one difference: They were six times less likely to die. The physical effects were not the only bad thing; during quarantine, people were usually confused, slow, clumsy, and lazy.19 This was made worse by the fact that smallpox lasted, on average, for approximately one month, which meant that people had to be kept in quarantine for that length of time.20 So, for a month of their lives, they would be completely miserable. All of this just proves how bad smallpox was and how it made people depressed.

Although there were so many good things about the inoculation, there were also some bad things, including being quarantined, which sparked conflict in the colonies.

The population of the colonies was ambivalent about this new treatment. While many people disliked it, many felt very passionate about it. For example, George Washington had all of his soldiers inoculated so that they would not get smallpox during or between the battles.21 At first, because of the time it took to recover, he was unsure whether he was going to do it; but in the end, he realized how important it was to get inoculated. Although a lot of people thought highly of this new treatment, others did not. Some other people did not want to get inoculated because it was expensive and time-consuming.22 People such as farmers, who worked long hours, made up the majority of this group. While these people had scarcely any time to spend, others had some time on their hands. Some politicians thought that inoculations were so important that they traveled long distances just to get them. For example, Thomas Jefferson traveled from his home in Monticello to Philadelphia just to get inoculated.23 People such as Thomas Jefferson

16 Wilbur, Revolutionary Medicine, 13-14.

17 Wilbur, Revolutionary Medicine, 13-14.

18 Geier, and Geier, “Disease and,” Facts On File.

19 Deena and Robin, interview by the author, Colonial Wil-

liamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

20 Hank, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

21 Hank, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

22 Hank, interview by the author, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, October 23, 2019.

23 Thomas Jefferson to John Page, “From Thomas Jefferson to John Page, 25 May 1766,” May 25, 1766, Jefferson Papers, Founders Online, National Archives.

saw the importance of the inoculation and were willing to go to the great lengths needed. So, even though the colonists were ambivalent about this procedure, most saw it as a huge success and advancement in medicine.

Smallpox, a devastating disease that had a negative impact on society, ruined the lives of many colonists, but better understanding resulted in improved medical treatments and outcomes. The disease became widespread because, due to a lack of knowledge, no medicine or inoculations for smallpox were created before 1722. In all, the catastrophic smallpox outbreaks were important and fundamentally reshaped life for people in Colonial America. They did not just have a negative impact, though: They taught people about the importance of medicine and inspired medical procedures to be made. In 1722, the first smallpox inoculation in America was found to almost completely rid the chances of death. By 1796, there was a vaccine that could prevent people from getting the disease, ultimately reducing its impact on individuals in society. Finally, as shown, the malnutrition, disease, and lack of medical knowledge from 1607-1721 brought death and made smallpox one of the worst diseases in Colonial America.

Bibliography Abrams, Jeanne E. Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health. New York: New York University Press, 2013.

Connors, Anthony, and Billy G. Smith. “Smallpox, 15851763.” Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2017. Accessed October 7, 2019. online. infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=210015.

Deena, and Robin. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Geier, David A., and Mark R. Geier. “Disease and Epidemics, 1585u00131763.” Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2017. Accessed October 1, 2019. online.infobase.com/Auth/ Index?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&articleId=208153.

Hank. Interview by the author. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. October 23, 2019.

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to John Page, “From Thomas Jefferson to John Page, 25 May 1766,” May 25, 1766. Jefferson Papers. Founders Online, National Archives.

Niederhuber, Matthew. “The Fight Over Inoculation During the 1721 Boston Smallpox Epidemic.” Science in the News. Last modified December 31, 2014.

Accessed October 14, 2019. http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/special-editionon-infectious-disease/2014/the-fight-over-inoculation-during-the-1721boston-smallpox-epidemic/.

Riedel, Stefan. “Edward Jenner and the History of Smallpox and Vaccination.”

Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings 18, no. 1 (2005): 21–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2005.11928028.

Wilbur, C. Keith. Revolutionary Medicine, 1700-1800. Old Saybrook, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press, 1997.

Ashley Slutzky ‘28

Do You Know English?

Hi, someone says Oh hi, I answer W-h-a-t a-r-e y-o-u d-o-i-n-g Georgia Aitken ‘28 Um, I know English Oh, you learn fast No, I was born in the USA Really?

Yeah Well, I know some Chinese, “Ni Hao,” did I say it right?

Um, I’m not Chinese Oh, you look Chinese - Is that why you know English so well? Are you mixed?

Um, I’m Korean Oh. I like Korean BBQ Me, too My friend is from Korea Uh, cool You want to meet her?

Um, I’m good Well okay Okay How many tutors do you go to? Do you want to be a doctor or a dentist?

What do you mean?

A lot of your people are really nerdy and are doctors.

Maybe you shouldn’t judge a person from where they are from.

Why are you so rude? I knew a lot of Koreans have bad tempers!

-Lauren Chung ‘26

Stories Stories Stories Stories Stories Stories

of of of of of

Indian and Vietnamese people, life and death, escape and immigration, starting over, again and again. pain, friendship, and family.

On one side, a young Indian couple on their way to America, Because they knew it would be easier to earn a living there.

From London, he goes west first, to get started, Then she goes, and they both go on to New adventures, but more hard times to brave through.

Another story, less lighthearted than the first, Of war and love, and my grandfather, not a soldier but a doctor, How he helped until it came time to leave on a boat.

As my father was only four, they traveled from country to country, Until they landed here and again started anew.

Two sides of my story, of people Who loved their homeland more than life itself, But knowing they had to leave And each time they came back, it was both the same and different.

Not gone, not forgotten, just a little faded.

-Serena Nguyen ‘26

Eliza Bishop ‘28

Helena Hejna ‘28

Argos upon the Homecoming of Odysseus I can feel it more every day These parts that used to run free Now slow down with every movement The rust of time is beginning to build up within me But a voice I recognize comes nearer I fight against myself to look up to the voice Is it really Odysseus, the one who had once trained me?

I work against my slowing body to give him a sign I move my tail with all the strength I have left He looks upon me Tears roll down his face He hides it from the other man who is with him, but I see it Memories flood me of times of youth Training with the man who looks less familiar than I remember But I know His voice brings me to a time when I could move without pain As he begins to walk away, I feel sleep overcome me I have finished my life here on Earth, and the master mariner has guided me past the rocky waters into the clear ocean.

-Kellen Ievers ‘24

Noah Cesareo ‘28

Stella Coviello ‘28

Mason Ewing ‘28

Joonkyu Shim ‘28 A Trojan Woman at the Fall of Troy Sad is not the word Weeping, broken, numb are better fit To carry your husband’s dead body Is something that no one should have to do He should be able to return home Show his strength and power and then return To battle again, his strong limbs and Protective nature is what he puts forth Why should he have to die now?

The Akhaian warriors are not all to blame I would like to think they don’t find glory in killing But I don’t know what to believe Our children will not have a father to teach them It will just be me Shattered, lonely, distraught -Shea Branigan ‘24

Circe Piece

by Luis Crespo ‘24 [Imagine a voice mix between Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus, spoken at twice the normal speed]

How long am I going to be alone? How long will this Quarantine last?!? This place is like being in a pretty, natural, enchanted prison. I need to find more people to hang out with or maybe even turn into animals, if I’m bored. BECAUSE I CAN! Wait, no way, I have never heard that strange sound—crunching leaves, maybe?—in my life. WAIT, DOES THAT MEAN THERE ARE FINALLY SOME HUMANS HERE?!? Finally, I can have a little fun after the eternity I’ve spent here.

But how should I play with them? I know I have to turn them into animals, but which ones? What is the most unappealing animal that these humans would want to turn into? Oh! I have it: a pig! Wait...where is that one fellow going, why is he going back? Ahhh, who cares, I still have plenty of men to transform and then turn into bacon, or should I do ham?

Whatever, I can decide later. Should I give them their potions all at one time, or should I do it one by one? So many choices, so much time…Who says you can’t be creative in Quarantine? No decisions needed, let’s just make it up as we go!

Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! Okay, here we go: “Hello my very special guests, today I have brewed up a potion that is going to make you the smartest person e…v...e...r! Cheers to all of you, and enjoy what may be the best meal of your lives! “ They actually believe me and raise their potion-filled glasses: [All together] “Cheers!!!”

[As an aside] “Wow, how have humans become so dumb over the years? They can’t tell an intelligence potion from a memory-erasing potion! Okay, now comes the fun part.

“ALL OF YOU GET IN A SINGLE FILE LINE.” I am so happy to be using this wand after a whole M…I…L...L...E… N…N…I…U…M!!! #QuarantineQueen Time to fill up my pigsties!

Caroline Corbett ‘24

Lila Jung ‘24

Katie Chung ‘24

[Circe waves her magic wand] “POOF, POOF, POOF.” “Wow, you guys look much cuter than I thought you would!

Cute little piggies, all in a row! Now everyone trot into your pigsties for the night, I need to get my beauty sleep.

Ooh, what’s this, another one? Wait, that’s not the one who came with the group earlier. Who is he? If he is as brainless as his piggy friends, then this should be easy.

Whoa now, big fella, already drinking the potion?!? Wait, why isn’t he positively porcine right now?

No, it can’t be! Is that Odysseus?

I MUST TURN HIM INTO A PIG RIGHT NOW! Darn, he’s too fast, where did he get that sword from?

Now, what is that thing that all humans constantly crave?

Oh yea, ‘sleeping with somebody.’ Well, I hope he doesn’t mind THE FLOOR. [beat] Oh crap, now he wants me to let his men go. And I do, gladly, willingly, lovingly…

Ivi Sluis ‘24

[one year later] That was the most exhilarating year that I have had possibly ever! #QuarantineScream But now comes the sad part.

“Odysseus, I have been keeping this from you for the past year, but I think it’s time for me to tell you. You must take your men to the home of Hades to consult with the spirit of the blind prophet Teiresias. He will give you all the instructions to continue your journey home.”

Now I must say my goodbyes to my new favorite friends: “K. Thx. Bai!” “Goodbye, Ody (my special nickname for him), you have been my favorite human ever. And thanks to all you smelly pigs for the fun times, but I think you will fulfill your destiny on another weird, enchanted island that is not the one we are currently standing on. Just a little hint.

“Farewell, my friends, and I hope you have brilliant, pigfree lives.”

[Snapchat Beach Selfie with ships in the distance]

Ella Somaiya ‘24

Polyphemus Perspective Piece Teddy Krenteras ‘24

I can still recall the day I lost my vision. The memory is forever burned into my brain with a searing rod. The day was calm, even serene. I watched the sunrise as I tended to my sheep. The sun painted a magnificent picture over the Mediterranean Sea, the vivid oranges and yellows contrasting the deep blues of the water. In retrospect, I see that gratitude, even for mundane occurrences, is rarely expressed. It truly is a shame that we are blind to the importance of our possessions until we lose them. After tending to the sheep, I collected firewood. I seldom devoted much attention to the task, its ease I took for granted, as I would soon find myself dedicating hours to searching for wood. Afterward, I returned to my cave. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched, but I ignored the thought, dismissing the idea as paranoia. I lead my sheep into my cave and shut the exit with a massive boulder that I fashioned into a door. I began milking the sheep and preparing supper before starting a fire. The fire illuminated the cave with a warm, orange glow revealing a group of intruders in my home. I questioned the strangers, saying: “Strangers, who are you? And where from? What brings you here by sea ways – a fair traffic? Or are you wandering rogues, who cast your lives like dice, and ravage other folk by sea?”

They claimed to be Akhaians from Troy, arriving here due to strong winds, and they recounted the story of the Trojan War. Despite breaking into my house, they requested hospitality! I replied to their request arrogantly, showing extreme hubris: “You are a ninny, or else you come from the other end of nowhere, telling me, minds the gods! We Kyklopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus or all the gods in bliss; we have more force by far. I would not let you go for fear of Zeus—you or your friends— unless I had whim to. Tell me, where was it, now, you left your ship— around the point, or down the shore, I wonder?”

The leader then answered: “ My ship? Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a-tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end. A wind from seaward served him, drove us there. We are survivors, these good men and I.”

I showed them no pity, and, in a fit of rage, I ate two of the men in front of their companions. I wanted to strike fear into their cores. I lacked foresight, back then. I didn’t understand that fear breeds violence, and I would soon suffer the consequences of this ignorance. I promptly fell asleep after devouring the two men. I awoke the next morning with the Akhaians still trapped in my cave, unable to move the boulder blocking the exit. I went about my daily duties as usual: I lit a fire and tended to my livestock. I consumed two more to cement myself as a creature not to be provoked in the minds of my captives. However, my brutality had the opposite effect on the men, and I would be exposed to their pure rage that night.

During the evening, the leader offered me some wine. He said: “Kyklops, try some wine. Here’s some liquor to wash down your scraps of men. Taste it, and see the kind of drink we carried under our planks. I meant it for an offering if you would help us home. But you are mad, unbearable, a bloody monster! After this, will any other traveller come to see you?”

In a severe lapse in judgment, I drank the wine and requested the man give me more. I deliberately turned a blind eye to the thought that the Akhaians were even remotely capable of harming me in any way. Looking back, I now understand that my hubris was what truly impaired my logic and vision even before their vicious attack.

I recall the leader of the Akhaians made sure that I knew his name, telling me it was Nohbody; he was insistent that I remember it. That night I fell into a deep slumber, but I was awoken by the men stabbing my eye! As the spear pieced my eye, all of my senses were magnified. The smell of the burning olive wood filled my nostrils, the sound of the men yelling rang like a bell in my ears, and the searing pain of the spike consumed every thought that crossed my mind. I screamed in agony and quickly took the spear out of my eye, feeling the blood soak my face.

One of my neighbors heard the commotion and knocked on my door. They asked what had happened to which I replied: “Nohbody, Nohbody’s tricked me, Nohbody’s ruined me!”

The miscommunication confused my neighbors; they brushed off the response and left. The following morning, I let the sheep out of the cave. I felt the back of everything that left my cave to ensure that the Akhaians wouldn’t escape, but I neither felt nor heard a trace of them for the rest of the day. Somehow, they must have escaped! I was left, blind and wounded, but with hope for a brighter future: I will no longer let hubris dictate my decisions.

Olga Shandarivska ‘24

Polyphemus Perspective Piece Dwij Patel ‘24 A crash from far away woke me from my slumber and the dream of humans being dipped in wine. I thought it was just one of my herd, so I went back to sleep feeling the delicious sheep milk adhering to the skin of my heels. Craving the sweet and tangy taste of the milk, I licked some off the cave floor. Then I moved the boulder that serves as my door to go and meet with the only one I consider a friend. Wind and the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore that meets my home made me feel tranquil. We walked, grazing the sheep and talking about how annoying our wives were. Standing on vibrant green fields, we were in awe, admiring my father’s great gift to me. After a long day outside, I sat down to milk each of my precious sheep gently, cautiously, and carefully. By the time the chore was done it was dusk, and I felt very drowsy. I plopped myself to the ground and fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about wineflavored milk. In the middle of the night, I was woken up by the annoying voices of my neighbors telling me to stop snoring. Selfishly, I yelled at them for waking me up and told them to quit making noise. Although I knew how egotistic I sounded, I could not let those despicable, boring neighbors tell me what to do. If they mess with me, they would have to mess with my father, the brother of the almighty Zeus, Poseidon. The next day at home started in similar fashion: I woke up to the soothing sounds of my sheep. Knowing that I had woken up late, I immediately moved the jagged and brown boulder and escorted my sheep out of my cozy cave. Being in such a hurry, I trotted off with my sheep without returning the boulder to its rightful place. I didn’t think that any of the neighbors would come and raid my cave, for they would have to feel the wrath of my father and me! As the sun began to set, I proceeded back home with my little sheep with a great craving for the flesh of some little children. Or even adults. Upon arrival, I milked my herd ever so gently, then poured the sweet warm milk into jugs and went to grab some whey to gobble up. The whey did not satisfy, as I could not avoid the delicious smell that fueled my craving for human flesh. As fate would have it, I spotted the source of the delectable odor: group of juicy-looking humans sitting near a small fire. I snatched up two of them and ate rapidly, feeling the bones poking the roof of my mouth, and the skin gluing on to the inside of my throat. I thought about getting the others but felt too lazy and fell asleep, saving them for tomorrow’s treat. I planned to trap them in my lair until their puny little bodies got annihilated by my flesh-chomping bite.

There is no possible chance that their frail bodies could move the boulder! The next day, I was confronted by one of the members of the lost group of stupid humans. Although I had caused much pain to him by eating his companions, he offered me some wine.

Gulping down the wine, savoring the taste, and feeling oddly satisfied, I became calm. I asked this tiny man for more and requested his name. After three bowls, I felt very drowsy but learned this man’s name was Nobody. What a peculiar name! I knew I had to repay him for the luscious wine he had given me. Thinking deeply, I knew the perfect gift: I told him that he will be the last one eaten.

Considering I am such a monster compared to these minuscule humans, this was a very kind offer. Suddenly, I couldn’t seem to stay up any longer. In minutes, I could sense the aroma of humans and milk vanish, as well as the sight of Nobody becoming hazier.

Feeling strangely dizzy, I dropped down and fell asleep. I was then suddenly awoken from dreaming about eating humans by an excruciating pain coming from my eye. I tried to open my eye, but could not even budge it, for it was bleeding, stabbed with some sort of giant sharp stick. I knew those men weren’t up to any good; I should have feasted on all of them as soon as I spotted them!

Screaming in pain, I could hear my neighbors telling me to quiet down because it was so late at night. I tried to call for help by telling them that Nobody stabbed me in the eye! But those rude neighbors just did not answer, nor did they help me. Feeling pain and anger, I continued yelling. How could those little people do this to me?!? I fell back into a fitful sleep, and upon hearing the sound of chirping birds I realized that it was the next day. Knowing that I had to take the sheep out, I moved the boulder, but I made sure no humans were leaving by feeling the soft wool of each sheep that passed. For some strange reason, I could not feel any humans with my enormous hands. I thought they hadn’t left, so I closed the cave and headed out. Again, I was alarmed by a voice that somehow sounded just like Nobody. I turned toward the rocks and heard in the distance the man calling out my name and taunting me. Furious, I launched boulders at the origin of the sound, hoping it would teach him a lesson. I then realized who this strange man was: it was Nobody, whose real name was Odysseus. Now this dumb human made a grave mistake! I knew what to do. I prayed to father so he would seek revenge on this treacherous man from Ithaka. He will regret what he had done!

Max Huang ‘24

Polyphemus Perspective Piece by Emma Choy ‘24 Oh, the woe of enduring an ordinary lifestyle! The standard, regular, and inescapable routine I am made to abide by! I could have burgeoned into a maven of poetry, for that is what I aspired to become as the ambitious youth I was, not knowing that as a Cyclops, aspirations are for the asinine and feeble ones of this cursed species. So, on my island I have stayed, herding and milking and herding and milking and herding and milking my sheep: however, I have privately been refining my stanzas because a true artist cannot be contained! Although my creativity had never stopped flowing, the myriad of years I had lived without being able to share my art with the world or even having the ability to endeavor to undergo new experiences made me cold, bitter, and enveloped by the grief of isolation. These sentiments fermented within my lonely soul, creating the ‘beast,’ the ‘monster,’ the ‘behemoth’ who roams the stories that depict heroes and my kind’s ugly demise. I cannot deny the responsibility I hold for my misguided and slightly blindsighted actions, but do not say they were not provoked or had not kindled my roaring storm of a temper! Although I am dismayed by the false depictions of the spawn of Poseidon, what has caused me the most distress is my inability to compose a light-hearted haiku, sonnet, or epic. Why, gods, must I be plagued with so much sadness that swirls like one of father’s tempests? I have not experienced the love, joy, or hope that inspired the poets before me; therefore, those feelings cannot inspire me. Poseidon, mighty earth-shaker, bringer of storms, my dearest father, hear and send me a muse or some manner of inspiration that will take a hold of my brain, heart, and mouth to speak the finest words of poetry. As I prayed and groveled, looking into the ocean as Helios carried the sun away, a pod of the most magnificent dolphins I had ever seen rose out of the sea foam, twirling and jumping: I took this as a sign from Poseidon. The next day came and I excitedly awoke within my cave, the anticipation of waiting for the muse to strike was thrilling. However, time passed and the sheep within their pens began to bleat impatiently; I had never before asked a favor of my father, yet he denies me one when needed! Sighing and silently cursing the sea god and nymph who bore me, I released my agitated sheep and pushed aside the boulder that sealed my home’s entryway. Today, as apparently foretold by the Fates, I must continue to endure the repetitive shepherding of my herd, with my despair still bottled inside. As Helios visited the sky once more, my sheep and I returned home. I consumed my weight in cheese and whey, becoming lethargic with the amount of food I had guzzled. Blaspheming the gods once again as I entered my home, ready to devour mass amounts of dairy, I was welcomed by humans! This rare sighting of small, two-eyed creatures in my dwelling was, at the least, unexpected. In my heart, while staring at the men, I knew that this offering was my prayer answered by the savior of the sailors himself. By the gods, these puny little creatures were to be my muses! But they were also a source of flesh, something I had been deprived of for ages… Before succumbing to my greedy hunger, I, with civility, asked the man who seemed the figurehead of the assembly who they were and why they had stumbled into my abode? The man spoke, clearly articulating every word he uttered, and I was amazed by his coherent speech. This fluency was what I longed to obtain for my recitations of poetry! But the pit of my stomach swirled its acids, burning my insides, and my craving overtook my sensibilities.

With a flourish of my great hands, I grasped two men and feasted on their flesh. How the taste of iron in the blood smeared across my tongue and squirming meat satisfied my appetite! I sprawled contentedly across wooly sheepskins and lay till Dawn’s rosy fingers opened my eye. As I stood up, I was delighted to see that the men hadn’t been a dream sent to me by Hypnos. As I had done the night before, I captured two more men and brought them to my mouth, cleanly and delicately tearing flesh from bone. I strode out of the cave with my sheep and a skip in my step, ensuring that I securely closed the mouth of the cave. Leading my sheep to pasture, I briefly chaperoned them then silently absconded back to the cave’s entrance, listening through a small niche to my muses.

Eavesdropping, I heard marvelous stories of an island called Ithaka, a beautiful woman named Penelope, and recollections of a long and treacherous war: beautiful stanzas began formulating in my mind. As I latched on to every last detail in the stories, there was a noise in the background that sounded like the scraping of wood, yet it didn’t bother me in the least. The darkening of the heavens alerted me to the approaching night and I, as always, ventured to the pastures to retrieve the herd. Upon my return, I spoke again to the leader of the clan whose name he told me was, “Nohbody,” and he offered me exquisite wine that complimented the saltiness of human skin well. Intoxicated by only a few bowls of wine, Dionysus decided it be best for me to sleep; the last thing I had seen was Nohbody’s triumphant smile leering above me. Next thing I knew, I was awoken by a pain unmatched by any other through the center of my head: it was a pain so terrible that as I bellowed, I convulsed, as it felt as though Zeus’ thunderbolts had struck me through the eye. However, the cause of the pain wasn’t god-like at all, it was a wooden stake, plunged through my eyelid and impaling the white sphere in my skull.

Several foolish acts, opening the door to the cave being one of them, allowed Nohbody and the rest to flee from my clutches; the last I heard of them was from, thank the gods, my father’s territory. I fell on my knees and prayed to Mount Olympos and the depths of the ocean to set terrors upon Nohbody (whom I learned his real name was Odysseus, son of Laertes). Strangely, the horrific incident influenced me like nothing else, and I spoke the tale of Nohbody titled, The Odyssey, based on my father’s reports to me of the great tactician’s hardships.

Kellen Ievers ‘24

Polyphemus Perspective Piece by Max Huang ‘24

It was rapidly approaching nightfall as I headed back home. I directed my flock of sheep through the large entrance and carefully rolled the boulder which acted as a door into place. Everything felt normal at first, but as I relaxed my body and inhaled, I smelled a strange, unfamiliar scent. It was at this moment that out of the corner of my eye I noticed the little figures, men I believe, cowering in the corner of my cave. I went about doing my chores, buying myself some time to decide what I would say to these puny creatures.

After a while of going about, I turned towards them, deceiving them by acting surprised. I put on a façade to hide my contempt, kindly greeting them: “Hello strangers, how do you do? Tell me, who are you and where do you come from?” The one who seemed their leader, presumably the strongest man based on his looks, stepped up and spoke for the others.

“Please, treat us well. Take care of us and the gods will bless you.” I couldn’t believe he thought doing this would earn me “brownie points” with Zeus and the other gods; I wasn’t having it.

“Hahahaha!” I laughed. “I don’t care and I’m not scared of anyone. Anyway, where is your ship?” I couldn’t believe his response.

“I’m afraid we have lost our ship to Poseidon, who has broken it on the rocks.” If my father had something against these men, I did too. Without a word or the slightest bit of hesitation, I scooped up two of the men into my palm. They were screaming and clearly petrified, which I found hilarious. In order to instill a sense of fear into the rest of the men, I opened my mouth and squeezed the blood from their bodies into it. I then tossed them into my mouth. I chewed them up as a wood shredder does to trees, chopping each and every live limb into the smallest bits possible, bouncing them around, before finally swallowing them into the darkest part of its chamber. While I ate those men alive, most of the other men were making fools of themselves by waving their arms and bodies, doing some weird prayer to the gods. I could tell the men were scared but also furious; I was actually enjoying myself because it wasn’t like those weak little guys could do anything to me! Eventually, it got late, so I decided to call it a day and get some rest.

In the morning, I continued doing my regular routine and milked my sheep. After all this labor, I was feeling a bit hungry.

Thankfully, I remembered my visitors, who at this point were still sleeping. Helpless as they were, I showed no pity and snagged my breakfast, another two men. Now I was full, but I could sense my poor sheep were getting hungry and impatient. I took them to pasture, but not before making sure the opening to my home was completely blocked by the boulder. After a long day of grazing, I finally returned home. I entered, blocked the entrance, and then milked my sheep once again. I certainly didn’t forget the men were part of my new routine, so I grasped two more and chomped down, tearing their chewy skin, just as I’d done with the others. Then, much to my surprise, there was a change of events. The leader of the men stepped forward and said: “Please, accept my gift and have a drink of this luscious wine.” As it was the end of a long day, I took the wine and gulped it down without hesitation.

It was so good. “Give me some more!” I demanded. And so I drank bowl after bowl of this wine. I was becoming more curious about these men, specifically their leader, so I asked: “What is your name? I want to give you a special gift.” Of course, I just said the second part to get the answer to the first question, but he didn’t know this.

“A gift, you say. Well, my name is Nohbdy. You should call me Nohbdy,” he replied. I thought this was a rather peculiar name, but I didn’t say anything.

Instead, I exclaimed: “Haha, I fooled you! Your only gift will be seeing all your companions die, only for me to eat you right after.” After that, I can only assume that I fell over and passed out stone cold, on the floor.

The next thing I remember is waking up to the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! My eye, my eye!

Somebody help,” I screamed. I rolled around in pain as the juices in my eye squirted everywhere and sizzling embers flew from the weapon in my eye onto the rest of my body, burning my flesh. I was living my recurring nightmare!

“Help me, brothers. Hear my cries and come to my rescue,” I cried.

Just faintly, through the din I was making, I heard my fellow Kyklopês ask: “What is wrong, Polyphêmos?”

“It’s Nohbdy! Nohbdy’s stabbed me in the eye!”

“If nobody hurt you, then why are you making such a ruckus?” they asked. Still crying out in pain, I managed to stumble my way to the door and push the boulder from its place. Despite being distracted by the burning sensation that came from what used to be my eye, I was still thinking clearly. I knew the men would be eager to escape, so I guarded the only way out of my cave. To my surprise, no man attempted to escape that night. However, due to the shooting pain on my face, I could not sleep that night. So, I remained sitting by the opening.

Early in the morning, my sheep were running around my legs, anxious to leave. I patted each one carefully to feel their soft wool, making sure no men were passing. After a long pause, the final sheep came, and I shared my thoughts with him before sending him off to the fields. I waited a while, wondering if the men were still asleep, as I couldn’t hear them.

Then, in the distance, I heard their leader yell: “What’s up Kyklops! How’d you like that? It’s called karma—spelled K-A-RM-A, karma. Next time try not eating your guests, you nasty monster. Consider that your punishment from the gods!”

At this, I became even more furious—if that was even possible—and was determined not to let him escape. I charged towards the sea; grabbed the nearest thing to me, a large hilltop; and chucked it in the direction the voice had come from. I knew I had missed because I heard some of the men arguing with each other, though I didn’t know what they were saying. Then, the same man loudly declared: “It is me: Odysseus of Ithaka, raider of cities, son of Laërtês, who has stabbed out your eye.”

Now I realized my mistake. How could I have been so foolish as to believe that man in the first place? “All along I knew it was a man named Odysseus who was destined to take my eye! I just happened to picture you three times bigger in my head! However, it is your kleos that will come back to haunt you the most, for my father is Poseidon.” I prayed to my father and said: “Father, please hear me. Never let this man, Odysseus, son of Laërtês, return back to his home on the island of Ithaka. At the very least, put years of torment and despair in between him and his home.” After this, I launched one last boulder towards Odysseus and his crew, and I never heard of them again.

Elizabeth Wager ‘28

Ella Szilagyi ‘28

Helena Hejna ‘28

K. J. Wade ‘28

Rowan Kuick ‘28

Shreya Ramesh ‘28

Teddy Salzman ‘28

Kirke’s Perspective Teddy Krenteras ‘24

Immortality is the gods’ curse. It’s like the siren’s song—irresistible—and mortals sacrifice all that they have to gain the false blessing. I recall a man who became immortal. Initially, he was ecstatic. Immortality granted him stability, a guarantee that he would have sufficient time to experience and achieve all that life had to offer without the lingering fear of death. Over time, however, he grew bored. Born with a mortal’s perspective of life, he found his existence meaningless, even maddening. While his body survived the pressures of eternal life, his mind could not, and he snapped. Now he resides in Tartarus.

I was born immortal with a god’s perspective of life, yet I long for the thrill of mortality. I’ve seen millions of years pass while all beings and their environments undergo unimaginable change; alas, I do not partake in such development. Evolution is the natural order of life, but as a god, I do not belong to the natural world. I initially took solace in my curiosity, discovering all I could, devouring new knowledge, but it did not satisfy me. I tried walking through every street, every alley, but I grew weary of the fruitless search. Now, after ages of existence, I have grown idle, like a tool without a purpose. Still, I can reminisce on the past, when I marveled at the surprises life had to offer. One time was when I met Odysseus.

I heard a platoon of soldiers cautiously exploring the island. I welcomed them with open arms as they walked through the gates of my estate. At first, I felt pity for the men; I could see they were weary and grieving over their lost friends. However, my pity soon turned to disgust. I peered into their souls, and I saw that they were not moral folk that experienced poor luck while setting sail. The gods were punishing them for their brutality as they pillaged cities, feeling no remorse for the lives they ruined and the pain they inflicted on innocent people. They were pigs. I poisoned their wine to make their outward appearance reflect their beastly inner selves. Some may call my actions cruel, but I eventually turned them back to humans. I even made them more handsome and intelligent than before. I like to believe I changed them for the better, but I could tell they never found the exact error in their ways. When their leader arrived to save his men, I saw that he had received divine inspiration from the gods to rescue them, or was it the sad delusion of a man on the cusp of losing the last of his men? Regardless, I could tell he was unlike his soldiers. While he had condoned their unforgivable atrocities, he did feel great sorrow for his wrongdoings. I was hopeful that he was capable of redemption. Because of this, I played his game. Humoring him, I made him the hero of his own story and sent him on the right path.

I visited Odysseus several years later. He was content, living a quiet and virtuous life with his wife and grown son. Mortals often have an inflated sense of self-importance. They live their lives as if they are the center of the universe, when, in reality, they are a momentary blip living on a speck in the middle of the time-space continuum. Nevertheless, helping Odysseus brought me joy. I believe living one’s best life, whether mortal or immortal, is an endearing sentiment.

Ella Somaiya and Ivi Sluis‘24

Argos, Book 17 of The Odyssey Jocelyn Engel ‘24

Every living thing on this earth has a purpose. Something that they were made to do, and that brings them fulfillment. Without it, life would be insignificant. Endless days passing by, people living, people dying, nothing more.

A dog’s purpose is to serve man and to be fulfilled by that service. To sit at their feet and to be proud of what they are, or to wait to do so. And that’s what I did. Waited. For twenty long years. I will never forget the day that my master left.

It was like any other day for the most part. The sun was shining, the streets were busy, and men hurried through the town preparing for their journeys. I have always wondered what their journeys were about? If I was made to serve men, then what were men made to do? Where were they going? I had often seen my master leave for the day to help build ships for the journey or to store and pack food, but he always returned when the sun set. It had become like a rhythm to me. When the light came, he would leave; when the light went, he would come. I would wait by the door as soon as the light began to dwindle, and he would see me there when he returned and scratch my ears as he walked by. Some days he would train me, like he did when I was a pup. He would take me out with him, but never to hunt. Every time he brought my rope, I was hopeful that this time he would let me hunt, but every time he would say, “Not yet, Argos, I will take you to hunt when you’re ready.” I wondered when I would ever be ready, but then I reminded myself that waiting was my purpose, so I was patient and obedient. This brings me back to the morning when my master left. When he left the house in the morning, something was different, but I couldn’t quite put my paw on it. Everything outside our house was normal, but the inside was solemn and dull. Everyone else in the house was somber and tense, and even my master seemed distant and sad. When he passed me on the way out, he said to me, “When I return, I will take you to hunt.”

With that, he scratched my ears and left. That night I waited by the door for him, long past dark, but he never came. I did this the next night, and the night after that, but there was no sign of him. Still, I waited for the day he would walk through the threshold, scratch my ears, fetch my rope, and take me to hunt. I longed to succeed in my hunt and please him. After all, that was my job. As the months passed on, something changed in the house: it was quiet and cold, not like it used to be. I associated the absence of my master with the gaping hope that everyone in the house felt but would not acknowledge. One night, while I was waiting by the door for my master to arrive, a boy who reminded me of him came to sit at my side. He was weeping, and I wondered if he was sitting here waiting for my master to return, just like me.

Finally, he said, “He’s never coming back, you know. You might as well go spend your night doing something else.” I didn’t move, I didn’t know what to do. When I didn’t react, the boy became angry, “Well, what are you waiting for? There is nothing to wait for! You’re never going to see him again! He left us, and for all we know, he’s dead!” I stood, and the boy looked at me and yelled, “Go! Leave! Don’t just stand there waiting! Make use of yourself!” I ran out of the house.

I was frightened by the boy’s behavior, but what disturbed me the most was the boy’s unmistakable resemblance to my master. I was confused, but then I reminded myself that my master would never treat me like the boy had treated me. I wandered the familiar streets of my town for many days, eating scraps that I stole or anything that I could find. My only stroke of luck was when I met one of my master’s old friends. He recognized me and took me into his home, feeding and caring for me for several years. Over time, he grew old, and eventually let himself go to waste. I left his home in search of another who could look after me, but my appearance was not inviting. I, too, had gone to waste: I was old, gnarled, and malnourished. I survived only by stealing food. Every day I thought of my master and remembered his promise. I believe that is the only reason I stayed alive; I never stopped thinking about his return. One day, while I was lying on a pile of manure outside of my master’s palace, I heard a very familiar sound. It took me a minute to identify it, but then I realized it was my master’s voice, saying my name. It had been so long since anyone had called my name! I raised my flea-bitten head to look at my master. He seemed to have a divine presence about him, one that I had never seen or felt in a man before. I was filled with an overwhelming rush of happiness. After many years of surviving with little to eat and nowhere to sleep, I was seeing my master. I tried to stand and approach him. It was time to hunt, but my body was so weak and frail that all I could do was slowly move my paws and tail. My master looked down at me, a great sadness in his eyes. Tears ran down his cheeks and splashed in the dust below. Upsetting him caused sadness in my heart, too. One last time, determined to please him, I tried to stand. I summoned all my might to feel my master’s hands scratch my ears, but it was no use. I flopped down, and my body became limp. As I lay there admiring my master with my bloodshot eyes, I wondered something. When he left, maybe he was looking for what he was meant to do. Maybe he found it. Maybe the divine presence that he had about him meant he had found what he was searching for when he left. Maybe to find that, he had to leave me. Sacrifice me. That was my purpose. To be left behind and longed for by a man who was in search of a missing part of himself. I was something a man would miss and come back for. To draw him back from wherever he was, however great he had become. I was meant to humble him after he came back from living through hardships. I was the end of his journey. I had been his since my first day, and he would love me to my last. I would never hunt, but I would bring my master back, like a shepherd guiding his lost sheep home away from hardship and peril. With a feeling of fulfillment, I drew my eyes away from my tearful master and took my last contented breath.

“Never Listen to Your Friends”

by Carl Flocco ‘25 “I triple dog dare you to run on the field. If you do, I’ll pay your rent for three months,” my friend Max said to me.

“All right,” I said, “you have a bet.” `````````````````

I am the most passionate Michigan fan you will ever meet. “The Big House,” Michigan’s home football stadium, is my second home. Ohio State is the one team that gets me real ticked off, though, and unfortunately, the game is in Columbus this year at their stadium, known as “the Horseshoe.” My friend Max knows how much I hate Ohio State and love Michigan, and the Michigan-Ohio State game is this weekend. So, for my 20th birthday, Max got me tickets to the game. My birthday was on a Thursday, and the game was on a Saturday, so I had to get packing. We were going to leave Friday morning because it takes over three hours to drive from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Columbus, Ohio.

Friday morning came, I woke up, and while the sun and the animals were still sleeping, we hit the road. There wasn’t a lot of traffic because it was a Friday and everyone was in school or working, so we cruised and listened to the playlist we made the night before: country music the whole way down. We saw signs for Columbus and knew we were close. The stadium was our first stop, since the hotel was just a short walk from there.

So happy that we had finally made it, we got out of the car and walked around the stadium for a little bit. There were a lot of people sleeping in tents and tailgating from the night before. We were lucky enough to get a hotel room; the whole city was booked for this kind of rivalry. After a stroll around the famous Horseshoe, we decided to head up to the room to get some sleep before tomorrow’s big game.

“What day is it?” I scream to get Max up.

“Gameday!!!” he yelled back. We had all of our U of M attire on – maize and blue from head to toe. We were prepared to get booed, even punched.

It was 10:00 a.m. The game started at 3:30. We wanted to tailgate with some of our other friends that were going to the game. We left our room and got into the elevator, where there were two Ohio State fans! They looked to be in their 50s.

“You ready to lose? You guys have no chance,” the couple said.

“You just wait,” I responded.

It felt weird to trash talk with fans who were older than our parents. As we were walking to the stadium, we saw the streets were filled with Ohio State fans and students. There might have been ten other Michigan fans on the way to the stadium.

Max’s friend texted him: “We are at lot B section 12.”

We saw his friend, James, and started tailgating. James had one

Caroline Corbett, Zoë Holmes, and Emma Choy ‘24

of the best setups: cornhole, tvs, even a full-sized grill. We played a couple games of cornhole and ate some really tasty food; for this special occasion, he even grilled up some lamb chops! The stadium opened at 1 p.m. and we decided to pace ourselves, pack everything up, and go into the stadium. By 1:45, we finally reached our seats: right at midfield, eight rows up. We sat at our seats for a while and watched the warm-ups. There was one more hour until the game started, and my friend Max told me he would pay my rent for the next three months if I ran out onto the field. That was a dare I couldn’t afford to pass it up!

Ten minutes till kickoff, Michigan took the field. The boos drowned out the cheers.

When Ohio State came out, it was honestly one of the coolest experiences of my life.

So many fans were cheering for one team! As the game started, millions of thoughts ran through my mind: when should I jump, what are the consequences, what will my parents think?

I kept going up to the ledge after timeouts and even some plays.

I saw some openings, but security guards kept looking back. I think by now they are suspicious. Then, the perfect time came: 3rd Kellen Ievers and Katie Chung ‘24 quarter, timeout Michigan, security guards watching the sideline announcers. Max yells, “Go now!” I looked back and winked at him.

My hands cleared the walls, and I was on the field. Immediately after my feet hit the grass, I started running as fast as I could. I passed two guards with their backs facing me. And there I went, running across the field at the most exciting game of the year.

Security guards were chasing on my left and right, but they were so slow. I started to reach the Michigan sideline and I was headed for the tunnel. Then, out of nowhere, Tarik Black, a 6’3” 216-pound wide receiver, blindsided me. My life flashed before my eyes. Next thing I knew, I was in handcuffs and being escorted off the field, while everyone in the stands was cheering me as I left the stadium. I gave the crowd a thumbs up to let them know I was okay.

The security staff brought me through a tunnel. I didn’t know where they were taking me, but after a long walk, we reached an office with a sign: Head of Security. The security guard knocked on the door, and a deep voice said: “Come in.” When we walked into the office, they threw me in a chair. The Head of Security had a long talk with me.

“You obviously will be disciplined for your actions this evening. You will stay the night in county jail and will pay a $1,000 fine. Do I make myself clear?” he said sharply.

“Yes, sir,” I responded.

They escorted me out to the county jail where I was supposed to spend the night.

Obviously, I never got three months rent from Max. Instead, he bailed me out of jail and paid the fine, too!

Pierce Finkle ‘25

Emma Choy ‘24

Sadie Shapiro ‘25

Caroline Piccolo ‘25

The SEL Competencies Project

Katie Chung ‘24

Social Awareness

Self Awareness

Relationship Skills

Self Management

Responsible Decision-Making

Last fall, Katie Chung was asked to consider creating images for each of the Social and Emotional Learning Competencies used by the MKA community in our Advisory program. She collaborated with the Tri-Campus Social and Emotional Learning Committee and members of the Fine and Performing Arts Department to design these images, using her understanding of human interaction and art to build visual scenarios that represent these core ideas. The final images present the connections and relationships between human beings in a direct and beautiful way, and they will be used throughout the MKA community for years to come.

Students in Pre-K to 12th grade will look at Katie’s drawings and understand some of the goals we strive for as individuals within our community and the greater world.

Thank you, Katie Chung, for bringing these social and emotional competencies to life.

- Shanie Israel Director of Social and Emotional Learning and Community Life, Multicultural Curriculum Coordinator

“This I Believe” Madison Bartie ‘26 “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou. My parents taught me at a young age to treat everyone kindly, regardless of their age, race, gender, religion, or anything that makes us unique. Unfortunately, some people aren’t treated with compassion or fairness because of their age, race, gender, or religion. This lack of fair treatment, whether apparent or subtle, often leaves people feeling marginalized or devalued. As a result, they won’t forget that experience. I believe everyone should be treated equally.

When I was younger, I was required to take an IQ test for admission to a school in New York. My father asked if there were any black test administrators. The Director of Admissions responded to my father, saying, “Yes, but the administrator is a large black man, so you may not want to choose him.” I think about what the Director of Admissions said from time to time and wonder what the person’s intention was in saying that. What’s wrong with being a large black man? Does she think I’d be uncomfortable? Does she think I’ll be intimidated by him? Was she aware she was talking directly to a large black man? I’m not sure what her motivation was, but I do know her comments suggested being in the presence of a black man would evoke a negative feeling.

I wish that were the only example I could remember, but unfortunately, I’ve had other experiences that have engendered a similar feeling. In fact, one occurred at MKA. The comment came from a friend. She said, “It’s not fair, why do you get to do fun stuff? Why isn’t there a white girl affinity group?” The black girl affinity group exists because African-Americans still aren’t always treated as equals, even in a private school environment. Negative connotations still live on, giving African-Americans a bad rep. The affinity group’s purpose is to give black girls a chance to meet and get to know other people who share our experiences, so we have a network of support.

If everyone were more empathetic towards each other, the world would be a much better place. We’re all humans, so our minor differences shouldn’t affect us. We are all capable of being more considerate and responsible towards each other.

Willow Killebrew ‘25

Maggie Stanford ‘25

I Believe in the Concept of Time Julian Mathew ‘26

Countless people believe in time, but what exactly is time, and how do we perceive it? Time is the progression of events from past to present to the future. Time is like an arrow: starting from the past, going through the present, and pointing towards the future. Time feels like it can move faster or slower in certain situations. When you are doing something that you feel is boring or that you hate, you perceive time as slowing down to the speed of a snail. When you are gaming for what feels like only an hour, you find that lunch and the afternoon have gone by and now you have to go to sleep. Don’t you sometimes feel that the weekends go by in a nanosecond? Have you ever wondered what life would be like without time?

As a little child, I loathed time. I was wondering why time felt so inconsistent throughout life. Then I noticed a pattern. Speeding up and slowing down for no apparent reason… time did this with exciting and boring events. I started to wish that time was not a thing because of how inconsistent it felt. Even though I hated time, I still had to follow its principles. For a while, though, I envisioned a life without time while doing common things. I imagined people multitasking and having no sensible sleep schedule. That’s when I learned the value of time and my love for schedules.

Before I got used to things that I didn’t like (which was mainly time), I didn’t follow their principles. So I started to not use time and I was “late” to places (late is in quotations because without believing in the concept of time the word late can’t possibly exist). I ended up being taught that time was very important and if you do not believe in it, you’re probably not going to be very productive. When I used time and believed in its existence, I did better and was not negatively impacted. Time made me more organized, my classes were no longer all mixed up with weird starts and stops, and I managed to stop getting so angry at the sensation of time speeding up and slowing down. I cannot control time’s shenanigans, and there is no way to rid myself of those shenanigans, so I just have to cope.

Some people would say, “Why would I care about time being so important?”

And I say, “Well, what if time were not a thing we perfected the art of believing in?”

You are obligated to use it for a good reason. Not just because it is a good cause, but because it is extremely helpful in many ways. Heck, you use time! Now, have you thought about why time is so crucial? Imagine what I said before: A world where we didn’t perfect the art of believing in time. Take a moment and visualize that in your head. Go on… you have time. Pretty hectic, right? Is it only humans who think about a world without our useful concept of time?

“This I Believe” Andy Liu ‘26 Technology is a very important tool in life. Sometimes, it has even saved lives. It can appear as simple as a lifejacket or as complex as a robotic arm. I believe in technology because it is extremely important, it has changed my life in many ways, and of course, it works wonders when you’re bored.

Technology is a major part of life. Today’s technology includes phones, computers, cars, and many more useful creations. Think of a world without technology! No more video games, Netflix, TikTok, all that good stuff. Some of the ordinary things we have today, like paper, were massive “technological” breakthroughs in ancient times. Technology has also saved many people’s lives. For example, current medicines, surgeries, life jackets, or seatbelts use products or a process based on a type of technology. Another form of technology is communication, such as group chats, news broadcasts, and phones, which connect people in many ways. The modern world relies on technology to live, and that is why I believe in it.

I first became interested in technology when I went to a summer camp. I took a coding class using Scratch, and I was hooked. Since then I have gotten an Arduino Uno R3, which is a microprocessor board, and I have been programming with C++. I have also used Lego EV3 Robots (yes, Lego makes robots), VEX Robots, and others in my free time.

Some of my creations include a robot car, a robot arm, video games, a flashlight, and a color sorter. One interesting way this has affected me is now when I see a machine in action, I start to think about how it was programmed. As you can tell, my favorite aspects of technology are code and circuitry, because I like puzzles, and circuitry is like a puzzle to me.

When I am bored, I use technology to find something to do or to create. In fact, I have already decided what I am going to be when I grow up: a software engineer.

Technology has changed my life in countless ways, and there are many other people in the world - famous or not - that share this belief. Take Bill Gates. As a boy, he believed in technology and didn’t give up on that belief, and he founded Microsoft so others could also experience what he had envisioned. That is why I believe in technology.

Maggie Stanford ‘25

Willow Killebrew ‘25

“This I Believe” Ethan Offei-Addo ‘26 For the majority of my life, I’ve been eating Lucky Charms. I watched all the commercials, did all the puzzles on the back of the boxes, and, of course, chowed down on them. However, underneath all the marshmallow goodness, there was something lacking. My Lucky Charms craze had started for only one reason: Lucky the Leprechaun. With his green outfit, black buckle, and little gold four-leaf clover in his wondrous hat, I was instantly hooked. But as time wore on, I realized that there was something my tricky little friend was missing: treasure. I was about seven- or eight-years-old when I started looking through Lucky Charm boxes knowing full well that there wouldn’t be any treasure. But still, I looked. I looked so many times just the sight of a box without any treasure in it pained me. I became afraid to take Lucky Charms out of the box, thinking the emptiness would somehow pull me in. Then, when I turned nine, my world realigned.

McDonald’s runs were becoming more frequent in my family because of sports and along with them came Happy Meals. Within each Happy Meal was a featured toy based on a popular movie or social media post at the time, but of course, I didn’t care about that. I had found my treasure. Not to brag or anything, but back then I would call myself a pretty smart kid. I had figured that if Lucky Charms wasn’t going to put treasure in their boxes, I would. I took the toys from the Happy Meals and when we got home, I would rush to put them inside the box. Then I would come back a week later and find my “treasure.”

Most people would just look at me and shake their heads, but I would beg to differ. Not finding treasures in my cereal boxes had me very disappointed. So, instead of moping around and complaining, I decided to create my own joy. To create my own joy? It sounds like an alien phrase, but we actually hear it all the time: “Surround yourself with things you like.” That’s creating your own joy.

Every day people go about their routine lives not because they want to, but because they have to. Lives that may just consist of some of the dullest stuff that you could ever imagine. Those are the people who really need to find their own joy. In 5th grade, I was going through a bit of a rough patch, and just thinking back to the toys in the box brought cheerful memories to my head and a smile to my face. Finding a way to make life enjoyable is essential if you are striving to succeed in it. If you cannot find that happiness around you, I believe you must take it upon yourself to create it by your own means.

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/15/17619122/kaepernick-trump-nfl-protests-2018 It’s summer, about as hot as it gets in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I’m in a packed stadium far from home, throwing warm up passes, surrounded by booing Packers fans wearing yellow foam cheese slices on their heads. They dislike my team, the 49ers, simply because we’re not the Packers. I’m not among friends. There’s loud music playing over the sound system, but I can hardly hear it because I’m in my head, thinking about what’s about to happen. TV cameras, lined up on the sidelines and pointing down from the stands, are recording our every move. This is my sixth year in the NFL, but I still get nervous before each game. Today, I’m nervous for a different reason.

We line up for the national anthem, and my teammates put their hands on their hearts as they stand and salute the flag like we always do before each game. I have decided that today I will do something different.

I’m sweating, but the game hasn’t even started. I have pictured this moment hundreds of times, even talking it over with trusted friends. I’m sure of my feelings about how this country mistreats people of color, but it’s been hard to know what to do about it. I’ve considered my options; I’ve talked myself out of them; I’ve talked myself back into them. But the fact is I cannot stand what’s happening to black men and women in our country, so I cannot stand now. Instead, I take a knee. How could I have known that this peaceful act would cost me my career?

We lost that game, 21-10, but in my mind, I won the bigger battle. After that game and after every game I played following that one, the media would ask again and again why I was kneeling. People were analyzing my protest on every news channel. Fans of my own team would yell at me while I was on the field. Even my own teammates turned against me. I had clearly caused the ruckus I wanted. I had used my spotlight to get attention for my community.

The 2016 NFL season would end up being my last. But I cannot not be silenced.

-Slater Sackman ‘26

Protest Perspective Piece Mila Huang ‘26 Hi, my name is Jill, and I am from Jefferson, Pennsylvania. I was born into a low-income family with two brothers. I don’t have a good education, because my family didn’t have enough money for me to go to college.

Now, I am a single mom with a 7-year-old daughter. I have a full-time job at McDonald’s, but I don’t get paid very much. I get paid $7.25 per hour, and I am fighting for better pay. Today, I am going to a protest at Lincoln Square. My heart is beating hard: thump, thump, thump.

I get out of my car with my big red and white sign that says, “$7.25 will not keep my family alive. Raise the minimum wage!” All around me are other signs that have messages such as “Fight for $15!” or “$7.25 is not enough.” I join the stream of people walking around the square, but I feel a little strange since everyone else is chanting. I tell myself that this is all for my little girl, Kendall. She is a talented dancer with a dream to become part of the ALDC, which is an elite competitive dance team on a TV show called “Dance Moms.” Soon I start speaking out with everyone else. We are chanting, “What’s disgusting? Union-busting! What’s outrageous?

Poverty Wages!”

We stop yelling and form lines to walk to the center of the square. Someone to the left of me asks, “My name is Jayme. What’s yours?” I reply, “My name is Jill. I am here to get higher pay so that I can afford dance for my 7-year-old daughter, Kendall.” We easily became friendly. After the protest, we spent time together talking about the good and bad things going on in our lives and helping each other through the tough times.

We laughed, cried, and fought together, and finally, we succeeded. The minimum wage was raised, and we got a pay raise!

Four years later, I was able to make Kendall’s dream come true. Now she is 11-years-old and a great dancer. Even though there are some older girls that tower over Kendall, my little girl dances circles around them.

https://www.sayanythingblog.com/entry/minimum-wage-2/

The Name Game By: Evan Koserowski ‘25

“Michael B. Jordan” by Viraj Bansal ‘24

“Ben Affleck” by Matthew Bonarti ‘24

“Matt Damon” by Alec Delgado ‘24

He wore a black top hat and looked to be about 40 years of age. He had an unreadable expression on his face; no hints could be given away. When the man reached his target, he left a dent in her emotional life that could never be repaired. ````````````````````````` According to the instructions given, the woman showed up at the apartment building two days later. It was a mildly sunny day in the middle of spring. A large cherry tree by the old building had started to open its beautiful blossoms. The woman, who wore a red leather coat and a gray fedora, walked around to the back of the property and found the small, grassy field as instructed. Sure enough, a black SUV was waiting, glimmering in the sunlight. The grass was well-kept and cut short, filling up the entire area.

Bodyguards in black suits with black sunglasses and black ties stood by the vehicle. There was a little too much black in the picture for the woman, Sandra Smith, so she decided to focus on the beautiful scenery instead. Birds chirping, pine trees swaying, flowers blooming; it was one of the more beautiful days of the season.

“Hello!” said Sandra in a friendly tone, hoping to stay on the good side of these dangerous, muscular men.

They said nothing, but instead gestured to the black leather seats in the back of the SUV. She smiled at them again but got no response. She climbed into the back seat and strapped the seatbelt into the slot. Creeps, she thought to herself as they sped away towards their destination. Sandra gazed out the window and saw the lovely trees passing quickly by.

After a long ride, they pulled up and she saw four other people waiting outside. There was a mix of genders, races, and ages. When she stepped out of the car, she got to experience the full horror of “The Trouble House.” It was an old, ramshackle house made of wood with few windows that were all cracked. Massive vines and moss grew on the right side, extending towards the middle of the house, which was completely falling apart. The pathway leading up to the house was in the same decrepit condition as the house.

Sandra must have dozed off during the ride because it had become dark and gloomy outside. She felt as if she was in a horror-like murder mystery movie, and she shuddered at the thought. She should have thought twice about the dangerous situation, but she and the four other people were quickly escorted inside. Before one could say, “Lord have mercy,” they were trapped with no escape. Not that they could have, as the bodyguards surely would have restrained them.

“WELCOME,” said an eerie voice, “TO THE NAME GAME.” The six of them scrambled around, searching for this mysterious person. “TO ESCAPE THIS PLACE, YOU

MUST PLAY A RATHER FUN GAME,” the voice boomed, “WELL, NOT PARTICULARLY FUN FOR YOU!” The voice then proceeded to explain how the game worked: “ONE OUT OF FIVE CHOSEN PEOPLE WILL BE OUT TO KILL YOU, AND YOU MUST FIND CLUES AS TO WHO IT IS. YOU WILL BE PROVIDED THEIR NAMES AND DESCRIPTIONS SO YOU CAN MAKE SENSE OF THE CLUES. ONCE YOU CAN NAME THE PERSON, YOU MUST SURVIVE AND THRIVE…” the voice cut out and officially marked the beginning of the “Name Game.”

“This is insane!” exclaimed Sandra, “This was supposed to be a tour, not a murder mystery game!” The others agreed and decided to get out of this hellhole as fast as possible. After around 10 minutes, a tall, long-haired woman shouted for everyone else to come.

“I think I found our first clue!” she exclaimed as if it were her birthday. Everyone huddled around a small slip of paper with sloppy handwriting. It read: “The person you seek, is smart and cunning; what they will do for money, will make you go running.” They looked over the paper, trying to decipher the meaning when suddenly a loud shriek of pain struck the air.

The body was disgusting: it was covered in blood and had many deep grooves where the knife had repeatedly struck. Sandra hadn’t gotten to know the other people very well, but the person lying on the ground was one of the friendliest. As much as she wanted to stay and weep, she knew that they would have to continue on if they wanted to avoid having anyone else exit the world as painfully as this contestant had.

“Let’s look for more clues before the murderer strikes again,” suggested Sandra, “And how about we stick together this time so they can’t pick us off?” They rapidly started searching for more clues and eventually decided to split up into groups of two so that they could cover more ground. Sandra’s group finally found another sheet of paper and hollered out to the others. One person sprinted over and the other followed a few steps behind. Unfortunately, those few steps were enough for the cunning killer to pick him off. When the man lagging behind reached the trap zone, the wooden floorboards from above collapsed upon him. After Sandra and the rest of the contestants cleared out the debris, they found that a sharpened piece of wood with a deadly tip had impaled the poor man.

“NO!” shrieked a woman as she wept over the broken body. Sandra inferred that the two must have known each other before all this started. As the other contestant helped calm the bawling woman, Sandra looked over the newly-found clue and read the following: “This man you seek, has a very dark past; of bullies and capturers, it will make you aghast.”

After recalling the descriptions of the people that were the five choices and looking at the two clues, Sandra narrowed the killer to just two people: both were men, both desperately wanted money, and both had a very dark backstory. The one major difference between them was that one had little joy in his life; the other had none. She spread this valuable information with the two remaining contestants, and they rejoiced that they might actually get out of this horror house alive. They carefully searched for the final clue that would give them enough information to be able to name the killer.

But then, what would come next? The eerie speaker had said that they would have to “survive and thrive,” but he didn’t drop any hints as to what he meant. Sandra pondered the issue as the group of three crept stealthily around the house.

They then came upon a rather short corridor and sprinted down so the murderer didn’t have time to set up an intricate trap.

When they were dashing down, Sandra spotted a tiny fraction of a paper sticking out of a slit in the wall. They frantically ripped it out, trying not to fall in a trap. The paper was not as intricately written as the other two clues; it simply said: “THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE.” They heard a quiet creaking in a door and didn’t stay to find out what it was. They had learned from the past deaths that this man was not kidding around. Sandra knew who it was but wasn’t sure what to do. Out of sheer desperation, she shouted “John Larker!” Suddenly, a loud boom struck the air and the creepy voice jolted back on: “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE MURDERER. NOW, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GIVE HIM A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE…” the voice cut off again, and Sandra knew exactly what to do.

She explained her plan to the others and they agreed to help. After they precariously set up the murder-killing trap - all they needed was bait - they created a decoy contestant for the murderer to attempt to prey on. They hid on the second level and, after a few minutes, they heard a loud “crack” followed by a pained screech. After a few more shrieks, there was nothing but cold silence. They found that their trap had worked and a sharpened piece of loose floorboard had gruesomely ended the murderer’s life. Not that he really had much to live for, Sandra thought as they heard a click, meaning that the door was unlocked. They had won.

They were rewarded with a bribe of $10, 000 dollars each so they wouldn’t tell anybody of their “interesting and exciting” game. Sandra eventually recovered from the initial shock of what happened when trapped in the horrible house, but she would never forget the bizarre “Name Game” that the mysterious man in the black top hat had succeeded in burning into her brain.

The Golden Coin

By Raymond Xu ‘25 Jack was staring at his most recent—and most prized—addition to his coin collection. Right after he heard the news that the local library was lending the rare coin out to collectors, he rushed to claim it. It was made out of solid gold and among the rarest coins in the world, and just touching this coin was a lifelong desire. He savored the thought that he was one of the few people in the world to have ever held this magnificent collectible. He tossed it up to the sky to see it in all of its wonderful detail. He knew he probably shouldn’t be so careless with such a precious item, but he couldn’t resist it. He marveled at all the wonderful qualities of this treasured coin.

As he ate dinner and saw dusk falling, he realized how nice the coin would look with a sunset in the background. He needed to document it! He started shoving the rest of the food in his mouth, so quickly that he almost choked. But he didn’t care—he was racing against dusk and time itself. After his supper, he ran to his room to get his camera. Great. It wasn’t there. Probably his little sister—yet another reason he thought justified his malevolent pranks on her. He rushed to his sister’s room to retrieve the camera, then headed down the stairs. He had some pictures to take.

As he looked through the kitchen window, he admired the vivid blend of red, orange, and yellow, with several radiant streaks of light coming from the orb so brilliant that it could only be seen while setting without hurting one’s eyes. He imagined his golden coin reflecting a ray all the way back to the sky. He reached for the coin, but it wasn’t on the table where he left it. Then he saw, on the marble table outside, his sister, the one usually oblivious to everything other than destroying his precious things, staring at the coin. Could his sister be admiring it, having finally realized the elegance of coin collecting? No. That wasn’t possible. Something had to be wrong. Was she trying to cover it with her finger paint, claiming to be decorating but actually ruining it? Could she be trying to vandalize it? Jack wouldn’t put anything past his sister. After all, this was the same sister who tried to draw a smiling tree on the cover of his coin case. As if trees had anything to do with coins. Why did she have to ruin everything?

Jack moved outside furiously, annoyed at his sister for taking his precious possession. She could be about to destroy it at any moment now! Also, he needed the coin back immediately, before the sun set; otherwise, there would be a beautiful backdrop no more.

Suddenly, she exclaimed, “Hey Jack, catch!”

Jack caught it. Then, he tried to throw it back at his sister, feeling a sudden burst of empathy and thinking that playing catch with her was the least he could do after tormenting her so much. But he aimed poorly, and it went nowhere near his sister, shattering into pieces on the rough stone paving of the patio. He stomped up to his sister, fists clenched, ready to vent his anger on her, not wanting to admit that he actually caused this accident.

As he seethed with anger, wanting to scream in her ear for all of the problems she had caused to him, she backed away nervously and yelled, “Wait! Jack! You shattered that coin shattered into pieces! Why are you angry at me?”

“I’m angry at you because you shattered that priceless gold coin! Why else? I threw it perfectly, and you didn’t even try to

“Robert Downey Junior” by Sebastian Gonzalez ‘24

“Zendaya” by Yaelin Hough ‘24

catch it! The thrower holds no responsibility for the idiocy of the catcher! Thanks to your gross negligence, I now may have to pay an exorbitant price to replace what is irreplaceable!”

“But gold is one of the most malleable materials, and it doesn’t shatter! So that must not have been the actual coin!” replied his sister, with a smile creeping up her face.

Jack was reluctant to admit that his little sister was right—after all, he was right more often than not, and plus, what did his little sister know? But he knew that gold doesn’t shatter.

He was given a fake. But how was he supposed to explain that the supposedly priceless coin he borrowed was a fake? He couldn’t even prove that the coin did shatter, for if anyone wanted to argue, they could just say that he took the real coin and gave some pieces of a fake in return. A chill ran up his spine. If he hadn’t tried to make his sister happy, he wouldn’t be facing such a predicament.

He imagined serving a life sentence behind bars for stealing an extraordinary treasure. His only chance now was to see if the librarians would believe that the coin they lent him was fake. The chance wasn’t good, but he had to try—what else could he do?

Dejected, he started walking back to his house to call the library. How was he supposed to explain this? His little sister seemed to be following him, maybe to laugh at his misfortune, maybe just reflecting on how good she was at causing harm, or possibly even to apologize, but he didn’t care. Even an apology wouldn’t magically make the coin come back together. Any time his sister tried to speak, he just walked faster. He was fixated on finding a way to explain this mess. After reaching the stairs, his feet started feeling heavier and heavier. After several steps, he could continue no longer; he stopped, sobbing. That was when his little sister finally got her chance to speak.

“I made a placeholder out of clay for you so you didn’t have to move such a heavy object around while positioning the camera,” his sister explained. “That was the one that broke. Not the original coin!”

Jack then realized how much his little sister always tried to help, even when he was being extremely hostile toward her.

She had never retaliated when he blamed his own mistakes on her; oftentimes, she actually tried to comfort him. All of the seemingly destructive actions she did were actually done in good faith. It was just that he did not appreciate her sincere efforts as much as he should have. Then a thought came to him: If he broke a placeholder coin that his sister made, he ruined something precious to her, something that she may have toiled to create, as it was quite a meticulous replica! He realized that now he had to apologize to his sister for breaking her work, and then getting mad at her. He still had more than a week left until he had to return the coin. But now he had to atone for breaking something of his sister’s.

“Let’s play your favorite game—this time with an actual ball on the soft grass,” he said.

“Sure!” she replied, glad that for once her brother genuinely wanted to play with her.

“Julia Roberts” by Olga Shandarivska ‘24

“Kate Walsh” by Milagros Carbajal-Diaz ‘24

“Benedict Cumberbatch” by Hanna Levine ‘24

Seline Abdulhayoglu ‘28

Madison Lee ‘28

Kurt Kiang ‘28

Sophia Ochs ‘28

CLIMATE CHANGE’S NEXT PAWN: The Brutal Bushfires in Australia

by Stephen Hatfield ‘24

On December 31, 2019, thousands of residents living on the southeastern coast of Australia departed from their hometowns, seeking shelter on the ocean. During 2019, Australia experienced its worst drought and hottest weather on record. Since the beginning of 2020, fires have ripped through the city of Sydney, consuming an area in the Blue Mountains larger than the state of Rhode Island. Firefighters have been combatting hundreds of separate fires in the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Ecologists have estimated over a billion animal deaths that include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fish, and much more.

Across all of Australia, there have been 24 deaths, more than 1,000 homes lost, and almost 20,000 square miles of land burned, leaving one question in everybody's heads. Why is this happening?

The sweltering, arid climate of Australia partially creates the abominable bushfires that have provoked so much terror. Almost the entire continent is classified as a desert or semi-desert, as the amount of precipitation falls between eight and sixteen inches per year. This amount is significantly lower than other countries like the United States, where the annual amount of precipitation is approximately thirty inches. Despite this area being perfect for wildfires to thrive in, humans often purposefully set fires to

A mother and her kids sheltering in their boat on the water in Victoria, Australia. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENFLl_9UcAYcI1S.jpg

benefit the well-being of forests. For example, if a forest in an arid area has not burned down, but it continues to grow underbrush and plants of that nature, there will be more fuel to generate a more significant fire later on. Due to this, people burn the underbrush with small fires to prevent the possibility of a bigger problem. Also, various plants include fire

1

in their reproductive cycles. When a fire starts, a plant's seed pods open, and the seedlings that survive the fires flourish in their new environment because of the lack of competition for light and nutrients. Following each bushfire, the residual ash, which is abundant in nutrients and can make for fertile soil, can assist the seedlings in repopulating the burned-down region.

While the dry climate of Australia most likely resulted in the bushfires, other factors may have contributed to the destruction that we have seen these past few weeks. For instance, many of the plants in Australia are remarkably flammable. The Eucalyptus tree contains an oil that can cause an explosion when it comes into contact with a fire of any sort, which can then spread throughout the rest of the forest. Lighting strikes, heavy winds, and even unintentional fires set by humans that grow out of control can also cause bushfires. Infamous bushfires that have occurred in Australia's history are Black Thursday (1851), Black Sunday (1926), Black Friday (1939), Black Tuesday (1967), Ash Wednesday (1983), Black Saturday (2009), and the Blue Mountains bushfires (2013). Massive droughts, arid conditions, and high winds were the main factors of all of those bushfires. However, residents also tried the previously-stated strategy of getting rid of all of the underbrush in a forest so that the bushfire is less intense, but it did not work for them, and it actually made the fires worse. Black Thursday and Black Saturday were two of Australia's worst bushfires on record. Black Thursday was the largest of them, consuming approximately twelve million acres of land, while Black Saturday was the deadliest, killing 173 people.

The climate of Australia is the primary source of the bushfires. Climate, the predicted pattern of weather, has been changing over the past century. Climate change impacts our society in many ways, not just with bushfires. When we drive our

cars, fly on planes, or burn fossil fuels in any way, we release carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide that we release into the air gets stuck in the atmosphere, causing all of the heat that the Sun exudes to stay inside of our atmosphere, gradually increasing the temperature of the Earth. This process is called the greenhouse effect. Another incident in Australia that is caused by climate change is the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world, and it is located off of Queensland, Australia. It has been going through a process called bleaching over the past few years.

Bleaching is a result of the water temperature of the ocean increasing, and the coral essentially turning white and slowly dying. According to Amy Fossett, a science teacher at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, NJ, climate change worsened the bushfires; however, the bushfires will also worsen the effects of climate change. She says, "[The bushfires] are worse than usual because global warming has caused drier conditions, so there is more dry wood to feed the fires. The forest fires are

Map of Australia that shows the locations of hundreds of bushfires. https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/australiafires.png?w=800&quality=85

2

releasing a tremendous amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. And, those burnt trees can no longer do photosynthesis, one of the best ways to get CO2 out of the atmosphere."

Climate change is not only a scientific topic of conversation but also a political one. Australians have been very fed up, to say the least, with their prime minister, Scott Morrison. He continuously denies the importance and existence of climate change, denying heat-trapping emission taxes, and dismissing any other step to reduce the dilemma. No policies have changed since all of the destruction occurred, either. Bill Hare, director of Climate Analytics, says: "The thing that strikes everyone about the present situation is the federal government's disengagement and lethargy, to put it politely." Australians believe that their government is no longer giving them the protection that they need.

Why is this happening? It is happening because of climate change. It is happening because of us. However, not only are we the ones that cause this immense issue, but we are also the ones that can stop it. A straightforward way that we can lessen climate change even in our communities is by only taking the bus to places. The bus is always going to run, but your car doesn't need to. If you take the bus, ride your bike, or walk to the places you need to go to, you are reducing your SOURCES carbon footprint.

There are also more expensive ways to help lessen the effects of climate change like getting solar panels for your house. Solar panels allow a home's energy to come from the Sun, not from the fossil fuels that we burn.

A final, more active way to help would be to take the

Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, and the defense minister, Linda Reynolds. https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/01/03/world/00ozpolitics-6/merlin_166622544_11917225-04e3-4e19aaad-5b6e666121f7-superJumbo.jpg? quality=90&auto=webp

issue to the government. Write letters and petitions, form protests, and make it known that change must happen in order to prevent widespread fires and other tragedies from occurring.

Gunia, A. (2020, January 3). Australia Bushfire Map: Fires Rage Outside Every Major City. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https:// time.com/5753584/bushfires-australia-catastrophic-fire-alert/.

Bushfires in Australia. (2020). In World Book Student. Retrieved from https://www.worldbookonline.com/student-new/#/article/home/ ar755388.

Climate - Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/australia.

Average Annual Precipitation by State. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/averageannual-state-precipitation.php.

What is climate change? (2018, December 3). Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/scienceenvironment-24021772.

Australia burning. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/australia-burning/.

Albeck-ripka, L., Tarabay, J., & Kwai, I. (2020, January 5). As Fires Rage, Australia Sees Its Leader as Missing in Action. Retrieved

3

Katie Chung

January 23, 2020

THE SECRET VICTIMS OF U.S. SLAUGHTERHOUSES “But when you’re standing there night after night, digging that knife into these hogs… it gets to a point where you’re at a daydream stage. You become emotionally dead. [You] get just as sadistic as the company itself. When I was sticking down there, I was a sadistic person… The worst part, even worse than my accident, was what happened to my family life. I’d come home, my wife would ask me how my night went, and instead of being happy to see her, we’d get into arguments about stupid things… then I wake up the next morning and start all over again.”

LiveKindly: Slaughterhouse workers are constantly burdened with threats of deportation and discharge

Who Are Slaughterhouse Workers?

What Do They Do? Slaughterhouses provide a variety of jobs that serve different purposes for each employee. “Blood, Sweat, and

Above is a recollection from Tommy Vladak,

Fear,” an article from the “Human Rights Watch,” informs

a former slaughterhouse worker interviewed

readers of many of the tasks that workers must complete.

in Gail A. Eisnitz’s Slaughterhouse. During his time at one of America’s biggest industries, Vladak suffered from both mental and physical trauma: he accidentally stabbed himself in the face (leaving a permanent scar), received mental abuse from “officials,” went through a messy divorce, and felt stuck in a vicious cycle that overwhelmed his life. His interview mentioned the meatpacking company Morrell’s deliberate ignorance of state regulations, lack of safety, concealment of their legal infractions, and more - all issues that make constant reappearances in America’s entire meat industry. In reality, thousands of workers like Vladak are exploited by the same industry and their officials; unfortunately, convenient stores enable American citizens to easily access meat without considering the wellbeing of those who prepare the product. Thus, these employees are stripped of their rights and left in the shadows, hidden from the media.

In other words, American slaughterhouses are failing to keep regulations that successfully maintain safe working conditions.

Some workers are in charge of killing and bleeding animals; According to the “North American Meat Institute,” America’s meat industry processed the following in 2017: 9 billion chickens, 32.2 million cattle and calves, 241.7 million turkeys, 2.2 million sheep and lambs, and 121 million hogs. Seeing the enormous amount of animals that are killed, one can imagine the massive number of employees who must slaughter them. In a study conducted by the “Food Empowerment Project,” the extremely high turnover rate of the industry usually exceeds 100% every year. In order to hire a sufficient amount of workers to support their companies, slaughterhouses

some make a series of cuts to separate fat, muscle, and bone; and, some handle machines that are capable of killing humans as well as animals. No matter the task, all workers face significant dangers that can inflict great physical and mental damage - but can be reduced by slaughterhouses updating their working condition regulations.

What Health Hazards Do They Face?

deliberately search for potential laborers in lowincome communities and do everything they can to

Because of the traumatic and draining work that meat

pressure the laborers to stay. Immigrants

industry employees do, physical and mental health

(many who are illegal) are also a common target for

hazards are imminent. However, many of their injuries are

slaughterhouses to hire due to their “vulnerability”:

ones that violate human rights and can easily be

many prefer slaughterhouse’s wages over their old jobs, cannot speak English (making them easy to manipulate), and are desperate for a job - no

prevented by authorities. An EBSCO article called “Factory Killing” reveals many of the physical injuries that befall those who work in slaughtering facilities. According to this

1

matter the physical and mental sacrifices. In

article, “While processing up to 400 head of cattle per hour,

another recent study conducted by the “Food

meatpackers are subject to cold working conditions and

Empowerment Project,” it was revealed that 38% of

slippery floors as they wield the electric knives necessary

slaughterhouse workers were born outside of the

to break down carcasses.” When people must work with

United States.

sharp tools at abnormally fast

Katie Chung

January 23, 2020

How Are Slaughterhouses Hiding Their Horrible Working Conditions?

In order to avoid possible penalties for “inadequate” working conditions, slaughterhouses try to conceal them. One way to hide their working conditions is to

Scalawag Magazine: Slaughterhouse workers face countless physical and mental dangers

refrain from reporting injuries. Although most workers are afraid to report injuries for fear of losing their income, many corporations pay supervisors an annual bonus for reducing the workers’ complaints. At one facility studied by the “Food Empowerment Project,” a poster in the break room said: “0 Injuries Reported = End of Month BBQ.” The study also discovered that the industry has failed to report that the OSHA injury form was recently re-written without the category of repetitive stress injuries- the most commonly reported injury in slaughterhouses. Another

paces, cuts and wounds become common- some of which can leave people with lifelong disabilities, while others end their lives. In an interview with Michong Son, a lawyer in the Denver Injury Law Firm, she says this: “Based on the some of the studies performed regarding the slaughterhouse working conditions, the rate of meatpacking workers who lose time or change jobs because they are injured is 70% higher than the average for manufacturing workers.” This is a blatant indication of the lack of safety in the entire meat industry’s working conditions. In addition to physical hazards, mental hazards are also common in slaughterhouses. Gail Eisnitz, the author of Slaughterhouse, states: “Many of the individuals I interviewed described suffering from alcoholism, while others explained that they had taken out their frustrations through physical violence directed at their wives and children.” In

method of hiding working conditions is by limiting “freedom of association.” In a report by the Human Rights Watch, the following was said: “Many workers who try to form trade unions and bargain collectively are spied on, harassed, pressured, threatened, suspended, fired, deported or otherwise victimized for their exercise of the right to freedom of association.” This prevents workers from speaking out against their horrid working conditions, leaving them to suffer in the dark.

Our Collective Responsibility

her book, additional interviewees mention suicidal thoughts, addictions to drugs, and violent temptations that originated from their long hours.

In a nutshell, the American meat industry and slaughterhouse businesses must update their working conditions for the wellbeing of their employees. Tommy Vladak, only one of the many victims of the corrupt industry, has suffered from permanent consequences brought upon his health and personal life. The constant

Why Not Quit?

Yes, you agree, slaughterhouses should most definitely update their working conditions - but why can’t workers simply quit? It’s not like they’re forced to work at such dangerous places… right? The truth, which is most unfortunate, is that quitting is not an option for many of the workers. According to the “Food Empowerment Project,” many illegal immigrants intentionally work at

need for workers has motivated officials to hire illegal immigrants and from lowincome communities, taking advantage of them with daily threats of deportation and discharge. While stuck at the slaughtering facilities, the entire workforce faces imminent physical and mental injuries… but none of the industry’s wrongdoings are reported, as they stay vigilant of potential revolts, bribe other corporations, and tamper with statistics. To cease the suffering of thousands of slaughterhouse employees, we must raise awareness of the issue and push the American meat industry to reform their working conditions.

slaughterhouses because of their “deals.” Very few businesses will hire illegal immigrants without reporting them to the government; slaughterhouses are the exception. Going back to “Who Are Slaughterhouse Workers?”, the meat industry wants illegal immigrants because of their fear of deportation. Thus, immigrants work in fear: if they show any sign of quitting, their officials will threaten them with deportation. This results in a giant collection of indentured employees who cannot escape the inevitable consequences. Another reason why workers cannot quit is because of financial needs. The “Food Empowerment Project” mentions that slaughterhouses are quick to hire almost anyone because of their high turnover rates, and the jobs don’t require any sophisticated education or degrees. This “easy” method of employment attracts many people in extreme poverty. Unfortunately, this also means that those in poverty don’t have other immediate job options besides the meat industry, causing constant fear of discharge and forcing them to undergo the slaughterhouse’s horrid conditions.

2

Damian Polansky j ‘27

Atyana Thomas ‘27

Daniel Chung ‘27

Evan Pratt ‘27

Daniel Kim ‘27

Culture

January 26, 2020

LIGHTS, CAMERA, …ASIANS? Underrepresentation of Asian-Americans in Movie Making

By Emma Choy

Typical Asian Stereotypes (Briones, "Asian Actors Are Still Only 1% of Hollywood's Leading Roles", 2017)

- Industrious but anti-social - Awkward and inexpressive - All Asians are East Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.)

- All Asians look alike - All aspire to become doctors - Consistently good at mathematics

Remember being a kid and having that one instance where you believed that a spotlight would bathe you in its radiance, a red carpet would beckon your feet to walk upon it, people would idolize you, and you would be praised and applauded

Culture

Images of Asian actors Ryan Higa, Lana Condor, and Karan Soni replicating the scene from the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/06/t-magazine/06tmagasianamerican-slide-70Y8/06tmag-asianamerican-slide-70Y8superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp)

because you were a star? This fantasy of grandeur may be a common dream among many people, but it is a rare reality for those a part of America’s minority status.

Asian-Americans, African-Americans, LatinoAmericans, and other races have few recognized faces in today’s entertainment industry. However, there has been an upward trend of diversity in entertainment, and people of Asian descent have begun to slowly rise past cultural generalizations that society has set regarding film, television, music, and many other entertainment industries.

1

Culture

The list of Asian stereotypes displayed above is only a few of the many misconceptions that pigeonhole Asians who don’t necessarily fit into those categories. Lianah Sta Ana, for instance, is not unsociable, a doctor, a Kung Fu maven, or of East Asian heritage: she is a young professional actress and singer of Filipino descent who made her Broadway debut in the revival of the musical, Miss Saigon, at seventeen-years-old and has appeared in various television shows and plays.

Despite not conforming to several of the stereotypical Asian classifications, Ms. Sta Ana has proven successful at only twenty-one in her performing career. She said, "This is kind of cliche, but you get some type of calling to do it. I felt very much like it was where my life was heading." Her vision of being in entertainment became her reality, and she has accomplished much. The accolades she has won have not only been significant in exhibiting her talents, but also in representing her nationality. In 2010, Ms. Sta Ana was the

Culture

January 26, 2020

first Filipino-American, out of its then seven-decade history, to have won the Apollo’s prestigious award at the Apollo Amateur Night. Being a ‘first’ winner must have been extremely exciting, but with the Apollo’s prodigious past, isn’t it strange that it took seventy years for a FilipinoAmerican to ever win the legendary award? Ms. Sta Ana recalls her breaking of history stating, “It was kind of crazy for me to think that I was the first Filipino-American to win that. At the time, I was also so young too so it didn’t really hit me. Especially at that age, you never really think of race or ethnicity being a barrier. ” Ms. Sta Ana is one of many Asian performers who are conquering stereotypes and beginning to create new opportunities for Asian people being seen in entertainment.

There’s no question that committing to a career in the world of entertainment involves obstacles that may hinder one’s way to success, but when one is a minority, it becomes increasingly more challenging. Ms. Sta Ana is following this immensely demanding path as a minority and as a female, and when asked if she faced any struggles she responded with, “The past two years have really been a learning and growing experience for me trying to navigate this industry as a young professional and being thrust into it at a very young age, so I think my inexperience definitely was a struggle to overcome. I think we get a lot more nos than yeses, but the yeses always feel nice.” Khoa Le is a seventy-five percent Vietnamese and twenty-five percent Chinese director, editor, and CEO of a production company who has also had his share in the struggles that being Asian in entertainment poses. Before he began thinking about his future career, he and his family escaped from communist Vietnam in the 1970s, immigrating to the U.S knowing no English and having to “… fight for survival.” The stories that he is creating now seem to be inspired by the adversity he had faced in the past; emotional storytelling has become his method of influencing and inspiring society. His film Walt Before Mickey presented to the audience the early life struggles and perseverance of the cartoon pioneer,

2

Culture

Walt Disney, and his ascension to fame and glory.

This reflects Mr. Le's desire to provoke and motivate the good in others.

As reported in the article, Why Do Asians Remain Largely Unseen in Film and Television (Thessaly La Force, 2018), only one percent of Hollywood’s Asian actors have had the opportunity to be cast as the leading role in films. What's ironic is that white actors playing roles designed for Asians have been nominated and have won more academy awards than those of Asian origin. In the blockbuster movies, Dr. Strange and Aloha, roles for those of Asian heritage were played by white women: in other words, casting in movies has been whitewashed and performances are obscured by society’s biased stereotypes.

The Tibetan monk or Ancient One who guided superhero, Dr. Strange, on his journey to clarity was played by Tilda Swinton, and the Chinese and Hawaiian Oahu resident was portrayed by Emma Stone.

However, these movies were released four years ago, so have directors developed a new mindset about casting with more diversity? When asked whether auditions have recently been conducted in a Culture

January 26, 2020

colorblind manner, Ms. Sta Ana took the question and revised it, converting the term ‘colorblind’ to ‘colorconscious’. She went on to further explain the distinction between the two terms, and she elucidated her convictions of what’s been happening behind the scenes by saying, “Colorblind is when you don’t regard race as a factor. I am more of a fan of color-conscious casting because you take into account a person’s race or ethnicity and what that could bring to the role versus just ignoring it for colorblind casting. I think it’s a good thing that people are practicing more color-conscious casting and calling in more actors of color because they recognize that a different perspective is a good thing.”

Tilda Swinton in her role as the Ancient One in the Marvel movie, Dr. Strange https://www.indiewire.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/04/tildaswinton-3.png?w=780

Emma Stone in her role as Allison Ng in the movie, Aloha

https://images.complex.com/ complex/image/upload/ c_limit,dpr_auto,q_90,w_720/ fl_lossy,pg_1/ apor3audcrqagjgcsqje.jpg

Crazy Rich Asians became an icon for the year 2018: the blockbuster recruited the first all Asian cast since 1993’s Joy Luck Club, released twenty-seven-years ago.

The entertainment industry has finally shone a different light upon Asian cultures: Kung Fu movies are not only what people of Asian background are being defined by.

However, despite the movie having a sensational impact on the world, those twenty-seven-years, almost three decades, acted as eons since Hollywood added more races, more ethnicities, and more cultures into their films. Although the movie was a hit for the actors and the investors, there

3

Culture

Every Asian Actor Who Has Won an American Academy Award (Figure 2)

3.9% of Asian actors have had an active speaking role in movies 1958 - Miyoshi Umeki (Oscar) 1983 - Sir Ben Kingsley (Oscar) 1985 - Haing S. Ngor (Oscar) 1% of Oscar nominations have gone to Asians in its 91 year history 2020 - Awkwafina (Golden Globe)

"

In the history of all academy awards, only 4 Asians have won for their acting roles

were complaints regarding what happened or what didn’t happen after it was filmed and released… Mr. Le had opinions and a more analytical perspective on what should have been done for the post-production publicizing of the film: “I’m disappointed with Crazy Rich Asians for a couple of reasons because they had an opportunity to bring the Asian community Culture

January 26, 2020

up and different discussions around that and they didn’t.

Crazy Rich Asians could’ve been a big topic and someone could’ve just taken that movie and spun it off to something much bigger: create events out of it…" “Then all of a sudden Crazy Rich Asians dies out and nobody cares anymore.” Will it be another twenty-seven-years before Asian stories climb the ranks of film again? Maybe, but the recent comedic-drama film, The Farewell, starring actress Awkwafina and others, primarily of Asian background, received significantly high ratings. There were also several nominations for academy awards and Awkwafina made history as the first Asian woman to ever win a Golden Globe in the leading actress category. However, this hasn’t been enough due to the overall outbursts of anger concerning the lack of diversity in the current Oscar nominations: the award ceremony is suffering from a case of deja vu, living up to its past hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

Addressing this, Ms. Sta Ana said “… that this is the downside of maybe the trend of diversity because it’s like a blessing and a curse. People saw that 'Oh, minority films are getting a lot of recognition in the box office. Maybe we can make more money producing an all Asian film.’ I also think that that’s something that has a play in it. But if it gives us more opportunities to get Asian faces out there, I’m not complaining, you know?” Hollywood and the overall entertainment industry seem to shy away from projects involving Asian culture, but why is that? Ms. Sta Ana speculated that the issue preventing films and award shows to diversify was, “Because Hollywood is afraid of doing it wrong. Because in so many instances, the Asian story has been told through the white perspective.”

Actress, Awkwafina, after

winning a Golden Globe in the leading actress category for her role in the film, The Farewell https://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/ newscms/ 2020_02/3172606/200106awkwafinacs-941a_88451120bf8c1fb40f71 81cff171f528.fit-760w.jpg

4

Culture

January 26, 2020

Diversity and the beginning of more representation and advocation for AsianAmericans in the entertainment industry is starting to grow. It is obvious that there is still much work that needs to be done and stereotypes to resolve in order for Asians to receive the recognition that they deserve. Advice from Ms. Sta Ana: “Raise more awareness and create conversation.” “Make people mad because it forces them to think and really assess what they really feel about what’s going on.” Mr. Le believes that another solution to the underrepresentation of Asians in film begins with “…stories. I think stories are the strongest communication tool that you can use. With great stories, people will learn from it and people will realize more. After the stories, it’s how you take the stories that you’ve learned about and how you do something with it. Be a difference maker: how will you make an impact?”

References: Briones, I. (2017, May 25). Asian Actors Are Still Only 1% of Hollywood's Leading Roles.

Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://www.teenvogue.com/story/asian-representationin-hollywood La Force, T. (2018, November 6). Why Do Asians Remain Largely Unseen in Film and Television. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/tmagazine/asian-american-actors-representation.html

Culture

5

Julia Jacobson

January 27, 2020

UNIFORMS: WORN OUT? For some students, school uniforms may not be such a good fit

Do school uniforms help students succeed? Throughout America and all over the world, teachers, parents, and kids themselves want to achieve their goals in school. In a time when kids increasingly use their clothing to express their opinions and style, having a full choice of clothes has been deemed distracting to students’ learning and, therefore, their academic achievement. In an attempt to promote a better environment for learning, many schools have decided to add uniform policies. These policies, however, may create more problems than they solve for students and parents.

Advocates recommend school uniforms based on the thought that kids will wear clothes that are distracting or deemed as “inappropriate.” However, kids know more about this than adults believe they do. At Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey, a school with a semi-strict dress code policy,

http://theconversation.com/does-wearing-a-school-uniform-improve-studentbehavior-51553

some students do n0t believe that having greater autonomy over their clothing would be detrimental to others.

According to a survey of 62 eighth-graders at MKA, 86% thought that dropping the uniform policy would not be a distraction to other students’ learning. At the same time, 88% of surveyed students agreed that there is such a thing as inappropriate clothing.

When it comes to expressing themselves at

school, kids know where to draw the line. By forcing everyone at a school to adhere to a uniform policy, schools rob students of valuable life experiences by taking away their choice of what to wear and what clothes are appropriate for certain situations. If anything, this makes students less prepared to face the “real world.” People also use their clothing as a means to express personal style and opinions. When this is taken away, so is the most

1

Julia Jacobson

obvious and visible way of sharing one’s persona.

Another common argument in favor of school uniforms is that they eliminate teasing and bullying, supposedly because everyone is wearing the same thing. The only problem is, they’re not. Polo shirts and khaki pants are found at many retailers, with varying quality levels and costs (and outward symbols of both). Financial differences will still be visible, regardless of uniforms; as singer Taylor Swift aptly put it, “Haters gonna hate.” A student who would make fun of another student’s shirt may very well make fun of their physical appearance instead.

The problem teachers are facing here is bullying, not clothing.

Yet another problem is unavoidable with uniforms. If you’ve ever seen a celebrity magazine asking the question “Who Wore It Best?”, you’ll be familiar with it. With hundreds of students wearing the same type of clothing, kids with irregular body types can be

January 27, 2020

judged if they don’t look as good in the uniform as other students. Even if other students aren’t judging, it’s easy for students to feel selfconscious (Flam, 2013). Several schools also require girls to wear skirts and boys to wear pants. For girls who want to wear pants, these requirements can be frustrating. For students who are

transgender, gender-fluid, or gender-nonconforming, they can be harmful.

On top of all that, school uniforms are an added expense for parents. At first glance, the opposite may seem to be true, as school uniforms are often advertised as costing less than regular clothing. However, any financial gain from school uniforms is negated by the fact that parents effectively need to buy two sets of clothing: one for school and one for outside of school. Sometimes, this translates to two sets of

Uniforms from Lands’ End, a highly successful school uniform retailer. http://planomagazine.com/lands-end-school-uniform-store-plano/

2

Julia Jacobson

clothing per day -- of the surveyed students, 55% said they usually change into regular clothing after getting home from school.

When asked about these supposed benefits of school uniforms, most teachers and principals will quote questionable research saying that school uniforms improve academic performance and student well-being. If one were to ask where most of these students get their uniforms, many would name the clothing company Lands’ End. Lands’ End has formed partnerships with many schools and is a major player in the school uniform game. This isn’t by accident. Lands’ End has actually helped to fund much of the research behind the “goodness” of uniforms (Oppenheimer, 2017). It may well have had its own corporate interests in mind when doing so.

Additionally, many students just don’t like wearing uniforms. At MKA, 73% of the students surveyed dislike the dress code policy. Students cited several reasons why they dislike the uniforms: they don’t promote school unity (64%); they don’t help students learn (76%); and, perhaps most importantly, they take away a large part of

January 27, 2020

students’ ability to express themselves (58%).

Many of these students were part of a student-led 2018 movement to make MKA’s dress code more inclusive by removing a rule that required sixth- through eighth-grade boys to wear button-down shirts and ties for part of the year, while girls were permitted to wear shorts and the same clothing options year-round. The updates to the dress code also increased the types of shirts and skirts students could wear to school, moving MKA’s dress code further and further from a uniform. The point being that students recognize that school uniforms aren’t the magical cure for academic problems. They may, in fact, be just the opposite.

An infographic created with the results of one survey in favor of school uniforms. Notice the Lands’ End logo at the very bottom. https://www.naesp.org/national-survey-school-leaders-reveals-2013-school-uniformtrends

3

Teddy Krenteras

February 3, 2020

OUR AUTOMATED FUTURE Science | Technology | Business

The Steam Engine

This graph from The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity a Time of Brilliant Technologies shows the relationship between humanity’s global population and humanity’s social development over time, as well as the year James Watt invented the steam engine.

The Innovation Cycle

In the past, workers fearing their job security often protested innovations in technology. The Luddites, for example, violently protested the Industrial Revolution after losing their jobs to woolen machines. Nevertheless, the Luddites' protests ultimately failed, as attempts to halt innovation are rarely successful.

Throughout history, aristocrats have lived their lives free from the constraints of work, instead, living lives of luxury and pursuing their desires. For most, this lifestyle seems unattainable and possibly undesirable; however, advancements in artificial intelligence could make it a reality for many. Robots are now able to learn and teach themselves new skills at an unprecedented rate, and soon, they will likely render both human bodies and minds obsolete in the workplace.

Regardless of the type of world artificial intelligence forms, it will irrefutably play a crucial

role in humanity’s future and will bring about a period of change on par with the Industrial Revolution.

When most people think of automation, they imagine massive, mindless robots in factories. While this stereotype still holds true, to an extent, it is in no way a reflection of artificial intelligence’s capabilities. In the past, artificial intelligence was notoriously inept at pattern recognition, but now, robots can teach themselves new skills by watching and analyzing people or other machines. One such robot is called Baxter. Baxter 1

Teddy Krenteras

is a general-purpose robot made by Rethink Robotics.

Instead of specializing in one skill, Baxter observes people and imitates them. Baxter has successfully learned to complete various industrial tasks such as line loading, machine tending, packaging, and material handling.

Machines are also capable of working whitecollar jobs. Overall, occupations that deal with vast amounts of data and repetitive work are especially vulnerable to automation. Robots can be programmed to look for specific patterns in data, and they don’t make careless errors, nor do they get bored, which makes them perfect candidates for most whitecollar work. For example, a team of researchers recently created an A.I. algorithm that outperformed radiologists in detecting breast cancer in mammogram images.

Additionally, robots administer the vast majority of transactions in the stock market.

In addition to logical and physical work, robots are able to perform creative tasks.

People often think of creativity as uniquely human, but artificial intelligence is proving this notion wrong. When broken down into their most basic parts, most art forms are a series of patterns. Robots can analyze and replicate these patterns, creating art that is indiscernible from

February 3, 2020

Over 75%

A recent analysis by the Credit Suisse Group AG showed that over 75% of trades in the stock market are automated.

93%

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 93% of accidents are due to human error. This fact could make self-driving cars significantly safer than human drivers, as computers cannot get distracted or tired.

25%

A report from the Brookings Institution found that 25% of jobs in the United States of America are at “high-risk” of being automated.

that of humans. A robot named Emily Howell displays this ability. Emily Howell is a computer program that can write an infinite amount of music for free. Furthermore, when put to a blind test, Emily’s music is indistinguishable from that of many human composers’ work.

In the past, innovation has brought about a cycle that ultimately increases the standard of living: people create new technology, which automates dangerous or undesirable jobs, and, in the process, society creates new, better jobs to fill new niches around the technology. This cycle most prominently occurred in the Industrial Revolution. Millions of workers feared that their jobs would be taken by machines, causing mass-unemployment.

This was a valid concern, as machines are better than humans are at repetitive tasks, and they don't require salaries or get tired. Yet, these predictions never occurred.

This is because new technology created numerous industries working alongside machines, which, in turn, created new, unforeseeable jobs.

Unfortunately, the innovation cycle may be different this time. While artificial intelligence does create new industries, those industries don’t generate nearly enough jobs to make up for those that automation eliminates. In 1979, General Motors, a 2

Teddy Krenteras

company formed because of the second Industrial Revolution, employed over 800,000 people and made about 11 billion dollars in revenue. In comparison, Google made about 14 billion dollars in revenue while only employing 58,000 people in 2012.

Many are optimistic about the This picture shows Baxter: a robot made by Rethink future of automation.

Robotics. Baxter was made Tinglong Dai, a to be a general-purpose robot. professor at the Carey This means that Baxter can Business School at learn a wide array of skills by Johns Hopkins watching others as opposed University, says, "I to specializing in one specific am extremely skill. optimistic about the future; I believe in the unstoppable human desire to create a better world.” He argues that, similarly to the Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence will continue to create new industries that are currently unforeseeable. Additionally, it is widely believed that machines will be used alongside human workers, as few machines are presently fit to eliminate entire jobs alone.

The transition to an automated world will indubitably come with great adversity. Even if innovation creates new jobs, a likely requirement will be that employees undergo additional training. According to a survey by the World Economic Forum of 313 Chief Human Resources officers of employers that represent more than 15 million employees, 54% of today’s employees will need significant re-training to prevent their jobs from being automated, 10% of which require over a year of additional training!

Furthermore, nearly 25% of the companies are either undecided or unsure about retraining

February 3, 2020

old employees. Instead, 50% claim they will turn to temporary, freelance workers to fill gaps in their companies. A similar study, from the McKinsey Global Institute, analyzed 46 countries and found that countries with advanced economies are likely to have a higher number of workers that will need to switch occupations. The study projects Germany and the United States to lose 33% of their workforce to automation by 2030. Moreover, it also predicts that China would suffer the most from automation; up to 100 million Chinese workers or 12% of the 2030 workforce will likely need to switch occupations within the next ten years.

Some believe that artificial intelligence will be the catalyst to bring about a post-work society. When asked about automation, the entrepreneur Elon Musk says: “I think some kind of a universal income is going to be necessary.” He believes that, as artificial intelligence advances, there will be fewer tasks that robots cannot do better than humans, and, while they won’t eliminate all jobs, they will eliminate enough to make government handouts a necessity for most. He further elaborates that automation will likely create an abundance of resources, making an unemployed world even more plausible.

Artificial intelligence will inevitably dictate virtually every aspect of life in the near future. Robots have been out-competing humans in numerous jobs, and that trend will only continue. Humanity can benefit tremendously from automation; however, it is necessary to exercise caution to create a smoother transition. Innovation happens quickly; therefore, the debate must shift from whether or not artificial intelligence will be significant in the future to how humanity will sufficiently prepare for its rise.

3