TRU$T

What I liked

Honestly the plot and character dynamic had the equation for an interesting conversation between white liberals, their conservative Latino neighbor, or the fish out of water from a lower economic background. The play could have addressed the intricacies of the Latino communities after immigration or the Blindspotting of white liberalism when discussing class, it just didn’t do any of that and instead they made every wrong choice they could have made.

The two lead actors and the kid who played their son were surprisingly good despite the massive flaws surrounding them.

What I didn't like

This play and author needs a deep understanding of race and gender in America, and its relationship to our freedom. There will never be a class solidarity if we don’t unlearn the whiteness that has been conditioned within us. Marx was not American, Marx did not live in a capitalistic structure created by exploiting Black and Brown folks, and his theories are not doctrine…they’re theories that are meant to be built upon and in the current day and age, that means factoring race into your class analysis.

My overall impression

There’s a line in it that says “Malcolm X…not my favorite” which perfectly encapsulates the racist white liberalism of this piece and I’m not talking about the plot either. This play was offensively bad. This play started down a path and made every wrong move. For a play about Occupy Wall Street, this provides the perfect answer to whoever asks, “what happened to the occupy movement?” The answer is these white liberals are racist af…and the worst part is the Los Angeles audience of old white folks in West Hollywood ate it up.

This play was incredibly racist from the one Brown Latina being a maid who has about two lines as they get the groceries to the Black kid from South Central (Compton specifically) who sells drugs, totes a gun, and steals watches. Watching this play made me hear Lakeith Stanfield yelling in the back of my head to “Get Out!” as the playwright continues to make it clear that he’s never stepped outside a white space and I hope he does.

This review was written so that the artist and audience members can reflect on their bias and hopefully, maybe, take a step back and not take up space with content that will be harmful to the struggle that is both class and race. I’ll end this book with a recommendation for the production team and audience. I encourage y’all to read “How We Get Free” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and then read other Black revolutionary writers such as Angela Davis and Toni Morrison. I know he’s not your favorite, but you should probably read Malcolm X again.