The Truth Shall Make You Free
“YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE”
This is an inscription on the administration building at The University of Texas at Austin. The place where I was crowned Dr. Mariama, and simultaneously overcame some of the hardest battles I ever endured in my life. The irony of this inscription is that it adorns the central office of the university’s administration—a building that holds a literal and metaphorical seat of power. Yet, reflecting on the relationship between higher education, my Blackademic journey, and the un/hidden histories of my ancestors—I struggle to reconcile how the power structures we wrestle against supress certain kinds of truth and institutionalizes barriers to knowing them. The freedom I am supposed to unlock on the other side of that truth-knowing has been a struggle that I felt like I could not shake. I got distracted by the struggle, and almost forgot who God called me to be: a light that cannot be hidden.
As the details of my Blackademic journey continue to unfold, so will the freedoms of writing my truth in each of these blog posts. Each post will be accompanied by one of the many pictures I have from my graduation photoshoot. Each picture is a manifestation of making my mark in the world, unapologetically. Shout out to Hypatia for being a dope photographer and capturing so many meaningful and artistic images during my graduation photoshoot. Hypatia was one of my students in a study abroad course I co-instructed with my advisor in the United Kingdom. I will never forget being told that I (as a teaching assistant) was the closest to a Black woman professor Hypatia had experienced throughout undergrad. So it was only right that we commemorated this milestone together of actualizing my dream of becoming a professor by first #BecomingDrMariama.
I was particular in my vision of taking a picture in front of this administration building because of that inscription. I remember Hypatia commenting how difficult it was for the camera to bring both my face and that inscription into focus at the same time. My face fading to Black in this photo is a reflection of the realities we may face when we speak truth to power. My presence on this campus speaks volumes, but my voice speaks victories. Although our lived experiences may fade to Black against the backdrop of systems and structures that dictate what (un)truths can be told, our truth still remains irrespective of external recognition. That smirk on my unfocused face echos a subtle and straightforward truth that I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors whose literal blood, brilliance, and bondage fertilized the soil within which I seed my Blackdemic roots.
As I sit here writing my first blog post in years at 12:17 am on this day—my birthday—it feels foreign and familiar to write my truth freely…again. I have not allowed myself to utter truth on what life was like to and through doctoral education, nor have I fully processed my experiences since graduating in May 2021. That is, until now…
Truth cannot be killed, only buried. Venture with me as I uncover what is hidden underneath the surface of my Blackademic journey. Lord, give me the strength to release each story and the courage to write my way into healing, freely.
