A combination of singing, slam poetry and numerous monologues, Daniel Beaty’s one-man show, “Emergency,” tells the story of a slave ship that rises out of the Hudson River, right in front of the Statue of Liberty, and how it affects the lives of the people able to witness the event.

Beaty has structured his one-man show in the style of a wacky newscast, jumping from delivering eye witness testimonies to cataloguing the incredible event through the eyes of children and even explores why the slave ship was truly there. His presentation was flawless, seamlessly transitioning from one character to another with the ease and grace of a man who has known a million lives.

The show centers on a family of three – a father and his two sons. The father has not been himself in recent years and jumps into the Hudson River to explore the slave ship — called Remembrance — up close. His sons try to stop him and bring him back to safety. Despite this, his time on the slave ship, proves to be something transformative.

As the man comes to terms with his past, he gains a stronger grasp on the reality of the world around him and feels empowered to remember both where he came from and who he is. “Emergency” is just as much a show about the impacts of slavery, even a century and a half later, as it is about calling to light the impacts of institutionalized and systemic racism and most definitely succeeds at doing so.

Even though Beaty was the only one on stage, it never felt like he was alone. He carried the weight and the consciousness of every character he portrayed as if they were speaking to a dear friend, in confidence. It seems facetious to say that he displayed an almost unconditional level of humanity in his performance — and yet he absolutely did.

His creative process largely stems from his perspective on life. He says that he “writes the past, to create the future,” effectively learning and overcoming his past experiences in order to create something more beautiful and meaningful in their wake, allowing him to grow stronger both as an individual and as a member of society.

As a young boy, Beaty’s father would play a game with him in the morning. His father would come into his room and “knock knock” on his door until Beaty would jump into his arms, awake and smiling. But one day, his father could not be found to complete their morning ritual. Later that day, Beaty found out that his father was suffering from an addiction to heroin and had already found himself in and out of prison many times. These childhood experiences negatively affected Beaty’s view of himself and the world around him. Because of this, Beaty made the choice to become a champion for criminal justice reform employing his theatrical and story-telling gifts to educate and inspire.

Beaty now travels the world, speaking out against racism and classism while asking people of every background to think about how they are impacted by inequality and how they can change the lives of those around them. His one-man show, “Emergency,” was funded by the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation’s Mid-Atlantic Tours program, the National Endowment for the Arts and UMBC’s Center for Research, Innovation and Creativity in the Arts.

Spring 2018 Registration Advising Appointment Information

http://advising.coeit.umbc.edu/registration/

Your actual earliest date that you may register is determined by the number of credits you have earned prior to the fall semester. You may review your anticipated registration date on the Registrar's Office website at the link below.

http://registrar.umbc.edu/files/2017/10/Spring-2018-Advanced-Registration-Appointment-Grid.pdf

What about Winter Classes?

http://www.umbc.edu/winter/

What If I'm a New Student for the upcoming Spring semester?

Newly admitted students for the spring semester may not register for courses until Orientation. Please sign up for winter Orientation.

http://orientation.umbc.edu/

What If I Still Have Questions?

National news organizations have historically been one of the only ways that an American citizen could get any information about the goings on in other parts of the nation. While it is still imperative for news to quickly reach as many citizens as possible, the age of social media has made it much easier for firsthand accounts to be spread directly.

Oftentimes the media will twist a narrative to serve their corporate owner rather than telling an unbiased truth. More stock should be placed in primary sources rather than media interpretation of national events.

A recent event that demonstrates the contrast of media reports and personal accounts is the recent ruling on a first-degree murder charge lodged against Jason Stockley, a police officer that shot and killed Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011. Stockley was heard saying that he was going to kill Smith following a car chase after a suspected drug transaction. After rear-ending Smith’s car, Stockley exited his vehicle and fired his pistol at Smith’s vehicle five times.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in 2012 and settled in 2013, but a first-degree murder charge was filed in 2016. A not-guilty ruling was reached on September 15 of this year.

Protests have spread across St Louis due to this verdict. However, national media organizations like Fox News and The Washington Post report that the protests turned into riots or “clashes” after dark. Quotes from police claim that citizens were the ones to incite violence, and that is the story that gets spread to the rest of the country via these news sites.

Alternatively, residents of St Louis tell a different story in social media posts on Facebook and Twitter. One such post shares a Guardian article published on September 18. The article describes St Louis police chanting late Saturday night after “successfully clearing the street of demonstrators and onlookers.” Two eyewitness accounts dispute the end of that sentence.

“The protests last night WERE peaceful,” a St Louis resident recounts above the article. “The demo [sic] was over and people were leaving when police drove a car into the crowd … to instigate.” Another eyewitness adds, “I couldn’t believe it was happening. That car backing up through the crowd was terrifying.”

But eyewitness accounts are not always true either. Although they may not be paid by corporations, residents of a city can also lie about the events that occur there. They may also have a different interpretation of the actions of others, like the eyewitnesses who claim protesters loot grocery stores and restaurants when they are going in for milk to flush their eyes from tear gas.

The best way to avoid these differing interpretations is to see the videos firsthand. While some news articles share Facebook users’ videos, such as the video of a St Louis police officer breaking a window during the recent protests, many choose to present the information in their own words or with quotes from police officers or other officials.

United States news organizations such as The Washington Post, Fox News, and CNN will never stop being the first source of communication on events to the average person. Be that as it may, more people should be seeking out accounts from actual residents when it comes to political protests or otherwise biased events to be able to view primary sources and subsequently form their own opinions.