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Clara Rose Thornton |
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Before a selfish word is uttered, I extend many thanks to all of you—publishing- and entertainment-world colleagues, friends, family, fellow artists—for existing, for working with me, for inspiring and for nurturing.
In the June 2009 edition of The Commons, a respected newspaper covering the entirety of Windham County and published out of Brattleboro, Vt., a piece of mine was published entitled “A tribe like no other: An African-American woman sets out to learn organic farming and gets more than she bargains for.” It details my time accidentally spent with a racist, sexist, homophobic religious cult in the heart of the paper’s coverage area—Westminster, Vt., directly outside of Bellows Falls. I say “accidentally spent” because I did not come to this place with spiritual interest of any sort; a deception had led me to stay at this farm property under pretense that it was allied with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, a travel and education organization under which I was adventuring for a time last year. The cult is the Twelve Tribes, active worldwide. Because of this experience and its geographic locality, after removing myself from the farm with haste, I found myself biding time in a beautiful, arts-and-culture-rich region of the Connecticut River Valley that soon began to embrace the arts journalism and cultural criticism background carried with me from my hometown of Chicago. It was here, through the dust of a small calamity, that a certain future began to emerge. It is a future that I am proud to say recently received a complimentary jolt.
When approaching The Commons’ editor, Jeff Potter, about possibly writing something on my experience that had occurred nearly a year prior, I framed it at as a “Where are they now?” exposé piece in light of the 25th anniversary of the infamous June 22, 1984 raid on their Island Pond headquarters, wherein 112 children were seized on allegations of severe child abuse. Where many newspaper editors might disregard the pitch as something too controversial, too subjective or inappropriate for their pages, Jeff leapt at it, later stating his feeling that the resultant piece “was a powerful, thought-provoking and provocative personal account, especially in the context of heightened awareness of racial issues since the (Nigger-Hanging Redneck Association) incidents in the area about a year ago,” and that he saw “the bigger picture as an opening salvo in a longer, serialized discussion.”
It indeed began a controversy and indeed opened a longer, serialized discussion. Several pages on iBrattleboro.com became dedicated solely to heated discussion of the piece. A Twelve Tribes members wrote a lengthy rebuttal, published in the paper’s subsequent edition. The Twelve Tribes had their lawyer and spokesperson, Jean Swantko, write another rebuttal. An entirely new thread of online discussion pages emerged after these. Fearing retribution, the Twelve Tribes began planning “showcases” of their tolerance, complete with videos and question-and-answer sessions.
Perhaps the best outcome, aside from the writerly duty of raising eyebrows and changing perspectives, is the fact that “A tribe like no other” was recently NOMINATED FOR BEST HUMAN INTEREST FEATURE STORY OF ANY NEWSPAPER in this division across the entire six New England states, for the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest!!!
A large smile, and a selfish word I must now give: “YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!”
Winners will be announced in January, but I feel that the mere recognition of my work—done in earnest as a lifeblood and passion—is prize enough for me. Like my mother said when I called and told her, “Forget the winning or losing. You were shown that your work is held in high regard!” My sister then shouted from the background, “It’s like being nominated for a Grammy!”
To find “A tribe like no other,” please click here.
To find a collection of quotes from the Twelve Tribes, their teachings and literature that accompanied the article in print form, please click here.
To find the rebuttal from Sharon Brousseau, Twelve Tribes member, please click here.
To find the secondary rebuttal written by lawyer Jean Swantko, please click here.
To find the two discussion threads began in honor of the piece, please click here for early June’s and here for late June’s, after the online release of the first rebuttal.
In light of the value of memoir, community discussion and stinging global issues, I entreat you all to read my piece and those that followed. In light of such a wonderful nod to my writing and its impact, I thank Jeff for his support and editorial bravery. And in light of enjoying this world and all that it offers, most immensely, I thank you, again.
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broken link I'd like to read your article, but the link to it is no longer valid. Apparently, The Commons is rerigging their website. Do you know if the article is otherwise available? |
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"Every word born of an inner necessity--writing must never be anything else." ~ Karol Jackowski
© Clara Rose Thornton and InkBlot Complex, 2008-2009.
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