When I was 19, I decided to move abroad, wanting to explore the world and give myself a better professional chance than what my hometown could offer. While it has been an incredible experience, it came with its own set of struggles (both expected and unexpected): one of them being the growing disconnection between me …
Western media has a tendency to tell “a single story” of Africa, and particularly so of African women, which creates a stereotypical perception of Africa and opens the door for unhelpful white saviourism. Last year, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah recently released an anthology called The Sex Lives of African Women, which explores the sexual lives of …
Should place of birth influence a person’s worth? The UK has long struggled with the idea of cultural and national identity, as a country that wants to be proud of its long history, but must also accept its increasing diversity and grapple with how to address past crimes committed by the Britons of previous centuries …
Do you think your skin colour determines perceptions of you in society? Skin colour is an extremely sensitive issue which faces implausible bias. Discrimination is evident between races, however, prejudice within ethnic groups due to variations in skin colour demonstrates the severity of this issue. Although diversity is promoted in the present society, there is …
Despite the last few years witnessing sweeping and hopeful social justice movements such as #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, climate strikes, and repeated protests against deportation efforts, instances of hate crime and discrimination in England are far from declining. COVID-19 had a particularly compounding effect in not only increasing violence against women, girls and minorities, but …
Between COVID-19, adverse weather, and tube strikes, we have now become somewhat accustomed to sudden demands to stay at home and avoid travelling when possible – especially to work. Thankfully, the development of hybrid working has made us highly adaptable to such orders. Schools have developed apps and online teaching tools; many workers have the …
As everyone admires this year’s Met Gala ensembles, it’s important to think about the lens through which we see clothing and fashion. The Met Gala is undoubtedly one of the fashion highlights of the year: celebrities and other notable people dress up in the most amazing — most of the time, simply bizarre — outfits …
After the extensive media coverage received, there is no need to recap the events of 28th March 2022, when Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock out of anger at the latter’s belittling jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaven head caused by alopecia-induced hair loss at the Oscars. Very few Hollywood incidents have received this amount …
Why practising your religion should not prevent you from thriving. Why does wearing religious garments or symbols marginalise you in society? From my experiences and observations, I found that it is not normal for people to carry visual symbols of their religion — in fact, many of these people face prejudice and discrimination. I found …
Law and order has long been an issue that political parties exploit to appeal to voters. Complex social issues are flattened into two-dimensional narratives of good vs. evil that play on citizens’ fear and sense of security. The world of politics is fast moving. While some issues only remain important for a single election cycle, …
