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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
Many of us may have noticed a new and growing openness around mental health in the past few years. Whether it be in the workplace, in schools and universities, among our friends or even online, the tendency to take mental health more seriously than ever before has also been sharpened by the effects of the …
After over 18 months of lockdowns and stay at home orders, the ways in which we have all had to adapt our lifestyles in the wake of the pandemic have left indelible marks on us all. While we are being asked to “go back to normal,” many are experiencing a newfound desire to use their …
How many of our instinctive habits are results of our ancestors’ experiences of inequality and discrimination? For years, I have known what the concept of ‘intergenerational trauma’ was, but I’d always thought about it as something that affected other people — something I didn’t really need to think about much apart from just to be …
Fast fashion has become a hot topic of conversation, with numerous online discourses. These discourses surround the ethics of buying cheaper, poorly made clothes compared to buying expensive, sustainable clothing. Discourse also extends to the argument that buying any new clothing is unsustainable, with the focus being on buying second-hand. I have been trying my …
