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 and the place I have called home for most of my life.  I have had to witness national scandals, social crises, political breaking points, and a pandemic at a distance, mixing my homesickness with an acute sense of helplessness.  Perhaps as a way to protect myself f ..read more

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 women in several countries in Africa. The book was borne out of a desire to diversify the image of African women and their sexuality in media, since, as Sekyiamah has said, the image we are often presented with is one where African women are “repr ..read more

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 against the ancestors of Britons of today.  In recent years — and particularly in recent months with increasingly xenophobic bills coming through Parliament — this discourse has shifted towards defending British residents from this onslaught and highlighting the ext ..read more

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 an ideal appearance which has shaped beauty standards. This image presents fairer individuals as more beautiful compared to individuals with ‘dusky’ complexions. This ideal has proven to be damaging, particularly amongst you ..read more

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 also making reporting and accounting far more arduous. However, the pandemic isn’t the only explanation as to why the deeply rooted racism in our society is increasingly translating in ..read more

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 necessary equipment and a designated space to work from in their home. For many, the habits created over the past two years can allow sudden demands to stay at home to have a minimal impact on their mental and physical health as well as their ..read more

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 according to the theme and strut down the red carpet, posing for the media. Last year’s Met Gala took place on 13th September and the theme was American Independence. One look that caught many people’s eyes was Kim Kardashian’s black ensemble which covered every inch&n ..read more

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 of international attention, from outraged op-eds to the footage playing on a loop. The words that seem to resurface the most describe “shock” and “surprise” at what happened. And yet, on the day, the slap was followed by silence and inaction; the gene ..read more

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 myself a victim of this prejudice when I decided that I was ready to wear the hijab. I took this step when I first began secondary school, which took a lot of courage as I was embracing an important part of my identity whilst moving on to the next stage in ..read more

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, crime and policing remains high on the policy agenda across different elections, governments, and contexts. Politicians and parties often use the issue of crime and public safety to appeal to voters, from the infamous 1997 ‘New Labour, New Danger‘ Cons ..read more