When I was taught about the Black Panther Party for Self-Defence (BPP) in school, it was tagged along at the end of the Civil Rights Movement and labelled as a dangerous organisation; the ones who ruined civil rights for black Americans. Indeed, the Black Panthers were and still are criticised for their militant strategies, their male dominance and as a result their male chauvinism that led to the party’s failures. Yet, in my second year of university, I was required to do a presentation on the Black Panther Party, where I uncovered evidence that subverted these views, showing that actually, the Panthers were highly successful in many ways and that the women of the party were largely responsible for this success.
Read MoreWhen I was a kid, my dad was sent to prison. And after he served his sentence, he was deported to Mexico where he is to this day. His prison sentence was something that we acknowledged throughout the years but have never talked about in-depth. Until now.
Read MoreWe are living in an increasingly politically polarising environment. The voice of our generation is getting louder than ever, especially with the issue of climate change, the current pandemic and uprising of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. As the voice of the future, it is imperative that we seek our own truth and learn to decipher the misinformation prevalent online.
Read MoreIn order to act on this solidarity, it is vital that we, as members of the South Asian community, first acknowledge the issues that lie within our own homes— issues regarding race, anti-blackness, and superiority. For even as POC and allies to the BLM movement, many of us feel exempt from having to educate ourselves on race and racial issues.
Read MoreThere has always been interest in American everything, and now with Trump in office, there is even more. According to a report by the Pew Research Center, interest in US news is high in Canada, Japan and Northern Europe, with the Netherlands being the country with the second-highest interest rate (75% of Dutch people say they follow American news closely). But why is this?
Read MoreWhite people are being real brave, telling people of color, once again, what to do and who to vote for.
“You have to vote for Biden!”
“If you don’t vote, you’re privileged.”
“You’re voting for Trump!”
“Never complain about anything ever again.”
Imagine that. White people telling people of color that we’re privileged because we refuse to vote for someone who is not for us, who will do nothing for us. Someone who has played a part in the continuation of our oppression.
White people are really brave.
Read MoreJulián Castro said something recently that has stayed with me and has made me think a lot about this presidential election - “we need a nominee that can resonate in the African American and Latinx communities.”
Since announcing his run for the presidency in January 2019, he has released expansive policy plans and impressed Democratic debate viewers when he was the first candidate to include trans people in the talk of reproductive rights and mentioned victims of police violence by name. Now let’s get into where he stands on the most talked-about issues.
Read MoreWhat does the American Dream truly mean to immigrants today? Currently, under Donald Trump’s Presidency, it means to walk thousands of miles, to escape gang violence and danger and seek asylum only to be put in another kind of hell, immigration detention centres. It means being subject to inhumane conditions and treated as a criminal. It means being separated from your family.
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