Ink on Inc Newsletter - Issue 3

MARCH 2022

NEWSLETTER

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INK ON INC. the inc. society

BY THE INC TEAM:

This is officially the third issue of Ink on Inc. We are thrilled to be able to present to the wider school body, our third edition of Inc Society's newsletter, which is filled with enlightening articles on topics relevant to our society, information on discussions we've held recently, and more.

Trigger warnings: some topics discussed in this edition may be sensitive to some readers, so we have actively tried to tackle each article with care.

CONTENTS HALL OF FAME LET'S TALK ABOUT. . .

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION RECOMMENDATIONS PROJECTS LINKS

1 2-4 5-11 12-13 14 15-16 17

Disclaimer: When writing this newsletter we aren't telling you, "Do this!" and, "Don't do that!", our aim is to spread awareness about topics; give advice on how to handle situations, and help everyone be more aware of differences in society.

You don't have to agree with everything we say we love a debate (as long as it's supported with facts!) and encourage you to come up with your own ideas and judgments.

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HALL OF FAME: LAURIE CUNNINGHAM

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HALL OF FAME: DR CHIEN-SHIUNG WU

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HALL OF FAME: KALPANA CHAWLA

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BLACK INVENTIONS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT We don't often hear of black inventors. In fact, before making a conscious effort to find out more about them, I was rather oblivious to the number of things made by black inventors. Without them, though, our lives would be very different.

Theme: Medicine:

Charles Richard Drew, 1904-1950, earned the title "Father of Blood Banking" for his amazing achivements in his research. Drew first became interested in studying blood during his studies at Columbia University. From his research, Drew found a way to separate red blood cells from plasma, and store them separately. This developement meant that blood could be stored for more than a week, which was the limit at that time. After documenting his research, this led to the first blood bank. Drew was also a a heavy supporter of racial equality in America. As an African-American, he campagined against the exclusion of black physicians from organisations such as the American Medical Assoication.

Due to his achievements, in 1943, aged only 39, Drew became the first African American examiner for the American Board of Surgery.

Patricia Bath, 1942-2019, was born in Harlem, New York, and was an American opthalmologist, inventor and more. She was the first female, African-American to patent a medical device, making her achievements even more astonishing. In 1988, she patented the Laserphaco Probe, which led to huge advancements in the treatment of cataracts. Not only this, but she advocated for eyesight being a human right, and founded the America Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in 1976. Achievement after achievement, Bath also became the frist woman to complete her residency as an opthalmologist in 1973, and 2 years later, she became the first woman faculty memeber on UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute.

Alexa Canady, 1950-present, became the first African-American woman to be a neurosurgeon in 1981. Dr Canady engaged in research, that attempted to make neurosurgical advances. As a consequence, she, along with 2 other American surgeons, share the patent for a programmable antisiphon shunt to treat hydrocephalus, which is the build up of fluid deep within the brain. She served as Chief of Neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Michigan from 1987-2001. In 1993, she was awarded the American Medical Women's Association President's Award, well deserved after her incredible research. Dr Canady herself said that "the greatest challenge [she] faced in becoming a neurosurgeon, was believing it was possible."

- Beth Akinkoye, 5RAW

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ASIAN INVENTIONS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT It is not only black inventions that we may not hear enough about, but Asian inventions too. It just goes to show how everybody has contributed to our world and the economy, even if that is not the story we are always told.

Theme: Technology

Lee Byung-chul, 1910-1987, born in South Korea, started his journey to creating Samsung in 1938 after naming his export business Samsung Trading Co. By 1947, his company had become one of the ten largest trading companies during that time, which slowly evolved into electronics in the 1960s after the Korean War. By 1969, Samsung had already released their first product - their black-and-white televisions. In 1988 they released their first mobile which was the SGH-100, years before the first Apple product.

Torakusu Yamaha, 1851-1961, was a Japanese businessman and entrepreneur referred to as the creator of Yamaha- the first Japanese manufacturer of the reed organ and other musical instruments, including pianos, recorders and harmonicas. During Yamaha’s life, he was inspired by Western science and technology, and even studied business. In the end, he went into repairing medical equipment and after that, a reed organ, which was the birth of his business. In 1902, his piano and organ were granted a great, esteemed prize at Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

Kenjiro Takayanagi, 1899-1990, was a Japanese engineer and pioneer in the evolvement of television.

Despite not gaining much recognition in the West, he was know as “the father of television“ in Japan, after building the world’s all-electronic receiver. Takayanagi developed the first practical television in 1926, and earned the title of Doctor, graduating from University in Tokyo. He also led experiments in broadcasting television, contributing to its success in 1953, after continuing his endeavours after the world war.

Soichiro Honda, 1906-1991, was a Japanese engineer, and established Honda Motor C. Ltd. Honda grew up in a relatively poor family, in which he spent most of his childhood helping in his father’s business repairing bicycles. This sparked Honda’s fascination with cars, and also inspired his love for racing.

Between the years 1912 and 1926, Honda was influenced by its popularity around Japan and in 1936, after putting a stop to his racing years, he went into manufacturing. Despite being rejected by the investor, Honda was still determined and therefore started hiring employees. He employed around 2,000 people and managed to release the first product carrying the Honda name, which was the “Honda A-Type auxiliary bicycle engine." After many years, Honda was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame -near Detroit- in 1989, and was even honoured with the senior third rank in the order of the precedence and appointed a Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. - Manuella Tchapdeu, 5RAW

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THE DANGER OF A SINGLE STORY Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was first introduced to me recently in an English lesson, in which we studied her fascinating TED Talk on 'the danger of a single story'. She states the numerous treacheries that arise when we have a narrow, one-sided point of view concerning someone or something. In her TED Talk, Adichie includes her experiences at Yale University, Connecticut.

Her roommate 'assumed that [she] did not know how to use a stove' simply because she was born in Nigeria. In this instance, Adichie's roommate had a single story of Africa, through which she prejudged Adichie herself.

Adichie's message was that each individual life contains a heterogeneous compilation of stories. If we automatically limit people to one story, we take away the true aspect of their character, and we replace it with the one we believe them to have, often based on stereotypes.

Stereotypes are deeply rooted in society. They are widely held, oversimplified images of people that can cause us to have 'a single story' of someone.

In her speech, Adichie also touches on how impressionable our minds are, and how the media especially, contributes to these single stories. She discusses that when she was younger, she read books with 'characters that were white and blue-eyed, they played in the snow, they ate apples, and they talked a lot about the weather, how lovely it was that the sun had come out'.

However, the lack of representation caused her to believe that novels had to contain things that she could not personally identify with. This occurrence directly highlights the absence of diversity-particularly in literature. Why are we consistantly exposed to literature written by white, British males, which is not representative of the global world in which we all live in? In light of recent events where we have witnessed a drastic rise in hate, fuelled by prejudice and discrimination; now, more than ever, we should understand a wider broader spectrum of literature appreciating and celebrating difference and diversity.

We are all guilty of our own single stories. A particularly prevalent one noticeable in society is the belief that all homeless people are lazy, or are drug addicts, or that they refuse to work. This 'single story' desensitises us, resulting in the fact that when we pass someone on a pavement under a damp blanket, our default action is to discreetly move farther away or ignore them. Our immediate emotion is dismay. We fail to recognise that they are real humans with real emotions and real experiences.

Our society needs more empathy; less indifference, less ignorance, less single stories. We need to realise that every person consists of their own experiences and feelings. No-one should be constrained to one, single narrative.

I'd like to finish with the words of the person who inspired this article- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 'when we reject the single story, when we realise that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise'.

-Rhea Cherrington, 5RAW

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THE ISSUE WE FACE WITH CORRUPTION Corruption is defined as: "a sort of dishonesty or a criminal conduct committed by someone or something in a position of power in order to obtain unlawful benefits or abuse power for personal gain." Many of us, when we hear about corruption, believe it is always stemmed in political grounds. However, it could be closer to home than you might think. Corruption is something that we sometimes dismiss as not being relevant within a developed country's politics, when in reality it may be concealed and masked by the media. For us, corruption illustrates the exploitation of human work, lives, businesses-stealing and profiting off of others' misfortune. But it comes in many different forms, including: fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. The normalisation of corruption in developed countries has become a priviledge that politicians abuse, as we in the public are often so oblivious to it.

There are so many ways in which corruption is carried out, especially in ways that we might not have thought otherwise. These include: Bribery: the soliciting of goods in return of favourable actions.

Lobbying: seeking to influence a legislator or judge on an issue.

Extortion: attempting to gain through forcible threats.

Cronyism: awarding jobs or benefits to friends/associates without taking proper consideration of their qualifications.

Nepotism: The act of someone benefitting from their familial favouritism.

Parochialism: The narrow-minded nature of the mind, often diminishing the importance of others.

Patronage: the dishonesty of an official due to ties with sponsorships.

Influence peddling: the use of power or influence on someone else's behalf in return for money or favours.

Embezzlement: stealing money under someone elses name.

Corruption occurs everywhere and it is a prevalent issue, but the way the media is designed creates a particular narrative, one that focuses on more obviously corrupt countries. Corruption erodes the trust that we place in people in higher powers, and not only threatens a variety of human rights, but other larger systems, such as the Judicial sustem. Judicial corruption restricts the right to a fair and public trial, and it can also lead to other violations, such as serving more prison time, or even torture. On a bigger scale, for more than two decades, the World Bank Group has worked to reduce the detrimental impacts of corruption in its client nations. To date, the World Bank Group has publicly debarred or sanctioned more than 1,000 firms and individuals. Furthermore, in many countries, such as Ukraine, Serbia and Mongolia, the World Bank Group have been working to help these countries become more open and transparent, in order to limit the corruption that goes on on a wider scale.

It's important to start an open converstaion about corruption, and especially in developed countries, to call it what it really is.

- Avneet Hayer, 5AMH

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AFCON For those of you who might not know, AFCON stands for the African Cup of Nations, and is essentially Africa's equivalent of the Euros.

This year, it was held in Cameroon, and just like in the Euros, players leave their clubs to go and play for their national teams. However, the Euros does not clash with the European football season. Neither did AFCON previously, but due to COVID, it was postponed.

Around 40 players in the Premier League played at AFCON and 58 Ligue 1 players (around 10% of the French League), meaning that there is a lot of quality in the competition. However, unlike the Euros, the questions asked surrounding AFCON were and are usually more to do with which Premier League teams will be affected the most, as opposed to the actual competition.

Furthermore, many clubs either let their players go reluctantly, or didn't let them go at all. This was the case for Watford's Dennis, a Nigerian national football player.

Many media presences have asked players taking part in AFCON whether leaving their clubs at such a 'pivotal' point in the season is a decision they were happy to make. Sébastian Haller, Ivory Coast national and Ajax forward, made his views very clear when asked whether he was prepared to stay with Ajax, or if he would be going with Ivory Coast to AFCON. Haller replied, "I hate having to choose between my country and my club. That's really s---," but that, "this question shows the disrespect for Africa." Haller questioned whether "this question [would] ever get asked to a European player ahead of the Euros?" Ending with the statement, "Of course I am going. . . .This tournament was actually supposed to be held in the summer, but was postponed due to Covid. Of course I will go to the Africa Cup to represent Ivory Coast. That is the highest honour."

Football365, like Haller, also noted that such questions are never asked to players going to the Euros. Furthermore, these questions insinuate that playing for their national teams, which for many is one of the highest points of their careerr, is somehow less worthy than playing for an English Premier League club.

The fact of the matter is that there is a sort of elitist mentality amongst Premier League fans, and indeed the clubs themselves, view the Premier Leauge as the "top football league", and why should they not? Many international football stars come to England just to play in the Premier League, and it brings in billions in revenue each year. However, that is not to say that African Football Competitons or other football competitions that aren't the Euros, the World Cup or even the Copa América (many world-cup winning teams are South-American), are less important.

When researching online, articles such as "Does AFCON deserve more respect?" come up, as if it should be a debate in the first place. This is extremely puzzling, as after a time period where fans were not allowed to be in stadiums and watch matches, you would think that any tournament that promoted getting fans back into stadiums and enjoying football would get a positive reaction from all football fans.

In late 2021, Jürgen Klopp was confronted by Ojora Babatunde of OJB sports, after previously referring to AFCON as a "little tournament." In Klopp's effort to diffuse the situation, he clarified that "[he] didn't mean it like that, come on." However, Babatunde wasn't convinced, telling Klopp that his words were, "an insult to the players, an insult to the fans, an insult to the people, an insult to the continent and I think you owe the continent an apology."

- Beth Akinkoye, 5RAW

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LITTLE REPRESENTATION, MUCH RACISM: CRICKET Cricket, often regarded as England's second favoruite sport, had around 300,000 participants in 2020.

1/3 of the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) is of South Asian descent, 79% of whom represent their teams week in week out. With all of these figures, it would be easy to assume that there is a large number of South Asian first-class cricketers, and that they are treated well by counties and the ECB. However, only 4% of first-class cricket players are British South Asian, with white players from a private school background being 34 times more likely to play professionally.

Recently, the institutionalised racism and discrimination in the sport has been brought to light by many former players, most notably Azeem Rafiq, who played first-class cricket from 2008-2018 for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 2011.

In an interview with ESPN, he detailed how deep-rooted racism at the establishment "left [him] close to commiting suicide" and to Sky Sports, he explained how he would "regularly come home from training and cry all day". Rafiq then went on to give examples of how ,"We would be on nights out, I'd be speaking to someone and I'd have team-mates coming over and saying: 'Don't speak to him. He's a p***." In response, Yorkshire labeled it as "friendly banter".

- 2020 saw Rafiq submit legal claims under the Equality Act, after experiencing racial discrimination and victimisation because he was attempting to address the problems of racism at the club, leading Yorkshire to conduct an internal investigation.

- In February 2021, the report was delayed, and Azeem Rafiq and the club failed to reach a resolution.

- Over the course of the year, Yorkshire refused to take any disciplinary action, but then details of the report were leaked, including an admission by a player to using the racial slur. Soon after, former England cricketer, Gary Ballance, admitted to directing the racial slur at Rafiq.

- In a hearing to the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), Rafiq tearfully outlined all allegations. During the hearing, Roger Hutton, previously chairman of Yorkshire CCC, told MPs that the former Chief Executive, Mark Arthur, had requested for the investigation to be abandoned.

Somerset bowler, Jack Brooks, has been forced to undergo diversity training after tweeting the Nword to multiple individuals in 2012.

Arthur and 2 other members of the Yorkshire CCC board resigned.

First-team coach Andrew Gale has been suspended.

These incidents are not exclusive to Mr. Rafiq. Male cricketers, Zoheb Sharif (nicknamed 'bomber' and 'curry muncher'), Maurice Chambers (victim to racist jokes in the dressing room and being given bananas) and former England Women cricket player, Ebony Rainford-Brent, to name a few, have all been victims of discrimination and abuse.

Rainford-Brent, the first black female cricketer for England, received a racist, hand-written letter. The paper was flooded with stereotypical, discriminatory and dehumanising language: "We found you naked in Africa," "primative," "cricket culture is white culture."

The last quotations sums up the reason as to why diversity in the sport is lacking. There are 'painful' and 'outdated' stereotypes which cause players of minority ethnic backgrounds to question whether they belong in the sport. One example of such language comes from Middlesex chairman, Mike O'Farrell who quoted, "The other thing in the diversity bit is that the football and rugby world becomes much more attractive to the Afro-Caribbean community."

How can it be possible to see more representation and diversity in the sport, if young players, when watching, do not see themselves being represented?

- Bez Akinkoye, 5LBA

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THE PROBLEM BLACK MODELS AND WOMEN OF COLOUR FACE “As soon as I stepped into the room, the atmosphere changed. No one wanted to step forward to style me. They all just stood there, staring.”

Out of context, this quote may seem like any other harmless, but slightly awkward encounter.

Completely meaningless, nothing ulterior behind it... right?

In any other circumstance it might be. However, this is a quote from Nyasha Matonhodze, a black runway model who has had experience walking the runway for major fashion houses since she was 15.

Yet, despite all her unique encounters with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Michael Kors and Balenciaga, all her backstage experiences have had one thing in common. "My hair was completely fried by the end. But no one said a thing as if it were normal,” Matonhodze comments, “I was left with no choice but to cut it all off.”

You may think this is a rare occurance, unfortunate, that the stylist would probably face repercussions and everyone would move on. Unfortunately, that is not the case. For many black models, including Matonhodze, this is the norm. It would be more uncommon for black models to have a stylist that knows how to take care of their hair, and do their make-up. Even model Leomie Anderson, Victoria Secret’s first black model, has had to redo her makeup herself 10 minutes before she was due to go onstage, asking in a TikTok that has had over 3 million views, “Please hire more black hair and makeup artists so we don’t have to go through this.”

It is not the models’ job to their hair and makeup. These women should not have to go through hours in a hair and make up chair just to have to do it themselves as they are left with no other choice. Stylists should be trained for accommodating different skin tones or hair types that they are not used to.

Especially since in New York Fashion Week Spring 2022, 55.5% of its models will be models of colour, according to a diversity analysis by the Fashion Spot. Furthermore, these stylists should be used to models with non-Eurocentric features by now, as in today's society, we are learning that Eurocentric features should not make up the "beauty standard." The first black model for the cover of Vogue was Beverly Johnson, in 1974, so you’d think the people who are supposed to be professionals would have adapted already.

Regardless, the fashion industry must keep up and be prepared to change and adapt, as opposed to forcing their standards and ideas to fit the ever-changing audience. Fashion is a form of self-expression, yet the current industry is only catering to one form of ‘self’, a Eurocentric beauty standard-fitting, rich, white upper-class, ultra-feminine woman, despite it not being an accurate representation of their audience.

It seems as if the amount of institutionalised racism has barely changed from when Beverly Johnson first appeared on the cover of Vogue; it has simply become less noticeable. Yes, brands have become more openly diverse, but it is the little details behind the scenes, that show how little black and ethnic minority models are genuinely cared for.

It is evident that none of these things would be trouble for a white woman, and it would be beneficial to the brand to be shown supporting diversity properly, (not that it is right to reduce women of colour down to just ‘fitting the diversity quota’) so why are women of colour still so mistreated in the fashion industry?

- Mala Debnath, 5NDG

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TOPICS OF DISCUSSION Over the last few months, we have enjoyed having a range of discussions. From various topics like blackfishing to representation of race and gender in the media, we have certainly had a lot to talk about. We thought it would be great to to share some of it with you.

British Identity: In one of our sessions before the Christmas holidays, we watched the Sainsbury’s 2020 Christmas advert and discussed the criticism they received for including a black family. Despite the main focus of the advert being on the Christmas food and joy of Christmas, many had focused on the race of the family in the video. We continued by discussing our views on the diversity being shown in the video and linked it to other sessions when we talked about the importance of representation in the media, and we thought about why some people were upset about the advert. Some members brought up the idea that the video may not be showing enough diversity as it still centred around a typical English Christmas meal containing turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes etc.

However, we are aware that a wide range of people consider themselves to be British and that is something we as a society should be proud of. Being British does not have to be linked to the place in which you grew up, being British means so many different things to so many different people. Discussing what it meant to each of us to be British was an enlightening experience, as it was able to open my eyes to the difference in views of what being British can be. Evidenly, being British covers such a wide range of heritages and families. We also talked about the different traditions surrounding Christmas and how even though most of us consider ourselves to be British, we will eat a vastly different range of meals on Christmas day. We agreed that British Identity has no single definition, and that every family might have their own version in what it means to be British.

Blackfishing: During this term, we have really enjoyed looking at how the media influences our perception as well as how different people are presented in the media. One of the sub-topics we discussed was blackfishing. "Blackfishing" is not as commonly known, though its roots stem from the term catfish. The term catfish is used to describe when someone pretends to be someone they are not, typically online. Likewise, the term "blackfishing" refers to when "someone who uses things like hairstyling and makeup to create and enhance certain features to make it appear as if they have black heritage or are racially ambiguous." After discussing this definition, we then went on to discuss celebrities in the media who we have seen demonstrating this attitude, such as many mainstream celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Rita Ora and Jesy Nelson. We specifically focused on Jesy Nelson, former band member of Little Mix. We discussed how in her recent music video “her skin is darkened in a way that makes her appear non-white”, which The Guardian reported. Some of us expressed ideas such as the idea that blackfishing is wrong due to the fact that people try to appear a particular race or ethnicity whilst not having to actually deal with the marginalisation and discrimination that comes with being from a minority ethnic group. This is applies to influencer, Oli London, who rose to fame after doing multiple surgeries to attempt to look like a member of a popular Korean boy band. He is a white male who identifies as Korean, though not from Korean lineage. We discussed how cultural appreciation can be shown without a need to change physical appearance or characteristics as this can be offensive to a particular group of people.

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TOPICS OF DISCUSSION

Representation of race in the media: When talking about representation of race in the media, we talked about a number of things, including TV, Movies and adverts. We discussed why representation in the media is important, and concluded that without the correct representation, especially in today's world, not seeing a visual representation of yourself in the shows you watch or the movies you see can have a devastating effect. This can often be taken for granted, as many people like to point out that the predominant race of the UK is white, therefore it is not a problem that the media utilise casts that are predominantly white. However, nearly 14% of Britian's population is an ethnic minority, which is nearly 1 in every 7. Even if this is the case, not having the correct representation in the media can lead to harmful stereotypes in real life, and low self confidence in ethnic minorities.

We discussed how in Horror shows for example, the utilisation of Black, specifically AfricanAmerican characters, has led to a stereotype where Black people always die first. Not only this, but in Disney films, it has been a recurring trend, that people of colour are turned into animals, like Tiana in the Princess and the Frog. At first glance, this is not too problematic, however the problem is that racism and prejudice is so internalised, that this can lead to the dehumanisation of Black characters and people. Ultimately, we agreed that the media should represent everybody, as this has a signifciant impact on development when you are a child and we should endeavour as a society to take this topic more seriously.

The importance of names: This discussion mainly stemmed from a GMB interview with Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, in which one of the presenters, Kate Garroway, stumbled over the pronunciation of her name, and asked her to pronounce it herself. However, instead of obliging, Dr Shola asked Kate Garroway to say it phonetically. The question [Beth] first posed to our group, was whether the pronounciation of names really mattered. The overwhelming majority agreed that it did, as names represent who you are, and in many cultures, names have very significant meanings.

There were many views shared, however most people felt like it was basic courtesy to pronounce someone's name correctly. Not with the correct intonations, but in a way that it was clear an effort had been made. Many people shared their experiences, in which because of their more 'unusual' surnames, people often made fun of it, without even thinking about it. Everyone agreed that such a thing, although seemingly harmless, can often hurt the person in question, but because everyone else pays no attention to it, they often go along with it. We carried this discussion over two weeks, and in the second meeting, we discussed name blindness. The question [Daniella] posed was: should all CVs be done with name blindness? Unusually, the meeting was sort of split. Some suggested that this shouldn't be done, as your name represents your identity and where you come from, However others pointed out that someone with a 'white' sounding name in the UK, is more likely to get an interview than somebody with a 'nonwhite' sounding name. Furthermore, this was prevalent not just in England, but also in other European countries such as France. 'Never Have I Ever' actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has also spoken about the topic of her name. Many Hollywood stars, performing artists, etc 'anglicise' their name in order for it to be easier to pronounce and more memorable. However, is this as a result of the culture we have created as a society?

-Contributions made by Katy Hulme (5AMH), Beth Akinkoye (5RAW), Daniella Freeman (5RAW)

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MOVIE AND BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS Many of the members of Inc are avid readers and fervent film-watchers. This page is dedicated to numerous books and movies we've discovered that promote diversity and/or talk about important topics.

'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo Genre: young adult historical fiction.

Age rating: 14+ Includes: diverse representation in terms of characters, an LGBTQIA+ relationship.

Trigger warnings: homophobia, racism and miscarriage.

'Children of Blood and Bone' by Tomi Adeyemi Genre: young adult fantasy.

Age rating: 14+ Includes: diverse representation in terms of characters, West-African inspired story.

Trigger warnings: violence, racism, death, and abuse.

'The Black Kids' by Christina Hammonds Genre: young adult historical fiction.

Age rating: 14+ Includes: race from a teenager's perspective, racial topics.

Triggerwarnings: mentions of suicide/self harm, police brutality, racism

'Green Book’ Genre: drama/comedy Age rating: 12+ Includes: racial attitudes in the 1960s are explored when an Italian-American becomes the bodyguard to a renowned African-American pianist.

Trigger warnings: violence, fairly strong language and racism. .

'Hidden Figures’ Genre: drama/comedy Age rating: PG Includes: Inspiring true story about women at NASA. Trigger warnings: some language and racial discrimination.

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CURRENT PROJECTS: Charity Over recent months, the Inc Society have been very busy planning and organising a variety of charity events. Raising money for deserving causes was something we have always wanted to do, however, the current times have not always allowed for this. We initially brainstormed lots of ideas and narrowed it down to a couple we believed we could achieve this year.

Our first charity event was the extremely popular chocolate tombola and took place in January.

It was very successful, raising over £60 in total! The charity we collectively decided to donate the money to, was Grapevine.

Grapevine is a local charity based in Coventry that supports those in the community with learning disabilities. They aim to provide adults and children with the skills they need flourish as well as promoting equal opportunities. Since 2016 they have helped 3,173 different people in Coventry and Warwickshire. Grapevine is a wonderful charity that shares many values which we promote here at BKHS Bablake, such as opportunity. They spread the important message of building positive relationships and working together as a community in addition to learning from your mistakes and striving to improve. As the Inc. Society we would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of the parents and guardians who kindly donated chocolate.

Without you it would have not been such a success!

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FUTURE PROJECTS: Human Rights Project: This year, we have welcomed the opportunity to take part in the UN Human Rights Project. This is a global project that allows us to come together as a whole, in order to demonstrate the importance of human rights.

Our first task was to select the human right that we found to be one of the most important, and it would be this right we would base our project on. Choosing only one out of the 30 was extremely difficult as they are all important in their own right, and there are 30 of them, as all 30 of them are rights that everyobdy should have, even if they currently don't.

After lots of deliberation we decided on human right number 1:" All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". We felt this is what we represented as the Inc. Society and we could therefore create a very personal and knowledgeable project based upon this human right. Even though we have not yet finalised out final project idea we hope to collaborate with our partner school in South Africa, Harrismith. This would be a fantastic way to highlight some of the differences around the world and how important these basic human rights are.

International Evening: Despite this event being a great success we felt as a society we wanted to do a larger scale event that would better represent what we promote as a society. After discussing, we unanimously agreed on an international culture evening. The idea of a culture evening came to mind after many of our discussions, where we realised most people are extremely uneducated about others heritages or have the wrong perception due to the stereotypes the media creates.

As a result, we felt it was vitally important to educate the wider BKHS Bablake community, and what better way to do this through an evening of food, song and dance?

We hope this evening can be as diverse as possible and allows us to celebrate everyone's background and ethnicity. As a society we are still undecided on a charity but we do not want to limit this decision to those just within the Inc. Society. Therefore, if you have a charity that is close to your heart we would be open to suggestions of worthy causes to support. Finally we would like to thank you for your continuous support during our charity events and we hope you will look out for further updates in the Headmaster's Bulletin and jump at the opportunity to get involved where you can!

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Vol 2 Issue 1

LINKS TO PETITIONS & REFERENCE MATERIALS/ARTICLES

Relevant Articles: https://oxsci.org/charles-richard-drew-the-father-of-bloodbanking/#:~:text=Charles%20Richard%20Drew%20was%20a,first%20large%2Dscale%20bloo d%20bank.- Charles Richard Drew https://www.usfhealthonline.com/resources/healthcare-trends/african-american-trailblazersin-medicine-medical-research/- Patricia Bath & Alexa Canady https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54716750 - Let's talk about how Africa and Asia is viewed https://www.easterneye.biz/institutional-racism-in-met-is-worse-now-claims-ex-chiefsuperintendent-parm-sandhu/ Institutional racism in the Met Police https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/reports/black-models-diversity-fashion-industry-748712 - The Problem Black women and models of colour face. https://www.boredpanda.com/black-model-runway-incompetent-makeup-artists-leomieanderson/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic - The problem black women and models of colour face https://www.mic.com/p/why-do-animators-keep-turning-people-of-color-into-animals65481570- Representation of Race in the Media https://www.goal.com/en-om/news/does-the-afcon-deserve-morerespect/bltb3c30446c1fee59f - AFCON https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/sebastien-haller-hits-back-at-disrespect-shown-to-afcon-308789 - AFCON https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/16848179/watch-klopp-confronted-fuming-reporterafcon-little-tournament/ - AFCON https://www.titech.ac.jp/english/public-relations/about/stories/kenjiro-takayanagi- Kenjiro Takayanagi Relevant Petitions: Since the article was written, events have occurred in Ukraine, in which Russia invaded.

However, it is important to realise that this is separate from the Russian people, this is not their doing, but solely the doing of Putin and his inner circle. Below, you can find articles and petitions related to this subject. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60525350 - BBC's page on the Ukraine Conflict (many different articles) https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-how-you-can-support-people-caught-up-inconflict-and-those-trying-to-flee-12553984 - SKY News on how you can help in Ukraine

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