Awakening Humanity

Alexandria Ocasio-

Social Media as a Murderer of

Cortez Shows

Western

that Anyone

Values

Can Dream

Dave Fights Discrimination through Verses

Li

Wengliang —an Ordinary Hero

May 2020

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We receive excessive amounts of news every day.

Washing hands is important. China was trying to hide the outbreak of the virus. Boris Johnson is counting on herd immunity. But what are we learning about ourselves during this time?

An ordinary doctor with extraordinary values tries to save the world.

During his performance at Brit Awards 2020, the 21 year-old rapper addresses the struggles of black community and questions the way the UK government deals with various predicaments.

The West is defined by terms such as ‘democracy’, ‘rationalism’, ‘liberty’, etc. Do we still comply with these values?

The youngest woman ever to serve in the U. S. Congress has achieved success through ambition, not money.

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It is easy to lose hope amidst all the terrifying events happening in the world right now. Corruption, injustice and favouritism in politics, crime, racism and murders on the streets, as well as poverty, inequality and hate bring us down every time we turn on the news. is trying to bring the positivity back by telling stories of people who, against all odds, are fighting for justice, solidarity and equal opportunities. These are the people who inspire. Hopefully, this issue will bring you some of that.

With love, Emilija

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In the times of the pandemic, we get new information about the world and its politics every day. Washing hands is important. China was trying to hide the outbreak of the virus. Boris Johnson is counting on herd immunity. But what are we learning about ourselves? their home country just because a foreigner wasn’t accepted.

Such news vary on so many levels and it’s so important for every individual to carefully read them and critically evaluate the content. Sharing every article you see is also spreading loads of anxiety around. Think about it before sharing the information. Especially with those who are in more difficult situations than you, for instance, has to fly home, has the symptoms, etc.

3) We can be a community.

The virus isn’t only causing detrimental consequences.

There are so many good things coming out of this. People who understand how serious this is and who take precautions are firstly helping each other, not only themselves. Loads of young people are volunteering to help check the incomers, work in hospitals and help the elderly to shop. The sense of community never felt better (not 1) We can be selfish. to mention the neighbours gathering around in the balSelf-isolation can be hard. In some countries, however, it’s conies in Italy). been made a necessity for the next couple of weeks. People are recommended to stay at home unless it’s actually urgent. It really makes sense as the virus is easily spread and you can never really know if you have it as the symptoms might be 4) We can be careful. mild or might not even be f e l t . When we slowly realise what’s happening, we do take the situation seriously. Loads of countries in Europe Nevertheless, some people are disregarding this. A student, 20 have declared a two-week quarantine and it seems to be years old, still very young and naïve, thinks s/he knows bet- working. ter. S/he is neither a scientist nor a doctor. The question of self-isolation is therefore met with ignorance and pride. Peo- The airports are also full of sanitizers connected to the ple are going to their grandparent’s birthday, they are posting walls on every corner. their adventures in public events, etc. And what can you pos- The staff of the shops still open in the UK are wearing sibly say to them? People can be selfish. gloves and masks.

And we do know how to wash our hands properly! Why have we never done it before?

2) We can be ignorant.

Besides the general assumption that the virus is somewhere far away, not here and can’t be transferred to you, there are many other issues related to ignorance.

Loads of my acquaintances, for example, can’t resist but spread fake news. It’s so easy for people to read headlines of random articles and send them around. They want others to be safe, sure, but it’s causing so much unnecessary panic. The others may easily accept any information as true without even opening the article. They may apply the provided information to their situation, for instance, that they won’t be led into

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5) Also… we are scared.

Fear makes us do crazy things like spreading fake news and panic. The pandemic is also showing us what we fear the most; it opens the deepest parts of our souls. Are we scared to be left alone in the house, not knowing what to do with our thoughts? Are we scared to stay abroad, with no family?

Are we more scared to go home and give the virus to our loved ones? The pandemic may show us our deepest fears with which we could possibly deal with once we’ve got some energy.

6) We have the habit of forgetting what’s important.

It’s crazy how all the life has suddenly stopped. We’d have the busiest days at university, work, we’d run around and we’d constantly be on our phones; half the stuff we’d do wouldn’t even be remembered in the evening. But in just a weekend it all stopped. I think the majority of us has been reminded of what’s important: to some, it’s their loved ones, to others, their health, or, in other words, it’s the things we’d taken for granted before the pandemic. They were always fine; they were always there. But once the daily routine full of unnecessary tasks related to capitalistic objectives is gone, we realise it never really mattered. It’s the family that we care about the most. Their health. Our health. The friendships we’ve made. Let’s not forget this once the pandemic is over and we go back to our daily lives.

7) We’re only humans.

This pandemic feels like the Stanford Experiment. Or an episode from Black Mirror. I can already see myself as a viewer, 7

as an observer of the most intriguing human behaviour.

Trying to evaluate others and myself in this extreme situation is compelling. It shows us who’s actually smart, who’s able to remain calm and still think, whose trust in science is bigger than their ego, who want to protect their loved ones and those who don’t really care, those who see this pandemic as a very scary period and those who see this as an opportunity to catch up on work, spend more time with themselves, relax, read some books and just do things that they’d never really had time for before.

What we can do right now is focus on the positive: the sense of community it’s and the period of unexpected holiday, something that all of us probably need, including the Earth itself. We’re getting time to think and possibly change our plans drastically once reminded of what’s really important.

Let’s make this virus our friend.

An ordinary doctor with extraordinary values tries to save the world. admonition promising not to do it as they were just carrying orders. And who was giving those orders? You alagain.

The police warned him that if he failed ready know the answer. to learn from the admonition and continued to violate the law, he would be prosecuted. I guess fear acted as a major contributor to such actions.

Li returned to work and later contracted the virus from an infected patient.

On 31 January, he published his experience in the police station with the letter of admonition on social media. The post went viral.

Somebody that cannot be punished.

The government, the authorities, the CPC. The party is rather seeking power than social development and that power is gained through excessive ways of suppressing Chinese freedoms.

Some people are now blaming the CPC. U. S. Senator Tom Cotton boldly expresses his views as he states that “we should treat this pandemic not just as a war with a deadly pathogen, but as an information war with CPC”. The party indeed lied, covered it up and silenced whistle-blowers, which led the pandemic spread quickly. The death toll today is almost two million people.

The letter of admonition issued by the Wuhan Police Bureau ordering Li to stop “spreading rumours” Li Wenliang was a Chinese ophthal- about “SARS”, signed by Li and two mologist who worked as a physician at officers. Li uploaded it to his Sina Described as honest, by his tutor, and Wuhan Central Hospital. Li warned Weibo account. ordinary, by his colleagues, he made his colleagues in December 2019 about quite an impression based on these vala possible outbreak of an illness, later ues. These are the values that we are in acknowledged as COVID-19. After need of in the 21st century. It did not having received a report of a patient, save him, but maybe, hopefully, it will that contained the phrase “SARS Coroinspire and help us fight against lies navirus”, Li wrote in a private WeChat and injustice in the future. The regroup of his medical school classmates: sistance is already seen in China as the “7 confirmed cases of SARS at Huanan death of Li provoked grief and anger Seafood Market”. He also posted the on social media which extended to a patient’s report and CT scan image. demand for freedom of speech. A group After an hour, he asked his fellow of Chinese academics published an classmates not to circulate the inforopen letter urging the government to mation outside the group and tell their protect free speech, guaranteed by Chifamily to take caution. Screenshots of nese constitution. Quite a price for the messages were shared on Chinese freedom… forums and gained huge attention.

What is wrong with that, you ask?

Nothing. The doctor detected a disease that was about to spread and wanted to keep others safe. Unfortunately, we are in the Communist State of China. Li was therefore noticed by the authoriWuhan Central Hospital announced ties as a whistle-blower. that Li died at 2.58 a.m. on 7 February The consequences of that? Brutally 2020. serious and very unfortunate for China Some said that the police who repriand the whole world. manded Li were responsible for not On 3 January 2020, Wuhan police following the correct procedures. Other summoned and admonished him for people, however, defended them on “making false comments on the Inter- Twitter, saying that it would be too net”. He was made to sign a letter of much for the police to bear the burden 8

When Li began showing symptoms of the illness, he booked a hotel room to avoid the possibility of infecting his family. Despite the precaution, his parents were infected, but later recovered. Li and his wife had one son. His wife was pregnant with their second child at the time of his death.

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The world saw some spectacular history being made at the 2020 Brit Awards. 21-year-old rapper, Dave, gave an outstanding performance of the song ‘Black’. Through his verses, he stressed the struggles of the black community and questioned the way the UK government deals with various predicaments.

After playing the piano for a few verses, Dave is joined by cellos, violins and, at the other end of the piano, his producer, Fraser T. Smith. The rapper addresses the injustice that occurs when police deal with crimes of kids of colour, also the amount of responsibility these kids have to take on and the struggle of finding ways to survive on the streets. The battles make life hard, but they unite the community. ‘Black is beautiful’ and ‘black is pain’, Dave says.

After the song itself is over, he stands up and starts rapping a newly written verse which focuses on specific consequences of the racist culture in the UK. 1) Firstly, he calls Boris Johnson racist.

As Andrew Sabisky is hired by No 10 as an adviser, the public criticises the decision. Apparently, he declared once that Black Americans have a lower IQ than White Americans and are more likely to have an “intellectual disability”. Johnson was required to justify the decision of such appointment, and respond to whether he stands by Sabisky’s opinion, but his spokesman refused to say whether the PM agrees.

Eventually, Sabisky resigned. No 10 refused to condemn adviser’s remarks, making us question whether the PM agrees with Sabisky’s statements and indeed disapproves of minorities. Everything happened in February of 2020, right before the Brit Awards, possibly giving Dave more reason to put the question out there.

addressed by the press.

Meghan Markle has been criticised for almost everything she does: breaking royal rules, having baby showers, not getting along with other royal family members, keeping her hands in her pockets during a royal engagement in New Zealand, the list could go on and on. Who wants to constantly live by rules and be criticised for trying? The reasons for her and Harry leaving the family are obvious – belonging to them creates excessive amounts of pressure!

Besides incidents like this, Boris is also known for calling Muslim women wearing burka ‘bank robbers’ and ‘letterboxes’ and Black people ‘piccaninnies’ with ‘watermelon smiles’.

Such appearances can also be the reason of Dave boldly stating his opinion.

While Meghan was still trying to become a family member, she received a lot of shaming, more than Kate ever did. It looks like they are not evaluated by the same standards. For example, before joining the royal family, Kate was criticised for not having a career 2) Dave also compares the ways in and just looking as if she was waiting to get married to Prince William. Yet, which Kate and Meghan are 10

Meghan, having built a successful career before joining the family, would not be getting any praise, instead, she would get criticism for not understanding royal life.

Another example is of both women wearing wedges to different events.

Markle was called out for having broken royal protocol while Middleton’s choice was admired.

Why is this happening? I guess, the list of reasons of hating her is excessively long, one of them being that she is not white, nor English. There have never been better times to travel freely and move around, and with globalisation taking its toll, different nationalities and races are constantly mixing. It was upsetting to see how much hate and disrespect the public and the press had for Meghan and her marriage.

expensive houses in the world. The tower was however populated by underprivileged, mainly ethnic-minority residents. Before the fire, the Conservative-run Kensington and Chelsea council took £55 million in rent but only invested less than £40 million in council housing and to some, it represented the inequality issue in Britain.

Edward Daffam of the Grenfell Action group stated that ‘North Kensington was like a goldmine, only they didn’t have to dig for the gold. All they had to do was to marginalise the people who were living there’. That was exactly what they were doing. It was not only the fire service being too late in advising residents to evacuate that caused the fire, it was also the underinvestment, which showed the neglect of the borough’s poorer residents, which was one of the reasons for the fire starting. The exterior, as it was found out by research, did not comply with building regulations.

Prince Harry himself released a statement comparing the press’s treatment of Meghan to that of his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car accident The Equality and Human Rights Comwhile trying to escape from meddling mission also criticised official handling photographers. of the fire’s aftermath, citing witnesses Is history not repeating itself? who alleged that the response of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Home Office had been “overshadowed by racism”. Some families were reported to be sleeping on the floor in local centres four days after the event.

4) Lastly, Dave is asking for support for the Windrush Generation.

3) Dave is also accounting for Gren- The Windrush scandal concerns people who were wrongly detained, denied lefell victims. gal rights, threatened with deportation, The Grenfell Tower fire was a fire and, in at least 83 cases, wrongly dethat broke out on 14 June 2017 in ported from the UK by the Home OfWest London, causing 72 deaths. fice. Many of those affected had been born British subjects and had arrived in The tower is in the Royal Borough of the UK before 1973, particularly from Kensington and Chelsea, one of the Caribbean countries. wealthiest local authorities in the country, containing some of the most An unknown number also lost their 11

Jobs or homes, or were denied benefits or medical care to which they were entitled.

In 1948, Britain was just starting to recover from World War II. Thousands of buildings had been bombed, loads of houses were destroyed and it all needed to be rebuilt. In the Caribbean, lots of men and women had served in the British armed forces as many Caribbean countries were still under British rule. After the war, some of these people answered an advert to come to Britain to work.

70 years have passed since the Empire Windrush sailed to Britain from the Caribbean. Now some of the people who arrived as children with their parents, have been told that they live here illegally. Even in such cases, the government is partly responsible as in 1971, these people were told they could stay permanently but the government did not keep a full record of them; therefore some people did not apply for official paperwork like a UK passport. It just did not seem needed.

In 2012, there was a change to the immigration law and people were told they needed official documents to prove they could get free hospital treatment or benefits. This led to some being sent to immigration detention centres and facing deportation.

Rimmer, a former choreographer, who helped head a team of 16. The emotions are felt so deeply that one could see them all: pain, anger, pride, strength, love and resilience.

From the type of racism that disrespects people in the media, to the type that deports and kills people, Dave reminds us the heaviness of the problem. It is easy to forget about the events of the past and it is just as easy to neglect the predicaments that are not happening in your area. But caring for each other, no matter where you are and who you are, is/ should be the main tool for fighting racism and stopping such incidents.

In Dave’s performance, it is therefore not only the lyrics that touches everyone, it is also the way he articulates the words, shows facial expressions and hand gestures. “It wasn’t a typical Brits performance, there wasn’t a huge cheer at the end. People were stunned. They couldn’t believe what they saw”, says Amber 12

‘Black is beautiful’ and ‘black is pain’, Dave says. But I say resilience is beautiful. Solidarity is beautiful. And in all of that, we are all beautiful. Together.

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When we think of the West in historical terms, we usually remember Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, the birthplaces of Western civilisation, in which realms like philosophy, democracy, science, aesthetics, art, architecture and various other disciplines were founded and developed. But do we, ourselves, still live by the same principles that the Greeks and Romans have studied? We are defined by ‘democracy’, ‘rationalism’, ‘liberty’ and ‘enlightenment’, but do we still use them as the main values of our society once we hear about tragedies happening around the world? Are we still aspiring to create a united community?

The West is becoming more and more My peers and I are millennials of the trivial due to the impact of social me- Western society and we’re stuck in the dia. safe bubble it’s created. Not having lived through war, displacement, exile What do we use social platforms for? or any other tragedy threatening our ‘To communicate’, ‘to network’, ‘to nation and culture, we get stuck in our share our experiences with friends’, ‘to daily lives full of capitalistic and indistay in touch with family when we’re vidualistic values while sharing them away’, ‘to find ideas for outfits and dé- on social media and therefore erasing cor’, ‘to pass the time’, ‘to blog’, ‘to the principles that the Greeks and Roread news’, my peers reply. mans have established. We forget that some people are still in war and we have the capacity to help. Socrates for 14

sure wouldn’t be happy to see that we aren’t concentrating as much on a true sense of community as we are, for example, on material wealth.

It is the people who aren’t from the West that teach us a lot nowadays, Behrouz Boochani, for instance. He is a Kurdish-Iranian writer who cofounded the Kurdish magazine

Werya which promoted Kurdish culture and politics. In 2013, the offices of Werya were raided by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and he therefore fled Iran. As he was trying to reach Australia, he was imprisoned in Christmas Island and then in the Manus Island. While being there, Boochani sent various fragments to his friend Omid Tofighian who then translated them from Persian into English and therefore put them into a book. What did Boochani use to secretly send those fragments? Whatsapp!

Boochani understands that it is hard for those who haven’t experienced imprisonment to understand it, therefore, he coins new terms and uses words like ‘the suppressed’, ‘the prisoners’ and ‘human beings’ in order to create some capacity for empathy. He believes that with this new language, he will take his readers to detention camps with him.

In No Friend But the Mountains: Writ- Omid Tofighian—Boochani’s friend who received all the messages, ing from Manus Prison, Boochani detranslated them and helped scribes the boat journey from IndoneBoochani write the book. sia to Australia, his detainment in the islands and the lives and deaths of other prisoners. One of the most important points that he makes throughout the book is that the prison is a Kyriarchial system, which means that refugees are tortured, ‘the system transforms prisoners into machines, erasing their human identities, and stripping individuals of autonomy and selfhood’. Oppression is not random but purposeful, designed to isolate and create friction amongst prisoners, leading to despair and broken spirits.

Can we even imagine such horror?

as the refugee crisis, climate change, etc? These could be the first steps of the West leaving the bubble, erasing the confusing and so often criticised line between the Occident and the Orient as well as going back to the morals that the Ancient Greek and Roman have studied.

We mustn’t forget that our community isn’t limited to the people we see every day. The community is everyone, young or old, American or Chinese, male or female, rich or homeless, straight or gay… It’s everyone on this Earth and each community struggles in its own way. Boochani says, we’re all just human beings. As the police are beating the refugees, Boochani is trying to transfer a humanitarian message not only to the Australian society, but also to everyone around the world. We all need, he says: Feelings of friendship.

Feelings of compassion.

Feelings of companionship.

Boochani uses social media in order to enlighten the world about the detention of the refugees happening right now. After finding such stories, shouldn’t we all start using social media a bit less for sharing our daily life and a bit more for talking (really talking) and trying to solve problems such 15

Feelings of justice.

And feelings of love.

And I think it’s time to step up our game.

I’m therefore asking you and myself — how do we help?

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The media has been exploding with videos of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

She has become an icon not only for the American public, but for various communities around the world. She is now a politician working in the U. S. Congress, advocating for Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee, the Green New Deal, free public college and a 70% marginal tax rate for income above $10 million. Alexandria is a real example of achieving great success not through money, but rather through ambition. Here are five amazing lessons that AOC is teaching us!

1.

2.

When she was a sophomore at university, her father died of lung cancer and she soon became involved in a lengthy probate debate to settle his estate. She said that the experience helped her learn how “attorneys appointed by the court to administer an estate can enrich themselves at the expense of the families struggling to make sense of the bureaucracy”. Even bad situations teach us something good. Do not forget to look at things from a different point of view, and you will find something new.

Work hard at every chance 3. you get.

Alexandria majored in International Relations and Economics at Boston University, graduating with cum laude.

When you treat education as privilege, you want to get the best out of it, and therefore be the best.

Also, during college, she served as an intern for the U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, in his section on foreign affairs and immigration issues. AOC told she was always picking up the phone whenever somebody called about their relative having been snatched off the street by ICE as she was the only one speaking Spanish in the office. She would help them navigate through the system and find their loved ones. Alexandria has possibly gained valuable experience as a young student, and the responsibility of dealing with real life cases might have been one of the reasons for her fighting the ICE now. This reminds us all that every internship or work experience matters. If you have a chance, do it!

Even in hardships, there is a ray of sunshine.

Indian Reservation, and speaking to people affected by the Flint water crisis and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

She said that before that, she had believed that the only way to run for office effectively was to have access to wealth, social influence and power, but after she saw the people in North Dakota “putting their whole lives on the Sometimes, you do not start line for the protection of their commulife after university. nity”, she was inspired to begin to work for her own community. She began her campaign while still waiting tables. Is that just not amazing? Anyone can dream, and most importantly, anyone can achieve their goals. One just has to be brave enough (or crazy enough) to start dreaming.

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We spend so much time thinking and planning our future that will start right after university. As young individuals, we want to be the best and we want to achieve a lot. But sometimes, it is not really how life works. Sometimes we do have other duties, and that is completely fine. Life is not to be rushed anyways. Alexandria shows us that family obligations were the most important thing to her. And it did not stop her from achieving her goals in a surprisingly early stage of her life. After college, Ocasio-Cortez moved back to the Bronx and started working as a bartender and waitress to help her mother stop foreclosure of their home.

Again, she was fighting against the authorities.

Money means nothing when you have ambition.

When she started her campaign, Alexandria faced a financial disadvantage challenging Joe Crowley. She, however, still undertook grassroots mobilisation and did not take donations from corporations. She defeated the 10term incumbent by almost 15 percentage points, while still having been outspent by a margin of 18 to 1 ($1.5 million to $83,000). Her victory speaks volumes about the society that Americans are striving to be. As Alexandria was advocating for poor people and minorities, they voted for her.

Now she is fighting for an equal society, where people would not have to pay $2,000 for calling an ambulance and where everyone could go to college.

Taking office at age 29, she became the youngest woman ever to serve in 4.

Anyone can dream. the U. S. Congress. She is now a U. S. th Ocasio-Cortez also traveled across representative for New York’s 14 America by car, visiting Standing Rock congressional district.

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