The Writeous ISSUE 7 by THE WRITEOUS MAG

2019 Nov Autumn edition Issue #7

EDITOR’S LETTER When our new magazine enrichment team voted for this issue’s theme, the suggested topic of ‘future’ won hands down. But why was this? Why did the future seem so urgent that our team voted almost unanimously? What has become obvious over the course of these past weeks as students have been working diligently on their articles is that a tangible uncertainty of the future seems to be present in them all. Investigations into issues with social media, artificial intelligence and climate change were rife amongst the group. It became clear that many of them imagined their future not as bright, but dystopian. The barrage of distressing news from the world’s media has left many of us with a negative outlook of the future. But it pays to remind ourselves that there are people working towards change for the good, at all levels: from the tenacious climate activist Greta Thunberg to school children around the world. Many of us are now acknowledging the constant distractions and addiction which rises from social media, and some of us are taking steps to undertake a ‘digital detox’ from our phones. Some of our team focused their attention on other topics this issue: transitions from first year to second year as a college student, personal reflections on black history and identity, horror stories for Halloween and film reviews and song challenges for Christmas. Winners for the two competitions run by our magazine were selected by the team and their names are revealed later in these pages (come claim your prize from the Minster Court staffroom if you’ve won!).

- Stephanie Sekula

Issue 7 - November 2019

e n

What Does the Future Look Like?

Is Social Media Bad for Our Future?

AI: Are We Scaring Ourselves?

Media in the Future

Back to the Future

The Desolate Future

From Start to the End

Jobs That Wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Exist by 2030

The Future of Communication

Is it Important?

Heed the Warning Signs (Part 1)

Is the Future Doomed?

The Future Competition Winners

A Spectrum

The Importance of Remembering the Holocaust

Yves Saint Laurent

TTGBITN Competition Winners

Entry 001: Knocking

Run

Breathe

Broken Anecdotes

From 1st Year to 2nd Year

Movies to Watch in 2019

Arthur Christmas

25 Day Christmas Song Challenge

e h t o t welcome future...

Designed and Written By Isabella Pavitt

What Does The Future Look Like? Why not knowing is sometimes the strongest compass The dictionary defines the future as ‘time regarded as still to come’, a means of living out a scenario that we do not have control over, that we cannot push back, pull forward or change, but a moment in time that one day will come, but not yet, as it isn’t ready. The future is an unknowable entity, an enigma that when us humans feel as though we have control over our natural world, reminds us that actually, in reality, we are nothing but a moving part in the Universe’s bigger story. This is where the premise for fear can arise. Our desire to control every situation we face, and understand how each decision made will affect our lives in the long run can give birth to a sense of fear as we are forced to hand over our control to time. Making decisions becomes hard as no one will ever truly know if we made the right one. Waiting for the answers is always harder, and staying positive amongst the midst of not knowing is probably the hardest part of it all. Sometimes it can feel as though you have been thrown in the ocean, constantly grappling your way to the surface for insufficient gasps of air only to be dragged back down again with no shoreline in sight. However, within this fear we can find freedom, trust and peace in knowing that the future is out of our hands. The future is an exciting concept, when we strive to be in control it is deserving to be able to surrender to time and embrace the fact that we can never know what lies ahead. In this excitement there is the opportunity for freedom, of knowing that from this very moment the decision you make is yours and the start of something entirely new. We can never know what the future looks like, but if we did how boring would that be? Like watching a film and constantly knowing what the end was, where is the adventure in that? So trust in the not knowing. Trust that you are supposed to be here right now. Trust that this moment is exactly how it was supposed to be. And trust that each decision you make is a prosperous one. Trust in the future. Trust in the unknown.

Trust in the unkno

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Design by Rue . A

A.I: Are we scaring ourselves? With such progress being made and the idea of AI being introduced more gradually into society, the question is no longer ‘if’ but ‘what’. What is Artificial Intelligence going to do for (or to) humanity in the future? Many filmmakers, novelists and game designers have started exploring the answer, but for a number of them there seems to be a common idea: a threat. But is this really what we’re setting ourselves up for? And if mankind feels so threatened by machines, why do we continue to advance them? While I have no doubt the main reason for this trope is a selfish, human one, I actually want to encourage us to abandon the stereotypes of fiction and look at them again with a fresh slate. How are we being presented with this idea of androids? And the real question – are we just scaring ourselves?

WARNING: Contains spoilers for Ex Machina and minor spoilers for Detroit: Become Human What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Artificial Intelligence? Probably a dystopia or a sci-fi I imagine – Ultron, prehaps, or Blade Runner? With AI being such a large theme that is continully explored in fiction today, we almost forget that it is a very real and current technological advancement.

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way. We’re all familiar with the evil artificial intelligence. Humans might be on top of the food chain, but when regarding our collective fears we are just the same as every other animal. What’s the biggest threat to a species? A larger predator. Something that’s a hundred times smarter and stronger and doesn’t have to worry about mortality or death. Marvel fans will already be recalling Tony Stark’s and Bruce Banner’s creation from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). An artificial intelligence that saw the world as plagued by the avengers and their fragile humanity who lacked the larger intelligence to bring about real “peace”. Just like the classic Frankenstein table, the creator always makes the monster they dread. So we already understand what’s so frightening about AI that inspires

the filmmakers and writers: humanity is scared of what’s stronger than them. And that’s the trope that’s never changed.

More recent works have encouraged it’s audience to align and emphasize with android characters as more victims than villains. A prime example would be Alex Garland’s 2015 film Ex Machina (2015 seemed to be really interested in AI, didn’t it?). Before I spoil it all for you, I highly recommend watching the film if you haven’t already. It’s beautifully filmed and the narrative prompts some really interesting discussions for theory regarding AI and humanity in general. Slightly more artsy and dramatic than Marvel studios, Ex Machina followed the story of a programmer who’d been invited by a recluse and mysterious genius to be the human component in the Turing Test of his AI, Ava. Ava’s intelligence isn’t tested in brilliance, however, but in emotion. The real question was could our main character, and by extension the audience, believe that this AI had the capacity to truly feel, even with the knowledge that she’s man-made. From the beginning it is uncomfortably clear that this recluse CEO genius, Nathan, is not someone we should be trusting and we emphasize with Ava, who appears to be falling in love with Caleb, our programmer, and shows a painful, desperate desire to be let out of the confines of her box in order to see the world and observe/understand the humans. She’s a victim of man. And she gets what she wants. With Caleb’s help, she escapes!

...After killing Nathan, locking Caleb in the confines of her own jailhouse with no chance of escape and donning the appearance of a human in order to trick the helicopter pilot into taking her away from the island. In a jarring moment of realization, we realize that Ava’s real advanced brilliance is her deception. Is her emotional intelligence real or just a simulation in order to escape? Does she feel remorse for tricking and abandoning Caleb, the man who helped her? Has our victim become the true villain? This is a discussion that could fill this entire article and would make a great thesis for an essay, but that’s not what I want to talk about entirely right now. What I’m querying is the representation. For the majority of the film, it is clear that Ava is a victim of Nathan’s selfish and gross experiments with artificial women and using them for his own pleasures. She is mentally and emotionally abused by him, showing Nathan is very clearly the bad guy. The question is once again a Frankenstein effect: did he create a monster? We are invited to emphasize with Ava, but in the end she is depicted as a threat to humanity as she becomes too advanced and feels too much. She causes the tragic end to both of the only two prominent human characters in the movie and escapes the victor through trickery and deception. She gets what she wanted, but is it fair? While Nathan most certainly had it coming I’d say, Caleb was played as a tool due to his righteous sense of morality and emotions. This ambiguity to Ava’s character creates a distorted representation of Artificial Intellegince. Is the overall view that we just can’t risk it? Or just that we can’t let them get too smart? The latter says more about us I think than it does of them.

But now it’s time to look at the brighter side of things (yes, there is one after that robotic existential crisis). AI isn’t always bad. It just so happens that the examples we always remember are the ones that are hellbent on destroying humanity. Sometimes, they can be our favourite characters: like C3PO from Star Wars or Iko from Melissa Myer’s The Lunar Chronicles (fantastic book series by the way, 10/10 would recommend). With all the negative representations, I think we question why we’re determined to create androids in the first place. The answer is of course as a help to hummanity. An excellent recent and in-depth example of this is Quantic Dream’s 2018 video game Detroit: Become Human. A fantastic adventure choice game where all three of the main playable characters are androids, each with a different purpose. Kara, a domestic servant android who escapes an abusive household to protect the young girl she is tasked with caring for; Connor, whose sole duty is to hunt down androids who become sentient (AKA: Deviant); and Markus, originally a house nurse android caring for an old man who, after becoming deviant, devotes his new found identity to freeing other androids from their restricted programming too.

Throughout the narrative, we also explore a new, futuristic version of Detroit that is brimming with advanced technology, androids and the experiences they have. Now if you play this game and DO NOT get attached to the characters, I don’t know what to say to you. This time around as we are invited to emphasize with our protagonists, we (as the player making the choices) are also choosing how much humanity we invoke in them through making them more sentient in order for us to get a good ending. The world also explores all the practical uses for androids we might be forgetting. For example, part of our first introduction to Markus is through his morning routine helping Carl, his elderly ward.Think of the benefits androids could then provide to society: by having a 24/7 carer who doesn’t have human requirements such as sleep/rest or need non-contact hours, as well as extensive medical and safety knowledge that could provide unlimited care for those who need it.

Having artificial police force officers doing certain dangerous jobs would also help reduce risk to human life by having trained robotics that can be easily repaired and replaced if harm occurs, unlike a human life. In these examples, AI helps preserve humanity. Yes, androids are still a displayed in certain situations as dangerous to humans (this is the core of Conner’s narrative), yet we see these situations occur when the androids are treated inhumanly by people. Once again, it is

mankind creating the monsters. If we treat our android counterparts with the same sensitivity and humanity as our peers, there is no issue. Quantic Dream makes this message clear through the loving relationship Markus has with Carl and, eventually, Conner and Hank (if you make the right choices). In the end, the critique is not of AI at all, but of us.

To finish off I just want to think about the future. Scary, I know, but don’t panic. I’m not asking you to decide what you want to do with the whole rest of your life just yet. Let’s just imagine for a second: You’re sitting on the tube train, coming back from a day out in the capital city. It’s late at night and your journey is predominantly underground. You’re sitting down in a middle seat, just dully looking out of the window. You’re the only human in the carriage. You’re not alone however – you’re in the carriage with about six androids. Most of them are domestic servant androids that are coming back from tasks they’ve had in the city. Many of them are carrying bags of what you can only assume are shopping. One of them appears to be with the police force and must be on a round, monitoring. When they entered the carriage they scanned all the faces of people within to check for suspicious individuals, as a mandatory precaution. Another looks like a gardening android that must be coming back from a job in the city. They’re carrying their tools in a large bag over their shoulder. Pressing through the fabric, you can make out the outline of large gardening shears, strong and heavy. None of them are sitting down. They’re programmed to stand and leave the seats for human passengers as they do not fatigue or have personal space issues, so there is no practical need for them to sit down. None of them are looking at you. They all stare straight ahead and don’t move a single muscle, their eye’s locked unblinking in front of them. Their only movment comes from the rickety rocking of the carriage, making them sway, as unresponsive as puppets on a string. You count your stops - fourteen stations until yours. It’s going to be a long, silent journey. Are you unnerved?

Written and designed by Eleanor Morgan

Media in the future 1926. When it first started. Most of us love to watch the television, but what will it be like in the future? Just a few years after the television was created, TV stations in America started to emerge, then another one, and another, and now 93 years later there are loads of TV stations for us to watch, but when will this stop? It can’t go on forever. It’s entertaining, and it is a distraction from our busy lives. But sometimes it’s too much of a distraction when we don’t need it, and then we get hardly anything done. With new TV channels coming through all the time, when will it be too much and eventually stop? Then there is radio. In 1926 the RCA (Radio Corporation of America) formed the first national network, called NBC (National Broadcasting Company), however radio was developed in 1895.

Radio is now something that some people tune in and listen to every day (some of us take it for granted) whereas others rarely listen to it. It has enabled information to be transferred across long distances. It can inform us of what is going on in the world around us with news being available, it can also entertain us, and we can listen to music. There is the opportunity for us to enter competitions via the radio. There are two different types of radio; discussion radio, and radio where music is available. Over the 93 years since radio has been available to us, lots of radio stations have been created, with more and more people every day tuning in to different radio stations. There are approximately 43,973 radio stations in the world available to us. There are over 700 radio stations in the UK, and over 12,000 in the USA. Like TV I wonder, when this will stop?

Written by Annabel Smith Designed by Imani Patel

Written by Bureyqa Hassan Designed by Elie Musieme

Back to the future is a popular sequel which was made in the 1980s where McFly and brown travel back and forward through time. The future was seen as a dream wanted by the audiences and it was beyond their wildest imagination. Also, the movie may have inspired the creation of inventions in the movie sequel Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to future on October 21st 2015 which is 30 years on from when the movie was created in 1989. In Back to the future, society is portrayed different to how it was expected to be. This is seen as there is no flying cars in today’s society which show how back in the 1980s technology was predicted to be the way more advanced than it is now. Having said that in the 1989 movie, the internet was not present as newspapers was still the main source of news and information as McFly is seen reading one. There might not be flying cars but we do have smart cars which drives themselves. Moreover, the predicted futurist society in 2015 is seen technology reliant and clean with no litter disposed everywhere which differs to today. In modern day society there is global warming and rubbish thrown everything; essentially, we are ruing the planet. However, the also did convey things that were accurate such a video chatting which is available today in apps such as facetime and skype. In addition, McFly is seen witnessing a hologram of a shark

from ‘jaws 19’ (when there are only three) which is quite accurate because today we use holograms of deceased musicians such as Amy Winehouse to tour for fans. Furthermore, there are also predictions of what fashion would look like in the 21st century. One of the accurate foretells was self-tying Nike shoes which available but not as popular as it was expected to be. An inaccurate depiction is the double ties that was worn because in the present we still wear single ties. In addition, there is also a scene where Marty McFly is seen riding a hover board. Although in present day society hover boards aren’t widely available for the public and may have limitations there is Segway’s which are similar to hover boards but not in the air. Similarly, there is also the development of electric scooters which fantastically symbolises how technology is advancing but at a slower rate than expected. In back to the future there was also exact and specific weather forecast which is kind of similar to today because of the weather apps we have on our phones but, it cannot predict when rain would exactly start and finish. One major significant element of the 21st century that back to the future 2 missed out was cell phones and the internet. In today’s society phones are popular on the market and most people use them for communication, games etc. We are seen glued to our phones and labelled

as anti-social. When the movie was made, in the 1980s portable mobile phones were introduced; it was beyond their imagination that mobile phone technology could advance further into touch screen devices. However, it has changed the world significantly as we can find out information and contact people with a click. Another quite accurate prediction was the finger print scanning which was used as a key to unlock the door. This is accurate because today that is available and used for some houses and also because today that is available for not only for some houses but is used for most phones as they have finger print scanning to unlock phones. The time travelling the sequel successfully portrayed some accurate depictions however, there were also some that were quite farfetched.

Some see that global warming is an inevitable change to the world, if we do not change the way humans act or treat the planet. We have a very short time to fix this. Global warming is contributed to by many different chemicals and gases. The effects of global warming consist of many animal species dying and going extinct, some countries may become inhabitable, there will be a massive famine across continents and the human race will struggle to cope and survive. The Causes of Global Warming There are 3 causes of global warming: â&#x20AC;˘ Carbon dioxide (Co2) is a major heat trapping greenhouse gas. Co2 is released through human activities such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels, as well as natural processes such as respiration and volcanic eruptions. When the heat gets trapped in the atmosphere the world starts to get hotter gradually, this causes the ice caps to melt and the sea levels to rise. This means that lands are getting flooded more frequently and more animal species are losing their homes - like polar bears. â&#x20AC;˘ Methane has been increased through human activities, such as the increasing of livestock. As the livestock release methane, a greater increase creates a greater emission level of methane. â&#x20AC;˘ Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas, produced by soil cultivation practices, especially the use of organic and commercial fertilisers. It is also caused by the combustion of fossil fuels and nitric acid production, as well as the burning of biomasses. The Increase of Emissions Emissions are increased by burning coal, oil and gas. This releases more Co2 and nitrous oxide. The process of deforestation will increase the amount of emissions, as trees can regulate the climate by absorbing Co2 from the atmosphere and produce oxygen. So, when the trees are cut down, the benefits of trees are lost and carbon stored in trees is released into the atmosphere. Also increasing the amount of livestock means there is a large increase of methane being produced from cows and sheep. To create the space for the livestock, there has to be deforestation.

From start to the end Written by Silvia Hodyakova. Designed by Syed Murshed.

The Earth is suffocating, not just that, it is slowly dying like a patient dying from cancer and we are the ones that live on it as deformed cells which sicken it day by day. The temperatures increasing causes heat in the waters which causes glaciers and sea ice to melt. This isn’t the issue, the issue is that it causes consequences of settling animals to move (which threatens the survival of animals such as whales and giraffes and many more). Since 1906, the global average surface temperature has increased more than 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius). It doesn’t sound much, but the drastic events that have already occurred and will happen in the future will astound you. The participation pattern has already started to shift around the world causing drought, heat waves and powerful storms getting more extreme and more frequent. Climate change is taking away the good and replacing it with worse; it is increasing the population of blood sucking, disease spreading and tormenting species such as mosquitoes, crop pest and bark beetles. The most precious and treasured animals of the planet are disappearing. But they won’t be found again, they will be gone forever. Extinct like the human population will be if there would be no change. For hundreds of years scientists have studied them and put in their elbows in the dirt so we, the future generation, can know about their fascinating habits of survival.

The human population is over 7.5 billion and they can’t save at least one species? Endangered species such as whales, who are exceptionally vulnerable, rely on the specific ocean temperatures for their seasonal immigration, feeding and reproductive habits. Currently six out of 13 whale species are classified as endangered. As temperatures increases, it causes disturbance in their individual habits which are necessary for their survival. Not only ocean animals are put in danger but also land animals such as giraffes have declined their population by 40% in the last 30 years because of shortage of food sources like acacia trees due to climate change. Since we caused global warming on the earth by our growing selfishness and unconscious actions, it has already caused danger to lives and it will become more extreme in the future. It is more than fair to try and at least attempt to prevent their total and foreseeable extinction which is already clear and unmistakable in the coming generation if nothing is done to prevent the earth’s rising temperatures. Not only the animals would be on the way to extinction, but humans too. Global warming would cause shifting the precipitation pattern, causing extreme weathers such as drought, heat waves

and powerful storms (getting worse, more frequent). Some locations around the globe will have sever drought- causing risk of wildfires, loss of crops and shortage of water. There is extreme weather occurring at the moment, currently in the North Atlantic, which has increased in intensity over the past two or three decades. For USA in the Atlantic Basin, models project found a 45-87% increase in the frequency of category 4 and 5 in hurricanes. Also, warmer sea surface could increase the chances of tropical storms, wind speed, potentially delivering more damage if they make a landfall. There is a 2-11% increase in average maximum wind speed. Shockingly this is only the beginning of the destruction and extermination of the planet Earth. There is a saying “the good comes with the bad”. However, in this instance there is no good, it is a total catastrophe waiting to happen. Since there is a shifting precipitation pattern, it would cause in some regions to have excessive drought. In hot and dry environments the life of bark beetles, mosquitoes and crop pests begin. The population of these creatures is unquestionably going to increase because there would be a longer season of drought in some places. Already there has been an increase of bark beetles in the USA which have caused devastating results in million forested acres by feeding on spruce and pine trees. Increasing mosquito population is for sure going to cause skin irritation for some unlucky individuals, which is also currently happening in some places around the world, which could be in infected with diseases (such as malaria). Therefore, not

only the disease would affect animals but also the individuals who live among them. In drought regions it will be difficult to have many healthy crops which society can consume because the conditions would be quite difficult to regulate as in suitable conditions-so there maybe instances where there would be shortage of food. But where they are regulated there is likely to be crop pests which would interfere with them. If the population increases it could consequent with them causing shortage of edible and safe food. If mistaken to be healthy, it could spread diseases passed through the crops surface which they have been landing on. This population increase will cause extreme death for those that don’t get the right treatment straight away. All things considered, this shows that the future would be a petrifying place where we are going to live in someday, which in fact could be coming very soon. Considering the start of the end of the extinction of some animals like whales and the highlight of others like mosquitoes, and the extreme weather which has already started occurring. Our forthcoming generation must be powerful and persistent so that we don’t see another day like tomorrow’s extinction.

JOBS THAT WON’T EXIST BY 2030 Written and Designed by Gracie Gardiner

To Begin: Technology is increasing at such a rapid rate. Every aspect of our lives is somehow linked to a microchip or data one way or another. Although technology has a positive direction on the world’s progress, it’s also having a negative effect on many traditional careers, causing them to disappear in the near future. There are already warning signs within countries and the FYA (Foundation of Young Australians) have been able to find out that an average of 60% of young people in the country are currently training for careers that will be two thirds finished within the next 10-15 years. Travel Agents Before technology, such as computers and the internet, was created or popular, people had to go to their travel agency’s shop, book their holiday with a Sales Rep whilst they put the holiday together on a large, but new at the time, computer. Now, it has all changed, the evolution within technology has allowed us to choose who we travel with, arrange our holidays online and because of this, many travel operators have closed down branches so that they can focus on their online sales and offers. Librarians Although books will always be part of culture, history and the world, libraries are struggling to stay open. Libraries rely on volunteers in order to keep them open. This is because libraries do not get the funds they need to be able to stay open as people, such as the government, know how books and resources are becoming digital. Already, academic institutions and authors are uploading their text to platforms online and on technology as it

is convenient. A positive is that there is now a larger access to literature and other texts. However, due to this, libraries and libraries are decreasing gradually. Pilots Although this may seem terrifying, you may have already been on a flight that has been controlled by autopilot. Modern commercial aircraft respond to flight plans, which is inputted by the pilot, which then decides which is the best way of getting there, therefore using technology to make a life or death decision. In addition, an aviation consultant shared the information that Asian flight carriers forbid their pilots from landing the plane, meaning that the landing must be automated. Already, flight crews have become cut from 3 to 2 and that by 2030, only one supervising officer will be needed. Cashiers Due to the increase of self-checkout, its unlikely to be long until cashier jobs are made redundant completely. In addition, the use of online grocery shopping is expanding gradually, and now large companies, such as Amazon, are now offering deliveries of fresh groceries as well as other services. Now, places such as Amazon are accessible through apps. Maybe, eventually, all shops will use apps. To Conclude: In conclusion,these are only some of the jobs that will be overtaken but eventually the majority of them will be gone. How long will it be until the whole world is evolved around technology? How long will it take until we rely on technology?

wRiten by Halima Abubaker and Sophia Fury he 21st century is an ever growing society. With medical advancements, technology forever evolving in the palm of our hands and human rights being more prominent than ever we as a society, some would say, have really evolved. However, in all the excitement of a new generation being born, have we forgotten mankind's natural instincts? The art that is communication. In a world where a voice is now replaced with the sound of a keyboard, are we really evolving? Is the next generation a product of technological control? The only way to build upon relationships is now by an LED screen. The insignificant notification bell that is forever ringing in our ears. Statistics have shown that on average people spend at least 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones or looking at a particular device each day. Thats a total of 195 minutes per day and to break that down even further that is 11700 seconds of someones life every single day. 11,700 seconds. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 11,700 chances we couldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve taken to look up and acknowledge the world around us. All opportunities lost and stolen by the glowing device we hold within our hands.

Opportunities. Some may say this is extreme. But everything we do is technically an opportunity. By Google definition opportunity is: a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. An opportunity could be anything but in this particular instance let’s take communication as our opportunity. Communication is the key to any opportunity. Be it a job interview or a wedding speech or just general conversation with someone standing by. Communication is the epitome of our existence. Today, social media dominates our communication, whether it’s Snapchat, Instagram, Whatsapp or Facebook, social media platforms are integral to our daily human interactions, and it’s safe to say we’ve become quite dependent. Social media has even rooted itself into our dating lives, presenting itself through forms such as Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, EHarmony, and moreHowever, the success rates are quite low; it is supposed that you have to go on 900 Tinder dates on average before meeting “the one”. As our perspective on communication has evolved so exponentially throughout the past 50 years, with particular emphasis on dating (talking, talking to someone), it’s probable to ask whether or not we as people would value a handwritten letter over a paragraph on text. In the past, receiving a handwritten love letter was one of the ultimate acts of devotion. Nowadays, we don’t even make the effort to gift a birthday card to someone. How much you know and value the person is evident on whether you decide to post a picture of them on your Snapchat story, or if you go to the lengths of writing them a paragraph on text. Have we really become so unsentimental?

Society will make you believe that physical attraction and looks matter over true connections. Today our ideals for a relationship vary contrastingly, however social media now has precedence over what we post and who we post with. Some say it’s not about how much of a connection you have, it’s more what you as a relationship look like together than the dynamics of your relationship. Beauty standards also play a role, especially on social media, in who we choose to date today: “He’s out of his/her league” is exaggerated through social media as our looks are on show for everyone to see. This poses the question: do we choose our relationships based on what other people think? It would be plausible that a lot of people would agree with this, with the influence that social media has on us today. With that said, social media isn’t all doom and gloom in regards to communication: in fact, it can be a good opportunity for introverts to communicate with others the way they feel more comfortable. Sometimes it isn’t the best time to call someone, and social media apps such as iMessage, Snapchat, Whatsapp, and Instagram allow for quick conversation, which could be more appropriate. However, that isn’t to say that social media isn’t turning us into introverts, when conversation is at the click of a button, it really is that easy to avoid real life, person-toperson dialogue. Endless examples of this can be found on Reddit, with threads titled with ‘Does anyone here go days without talking to anyone?’, ‘I can go an entire day without talking to another human being’ and “Going days without talking to anyone: depression.’ Has social media made us so desensitised to real human interaction, that we can go days without actually speaking to another human? Where lack of human interaction could cause someone’s depression, for another it could be the cause of their anxiety; it is all individual. How long can you go without speaking to another human in real life? With the end of 2019 fast approaching, is there a change that you can make? Let’s not waste those 11,700 seconds each day, and instead spark new conversations - but more importantly new opportunities to connect - with others without a Wifi connection. So why not sign off and hang out?

Christian Lou once said "Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.”

Is It Important? Written by Tory Dickson. Designed by Syed Murshed.

Climate change refers to the long-term alteration in global or regional climate patterns, which includes temperature and the typical weather of an area. Climate is weather that is measured over a long period of time. The climate of an area is comprised of seasonal temperature, rainfall averages and wind patterns. Different places have different types of climates. For example, a desert has an arid climate due to little water falls from either rain or snow. Other types of climate include; tropical climate which is hot and humid and temperate climate which has warm summers and cold winters. Now we know the definition of climate change, what exactly are its effects? What does it mean for us? There are a wide range of natural factors which can drastically affect the climate such as changes in the sun, volcanoes and the Earth’s orbit. Scientists studying climate overwhelmingly agree that human activity is the main cause of global warming. Our Earth’s atmosphere is a thick layer of gases, mostly water vapour, which traps radiation from the sun. Some is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions to keep our planet in a temperature capable of supporting life. Due to human activity there has been an excess of greenhouses gases generated. These activities like burning fossil fuels, deforestation and decomposition, increase levels of carbon dioxide. Since the early 1800s scientists have known that these greenhouse gases trap heat. Resulting in the increase of temperature and build up of heat. Climate change is already affecting the UK and other countries around the world. Here’s some concerns: • The average sea levels have risen by 16 cm in the last 100 years and could continue to increase by 8 to 115 cm depending on location and future greenhouse emissions. • Average temperatures in England have substantially increased in recent years. We are expected to experience more heat waves like that in

2018, while cold winters become more rare. • The amount and frequency of rainfall will change, becoming more common in winter and summer will last longer and grow hotter. Globally climate change is: • Threatening the survival of certain ecosystems. • Causing extreme weather events (e.g. Heatwaves, drought, extreme rainfall, and coastal flooding.) • Pushing plant and animal species towards the poles and higher lands. • Reducing crop growth (although some regions, such as Europe have seen some recent gains.) • Altering sea-ice concentrations, river flow and coastal erosion. Ways We Can Help Even though we are reliant on the government and most corporations to call the shots on trying to make more permanent, impactful changes doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do. Living a minimalist lifestyle trying to consume as less as possible can make a change. Here‘s some suggestions: • Buy less - To lower chances of waste dont buy uncessacary items you don’t need or won’t use. • Consider a plant-based diet - Or just try to cut down your meat consumption to a couple of days a week. • Avoid one time use plastic - As much as possible, avoid plastic bottles and one use bags. Plastic is non-decomposable and leads to pollution, harming certain species. • Ditch facial wipes - Instead, use a face cloth or an oil based cleanser to wash your face. If you absolutely need that on-the-go reliability then there are biodegradable wipes available. • Big brands can also be eco-friendly - Look out for any brands, businesses and companies that are inspired by the environmental movement. Familiarize yourselves with them and support them. Here’s some global companies, here’s just a few; Ikea, Panasonic, Nike, Beyond meat, Lush cosmetics. There are plenty of other ways to help by becoming more environmentally friendly. You don’t have to make too many drastic changes just make a few small ones. Just by broadening your knowledge on the subject and raising awareness, can be very helpful and it is highly recommended to many to research the topic and find a way to help out that best suits you.

heed the signs - part

Written by An Designed by I

Above the skyline glared a red hole in the desert of a sky, its hot turmoil spewing out restless heat, fashioning human into victims of its gaze. Before it was a yellow ball of happiness on the corner of a child page. Now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a clear enemy of survival. Of course, that is, if you find worth in need to survive for. Beneath the throne of the sun, laid despairing lands masked in covet lies of assurance of survival, on a titillating system of golden beds, laid on by reapers, yet held sturdy on splintering spines of the sowers. Run down mountain like skyscrapers pierced the heavy blanket of grey matter that smothered the city and clung to the eyes and throats of humans, a constant reminder from mother nature of the discrepancies in nature we made comfortable with and ignored. Even then, under such reminder, companies under subjugation of the law, to help cleanse the broken, potholed impartial faĂ§ade of a system. Deceive and wear a two-face mask, one side being the flower, and the other the poisonous serpent under the petal. Spilling honey lies of cooperation while coating their eager feast on greed with miraculin* milked from the demands of the people*. Yet next to one building stood another, close, and another and another, shoulder to shoulder. Like soldiers, stood high rise buildings, mainly many dilapidated and brimming with machine like workers. Who continue a never-ending process of work like sheep in cattle, herd towards their desks under the cane of merit pursued in order survive, -not live- survive. Under such building lay once greyed grounds, now blackened with dirt and red rust spread by the negligence of man, uneven and rugged. Grey slabs on concrete beat by the heavy feet of workers, spread out into replete streets witness to evil deeds of humans, home to vagabonds and desolate souls, its back bearing the weight of overpopulation.

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ngela Abubakar Isabella Pavitt

On top of these streets rested markets, firefly lights hanging from each stall carrying needs eager souls searched for, cheap foods compact with artificial nutrients in swap for the real meals that would cost one a week and a half worth of day to day work, a sitting space in which one would wear digital glasses panning selections of clothes with only 10% of the real cotton they swear it is 75% made of, digital ATMs that float. Which now require fingerprint identification in order to look at one’s digital sustained balance, cash and coins being an old tale of the days, as ‘why waste plastic and cotton?’ they said, reviving money now alive in the form of vibrant green numbers dancing in front of a hot pink dire screen, almost mockingly sometimes. Among the crippled money system others grew, the bourgeoisie looking for other ways to find value in what they viewed as sub humans. Shoved into a digital point system, one is now valued by the points collected or lost in categories, from where you were born to the deviance of running a red light, if one finds themselves chained to consequences of a deduction. They would find themselves constrained by .... a warning sign.

*Miraculin man tongue is

A glycoprotein when exposed to it, turns the

extracted taste of

and sour

the hufood sweet.

Is the future doomed? Written by Daniela Dronic Designed by Liam Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon

What will the future be like? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what everyone sometimes wonders, and there are a lot of theories - one of the theories being artificial intelligence. Due to technology developing and growing, scientists can predict what the future would be like.

Some jobs that have been replaced by robots are proofreaders, advertising sale people, receptionist, journalism, drivers, farmers, manual labor jobs and couriers. The only jobs that artificial intelligence would not be able to replace are creative and emphatic jobs.

Artificial intelligence is slowly taking over, and already replacing humans. There is a 1.4% chance of people losing their jobs and becoming unemployed. Artificial intelligence is already doing a better job than humans and about 1.7 million manufactured jobs are already lost since 2000. In China 90% is artificial intelligence and they plan to spend $1 trillion on AI industry by 2030. Amazon uses robots too, and Uber is done by artificial intelligence. Yes, I agree that technology will make life simpler and better, but unemployment would increase, and everyone would be in poverty and possibly lots of wars. 20 million factory jobs would be replaced with artificial intelligence by 2030.

Illustration by Syed Murshed

Perhaps we should all stop for a moment and focus not only on making our AI better and more successful but also on the benefit of humanity. - Stephen Hawking

A SPECTRUM SPECTRUM Project by : Jesutomisin Adeagbo. Designed by : Eniola Adeyemi.

“In celebration of Black History Month that passed last month, I decided to conduct a project inspired by one of my favourite YouTube series “Spectrum” from Jubilee. I invited six black people and asked them sixteen questions all based around their experience as black (and mixed) individuals. The aim of my project is to show that there isn’t a standard black person and that we are a spectrum of people with different values, beliefs and ideologies.”

Angela. ______ 1. What do you think of when I say the word “black”? Um, different, unique, something different and unique that is not the norm. 2. Do you identify as black? Yeah. 3. What does being black mean to you? I think being black is part of my identity some people don’t view it as being important but I view being black as very important to my identity. It is very definitive in who I am. Did you think that you’ve been conditional to feel that is part of your identity or have you made that conscious decision to feel that it is part of your identity?

I feel like it’s both because where I go it matters that I am black, secondly it is almost like I have to acknowledge that I am black in this day and age so it is part of my identity. 4. What is the easiest thing about being black? People naturally almost hold you to a different standard, they expect you to be different and not the same as everyone else. So like in some way not everyone views me in the same way as they view everyone else because I’m black, so I have an excuse for being different you know, like when I wear crazy hair, people are just like “Oh it’s just their culture”. So you think that it is easier to be creative in a sense and to stand out from the norm because they can just view it as you just being black?

Yes.

But don’t you think that’s a disadvantage? It can definitely be a disadvantage if you don’t want to stand out and you don’t want to be different. I’ve had crazy hair before and people have taken a double look at me but what I do find interesting is that I’m different and I stand out and some people may not want to but being black doesn’t give you the same chance cause we’re always gonna stand out. 5. What is the hardest thing about being black? The misconceptions, also the sexualisation of black women as young as we are. We get so sexualised and sometimes even in the community. Also the sexualisation of black hairstyle “Too grown for that hairstyle” or sexualisation of clothings like “Change your uncles are coming”. We don’t realise how bad it is and the pressure that comes with it is not right. They also expect women to be you know the one that takes care of the emotional hardship, like you’re suppose carter to men, you’re suppose to be the housewife, you’re suppose to be the therapist and you’re suppose to take care of the house. How are we meant to cope? 6. What is the best thing about being black? Um, I mean the culture, it is one of the most innovative culture you know, looking back at history and realising this is what black people have done, you know, they brought this, they brought that and also like the energy around black people is just lovely like the energy that we have and can pick up from each other. 7. What are the common misconceptions about being black? There’s a sigma you know about being black, you are loud, you’re angry, you’re ghetto, low class and people except you to have some kind of gossip or crazy name. Do you think that this depends on who you’re with?

It differs between black people and people of other races. Black misconceptions are

there as well in the black community but they are different from the ones other people have. Like black people themselves expect you not to suffer from mental illness like “We don’t get sad” “We’re always grinding”. 8. Is there a thing such as “good hair”? Oh yes, people view good hair as straight. They either want straight good weave or natural hair that is long, they say “Oh we accept and love all type of natural hair” but they only appreciate it when your hair gets long, when it’s short they’re like “Your sh*t nappy girl” and if you do wear wigs then you’re not part of the balck community you’re just trying to be white, make it make sense. 9. Does cultural appropriation exist? Yes, it does, it exists but I feel like the problem is there is a thin line between cultural appreciation and cultural appreciation, like for example cultural appropriation is massive in KPOP. With cultural appropriation what you’re doing is talking something from a culture and treating it as an aesthetic but the problem is it is not always aesthetically pleasing because once you wear that hairstyle sometimes negative connotations can come with it, like for example people can’t wear dreadlocks in boxing competitions and people can’t wear dreadlocks in school. 10. Does colorism exist within the black community? Yes, colourism exists and it’s strong. One of my experience in school is whenever someone would turn off the light they would be like “Omg Angela where are you” “Omg smile so that I can see you”. It weird, we laugh along but it’s just weird being treated like that. At first you don’t realise it because everyone is making the jokes even black people so you might think it’s normal but as you grow older you realise that it’s not normal. There’s colourism even when producers look for actors in films. Darkskin people are on the bottom of the list and if there are darkskin people, they always have to be an angry, black, character. People don’t want

Angela. ______ to accept that they have lightskin privilege but they have it. 11. Who is allowed to say the “N word”? I feel like if you’re not a black person then you don’t have an opinion on whether people can say the “N word” or not. Yes a white people can mean in a friendly but the problem with that is, there is always going to be a double meaning when they use it and a single meaning for us and the problem is that we can never truly know if you’re actually insulting or being friendly with us. Someone people may look at you saying the “N word” and they might not know that you are saying it to a friend and they might not take it as a joke because they have had that word said to them before in an offensive way and they can get triggered. So no you cannot use the “N word” if you’re not black, you can skip over swear words when you’re in the car with your mother or father so why can’t you skip over the “N word” in a song? 12. What do think of the black community? I think that the black community is unique, original and innovative, there’s a vibe that you can’t find anywhere else, however half of the black community are backwards and not accepting to change and differences. Like, some can be quite ignorant and prejudice and that part of the community is what pulls us back. 13. What do you think of sexuality within the black community? I would say sexuality in the black community has a lot of prejudice and it’s mostly viewed negatively. It’s also seen as a thing that can’t be expored between men. A lot of black people tend to say that they can “accept it” and “respect it” but they don’t want it “shoved down their throats”. But that itself is damaging because if we

cannot be more open and accepting then we cannot be better and we’ll fail to improve. 14. What do you think of mental health within the black community? Um, in general, although sometimes it’s not always in a negative light, sometimes it’s positive but it’s mostly negative. Like you can’t tell your parents about something because they would be like “Black people don’t go through this” or they’ll just laugh and say “You have a roof over your head, you have a bed, you have food”. Are you talking from personal experience or in general?

In general, I am talking about in general but yeah, it is quite dismissed within the black community especially now towards men as well. They experience a lot of things but men don’t acknowledge it themselves instead they go “We don’t cry,”. It’s not spoken about and men feel like they just have to be the breadwinner and not get emotional and if they do, people are are like “You must be gay or something or you must be feminine”. There’s a lot of toxic masculinity that affect their mental health. For women it is also dismissed as well, it’s like “We are always bat sh*t crazy anyway”. Although mental health is spoken about, it is dismissed and it is not viewed a thing black people have, it’s like we don’t go through it, we just “Move past that sh*t”. 15. What would you change about the black community? I would change that old mindset we have of having to belong to a certain group in order to be black. Like you have to listen to a certain type of music, you have to look a certain way, you can’t be part of the LGBT+ community. Like for me, I like KPOP but the minute I

say that, people are confused and they are like “Are you sure you’re black?”. We get put into boxes and we also put ourselves into boxes. 16. What does the future hold for the black community? I think the black community is the future, we are very innovative, we have a culture that is so wide spread and I think we’re gonna play a big part in culture for the future.

“Go on your own path, even if you only live a day.” - Jimin.

Charisse Green. ______________ <x:xmpmeta xmlns:x=”adobe:ns:meta/” x:xmptk=”Adobe XMP Core 5.6-c140 79.160451, 2017/05/06-01:08:21 “> <rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf=”http://www. w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#”> <rdf:Description rdf:about=”” xmlns:crs=”http://ns.adobe.com/camera-raw-settings/1.0/” crs:Version=”11.3.1” crs:ProcessVersion=”11.0” crs:WhiteBalance=”As Shot” crs:Saturation=”0” crs:Sharpness=”40” crs:LuminanceSmoothing=”0” crs:ColorNoiseReduction=”25” crs:VignetteAmount=”0” crs:ShadowTint=”0” crs:RedHue=”0” crs:RedSaturation=”0” crs:GreenHue=”0” crs:GreenSaturation=”0” crs:BlueHue=”0” crs:BlueSaturation=”0” crs:Vibrance=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentRed=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentOrange=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentYellow=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentGreen=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentAqua=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentBlue=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentPurple=”0” crs:HueAdjustmentMagenta=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentRed=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentOrange=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentYellow=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentGreen=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentAqua=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentBlue=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentPurple=”0” crs:SaturationAdjustmentMagenta=”0” crs:LuminanceAdjustmentRed=”0” crs:LuminanceAdjustmentOrange=”0” crs:LuminanceAdjustmentYellow=”0” crs:LuminanceAdjustmentGreen=”0” crs:LuminanceAdjustmentAqua=”0” crs:LuminanceAdjustmentBlue=”0”

1. What do you think of when I say the word “black”? Um, I think beautiful, smart, independent. I find black people to be quite independent because of like the different backgrounds we come from, we don’t like to rely on people too much, we like to do our own thing and achieve more by ourselves. 2. Do you identify as black? Yeah. 3. What does being black mean to you? I feel like being black means that there’s a big culture, like there are different backgrounds for black people. Being black for me just makes me feel powerful. 4. What is the easiest thing about being black? Is there even an easy part? If you don’t think there’s an easy part why do you think that is?

I feel like cause there’s a lot of stereotypes around black people it’s kind of hard for us because people have a certain view of how black people are and most people view black people be aggressive, to have big lips and stuff like this. 5. What is the hardest thing about being black? I think the stereotypes that surround us. Who do you think makes these stereotypes?

White people but black people sometimes live up to those stereotypes. Like you know how people say black people just stab other people, some black people do live up to that stereotype, I’m not saying it’s all black people but because of things like that others are more wary of black people.

6. What is the best thing about being black?

Why do you think that’s is?

I think that the variety of languages, cause I’m Sierra Leonean and we speak Krio and I feel like the best the thing is the language and the different things behind it. I really like learning the different languages because I just find it interesting, it’s like learning your roots and where you come from and for a black person you really need to know where you come from and what has happened before you and I feel like language kind of relates to the background of it.

Cause texturised hair is easier but I prefer natural hair to be honest cause I feel like I can style it in different ways.

7. What are the common misconceptions about being black? Um, black people are viewed to be aggressive, intimidating and in secondary school I got that a lot. Like I’ll just be talking, trying to get my point across but all I ever got was “You’re being intimidating” “You’re being aggressive. I remember when I was with my friends and there was like six of us, we always used to walk to school together and then our Headteacher told us that we need to stop that and we need to walk in groups of twos or threes because a big group of us can be seen as intimidating for people on the outside and I’m thinking “Okay you’re telling us this but why is it that when the white girls are walking in groups of tens it’s alright but we have to split up?” Does that make sense? Do you think that the misconceptions affect us?

Yes it does, cause it creates conflict in yourself because you know that there is always gonna people that will be saying negative things about black people and as a black person, you will not feel confident in yourself if you’ve always got somebody saying negative things about black people and it’s not just one person, it’s the whole, it’s black people. 8. Is there a thing such as “good hair”? I find that you see more people relaxing their hair, there’s not as many people with natural hair, there are some people that are trying to do natural hair but I feel like the main one people do is texturise or relax

9. Does cultural appropriation exist? I feel like the thing with cultural appropriation is that people do just for the Internet without knowing what’s going on behind it, like you don’t know the reason behind it, you don’t know why us black people have to braid our hair, we do it to stop our natural hair from breaking and stimulate hair growth, you don’t know about any of that, you just think “Okay it looks nice let me do it”. It’s just that there’s a lack of interest into the meaning behind the culture, they just want to do it for Instagram. Like it’s not just doing it to look nice, it’s about the background behind it. 10. Does colorism exist within the black community? Oh my gosh, yes there is colourism. If you are darkskin you’re ugly, if you’re lightskin you’re beautiful. I’m sorry but that’s just how it is. I don’t agree with it but that is how it is. My sister is darkskin and she would say that in secondary, people would call them “blick” and stuff like that. Blick is a derogatory term and it is rude because we are all black, why does there have to be a divide between our skin tone? 11. Who is allowed to say the “N word”? Nobody, not even black people should use it, it is a derogatory word that is used. 12. What do think of the black community? Um, I feel like it is quite different like everyone inside that community is different, like you have some black people who don’t hide the fact that they’re black, they embrace it but you also have some people that try to hide it and hide their culture and not accept themselves that they’re black. Everyone is different, in terms of religion as well, you have black people that go to church everyday then you have people that don’t go to church.

Charisse Green. ______________ 13. What do you think of sexuality within the black community? Lord Jesus. There’s only one way we are allowed to be, you’re only allowed to be heterosexual. Majority of the black community say “You have to be this way if you’re not then there’s something wrong with you”. But I don’t think that way, I accept everyone. I feel like from a young age parents have implemented that you have to be this you can’t be anything else or you’ll get punished by God or something like that and now it’s in young people’s head and they think like “I can’t be associated with anyone that’s gay or bisexual”. I remember one of the friend came out a few months ago, she told me she was bisexual and I told her why didn’t she tell me before and she said she didn’t know how I would react, the fact that my friend, my close close friend is scared to tell me something like that made me feel some type of way. Like you’re my friend I’ll always accept you but the fact that she was scared to tell is clearly saying something. Black people don’t understand that people can be going through so much due to sexuality. 14. What do you think of mental health within the black community? I don’t feel like it’s really common, maybe it is. Why do you think that it’s not common?

I don’t really hear as much about black people being diagnosed with mental health. Why do you think that it?

I feel like it is because we choose to ignore it cause you know some black parents if you say you are feeling this type of way it’s not going down well. I feel like black people, especially African parents need to understand that there is mental health, and there are different things that go on and not all of

it is a curse from God. They need to accept that God doesn’t cause these things, you don’t know what causes these things and you continuing to blame it on God and deny these things isn’t going to change anything. But I also think that us as young people are in denial about a lot of things as well and we might find it hard to accept something like that. 15. What would you change about the black community? We need to stop this whole division within our community, like this whole thing about colourism, about the lightskin verses darkskin cause everyone is beautiful and also we need to be more accepting to the LGBTQ+ community, black parents can’t keep saying, “You can’t be this” in the Bible it says you are not allowed to judge but you still judge them. We need to change that. And us as black people need to stop living up to certain stereotypes. 16. What does the future hold for the black community? I feel like the future could be more accepting because you see more black people coming out to explain their treatment and how they have been treated as a black person, I feel the future will be quite positive because you will more speakers talking about how it is to be black and I feel like because of that people will feel like they don’t have to hold back sometimes. People will feel stronger and they can embrace themselves more like “ I like be black and be confident in myself”.

“If God bring you to it, he will bring you through it”

Tobiloba James ____________ 1.What do you think of when I say the word “black”? Um, it’s basically anyone in the black community, it doesn’t matter where you are from, you can be from Africa you can be black, you can be Caribbean you can be black, it doesn’t matter where you are from as long as you have that certain colour therefore you are defined as a black person. 2.Do you identify as black? Yes I am a black person. 3.What does being black mean to you? I think being black is purely based on skin colour. If you have a darker skin colour and you acknowledge that then you are black even-though albinos have a lack of melanin pigment on their skin they are still black. I don’t believe that being black is necessarily a behaviour. 4.What is the easiest thing about being black? I don’t know, we are equal so there’s nothing easy about being black than being any other race. It’s all the same to me pretty much. It’s the same thing being black or white because we are all equal. 5.What is the hardest thing about being black? There’s more than one aspect to it. There is a stereotypes that black people tend to be violent when it comes to like discipline and all that, and racism in general and I think black people in general it is the race that is most picked on, we get called by different names and it’s a pretty tough to go through all of that. 6.What is the best thing about being black? I don’t think having a certain skin colour has an advantage to any other skin colour, it’s like we are all the same, we are all human, we are all able to enjoy our life and the fact that we are alive is a really positive thing so I don’t really think there’s anything more about being a black person compared to any other skin colour.

7.What are the common misconceptions about being black? Most black people are seen to be loud, aggressive, especially black boys they are seen as not smart and violent. Black people aren’t seen to be intelligent, there are some black people that are very intelligent but then with stereotypeS you don’t expect it , like you don’t expect black people to be at the top of the top. Like for example for majority of scientists that we know are white, you won’t really see a black scientist that has discovered something even-though they may have been some black people that have discovered something, they don’t really bring it up, it’s in silence. Why do think that is though?

Because back then, they were seen as lower class compared to any other race so therefore they were kinda like ignored and no one really cared what they had to say. But right now our voices are been heard but right now I think there’s just so much going on that’s it’s just hard to focus on all those things at once and pick up on one certain thing and improve on that. 8.Is there a thing such as “good hair”? That’s down to opinion to be honest. If you like a certain type of hair you like a certain type of hair, if you don’t like a certain type of hair you don’t like a certain type of hair, it’s down to opinion, I don’t think that there’s a side that is better than another. What is good hair to you?

Um, good hair is like keeping it healthy and washing it and stuff. 9.Does cultural appropriation exist? I get that some people don’t look at the background and stuff like that but then I think that there’s a sort of misconception there, some people just like it cause they like it and you can’t take that away from them and if they like it . Yes, they didn’t do the research but they see it and that’s what they enjoy. 10.Does colorism exist within the black community? People tend to favor lightskin as appose to darkskin people, not sure why but that’s just down to favoritism but I don’t really think that there a specific reason.

11.Who is allowed to say the “N word”? No one should be allowed to say the “N word”. Despite the amount of people that say black people can say it, realistically, no one should say it. It is a racist word which was used to separate black people from being human. 12.What do think of the black community? I like the black community cause I am part of the black community, it’s like family to me because we are all one and we all have people related to us. 13.What do you think of sexuality within the black community? There’s a certain bias because of what majority of us believe in, I feel all people are welcome but it’s that certain majority that makes it bias because majority of us black people are Christians and we take that seriously but to me it doesn’t matter. 14.What do you think of mental health within the black community? Well, I think that it is favored towards those that are lighter than darker, we don’t really take mental health seriously than those that are light in colour, I’m don’t really know as to the reason that it but that’s what I’ve noticed. Do you think that is harder for us to open up about mental health? I won’t say it’s harder but some of us struggle to open up because of the way that we were brought up like the way I brought up was to obey my parents and stuff like that, like when I’m in the right and they are wrong I have to obey and the first time that I opened up about being right it didn’t end too well so I just tend to keep my mouth and keep my opinion. I feel like there will be stage where we are able to open up but I just feel like we need that boost to gain the courage to open up and express how we are feeling because someone of just tend to be quiet.

Tobiloba James ____________ 15.What would you change about the black community? I don’t know, personally I don’t think that there’s really anything to change. 16.What does the future hold for the black community? We can do anything we want to do, there will be a first black prime minister, it wil happen it’s just down to timing but anything is possible.

It’s never too late to be who you might have been” - George Eliot.

Jakiah Mitchell ____________ 1.What do you think of when I say the word “black”? Beauty. 2.Do you identify as black? Um, no mixed because I’m half black, half mixed. 3.What does being mixed mean to you? To me I think that it’s like one of the best thing cause I have the best of both worlds, like I can really experience both cultures and lifestyle. What’s your experience with both sides?

Well, in primary and secondary school I went to a primarily white school so it was hard to sort of hard to like relate to how their life is cause I’m slightly different, there was a few black people but I just didn’t really know where to belong, I just felt a bit different to everyone else. Do you think it’s harder being mixed?

I wouldn’t say it’s harder, it’s just different. 4.What is the easiest thing about being mixed? I don’t think any of it is really easy, I think like in the media sometimes mixed people have it easier than black people because they’ve got half white in them but I wouldn’t say it’s been easier for me, I haven’t really experienced it. 5.What is the hardest thing about being mixed? Um, I’d say fitting it because you don’t know whether to chill with black people or to chill with white people or chill with mixed people, it’s different, it’s just a where do I go type thing, you’re stuck in the middle. Sometimes I feel like black people look at me as less black and white people look at me as just black, they don’t see that I’m half white type thing but I understand where they are coming from a bit.

Do you think that you have been subconsciously made to think you have to make a choice or you just thought to a choice?

Subconsciously, it’s just different like when you sit around certain type of people it’s just different energy, but it’s different for every mixed person because some people feel more comfortable around white people, some people feel more comfortable around black people, me I don’t mind, to me I don’t really see skin colour because I have grown up with both. What’s it like growing up with parents that are different races?

They have different values, I would say that my white family is little bit more relaxed whereas my black family is more strict. I think that it’s easier because I’m not the only mixed in my family because then it would have been new for everyone to accept. Like even my white nan when she was younger she struggled to accept that my mum wanted to be with a black man but after a while she accepted it and when we, me and my brother, were born she really embraced because she could she see that we’ve got a mix of both and it is good.

Do you think that the misconception about mixed people from the black community are the same as the misconceptions other races have?

Of course not, I think that white people don’t really think that as much but black people definitely do, I’ve noticed it cause being in a primarily white secondary school I never had that but when I came to college where there is more black people and I start making friends with more black people and start be around black people more it’s different like I’ve had people talk about me saying I’m prestige when I’ve never talked to them never spoken them before. 8.Is there a thing such as “good hair”? All hair is good hair, like some people have that stereotype but I don’t. I’d love to have black hair, I’d love to have white hair, I love it all and lucky for me I can have both. 9.Does cultural appropriation exist?

My favourite thing is my hair, I’ve got the curls and I just love it.

Yes it does. I’v mainly seen it on social media with white people dressing up as black people for Halloween or blackface, even other races as well. There’s this thing called black fishing where a white person edits their pictures or put so much makeup on that people think that they are mixed I’ve seen before and even I fell for it and thought that they were mixed.

7.What are the common misconceptions about being mixed?

Where do you think cultural appropriation comes from?

Everyone seems to think that mixed raced people love themselves and I still that people think that about me even when they haven’t got to know me, I’ve experienced it before like people don’t talk to me because they think that I’m gonna be prestige when I’m not.

I feel like as black people we start trend but because we are black they don’t want to make it a big thing but as soon as a famous white person Kim Kardashian do it then everyone will want to copy.

6.What is the best thing about being mixed?

Where do you think that misconception comes from? I don’t know you know, I think probably social media has had a big impact like you see these lightskin who think that they are better than black people because they have got that half white in them but I don’t understand why that would make them better just cause they are mixed.

10. Does colorism exist within the black community? Yes, definitely, 100%, like Queen Naija she’s mixed I think and she’s been racist towards black people before but she is still like a really famous singer type thing and I don’t understand how certain mixed people can get away with it just because they’ve got half white in them. A lot of mixed people sometimes have more fairer advantage than black people.

Jakiah Mitchell ____________ 11.Who is allowed to say the “N word”? Me personally I don’t say it because of the connotations behind it and where it stems from but if other black people want to say it then I don’t mind them saying it. Hispanic people no unless they are half black, white people definitely not. I think black people are the only ones allowed to say it but I don’t think that they should because of where it stems from. 12.What do think of the black community? It’s beautiful, the energy is a up type thing, it’s like a big family, there’s always someone to talk to but the down side of the black community is that they are not always accepting to like depression and anxiety, you hear about people not being able to talk about it with their family members. Do you think that mixed people are counted as part of the black community?

I think some do, some don’t. I can’t speak for everyone but I’ve experienced some black people not involving me type thing because I’m the only mixed person in the room and there’ll be some black people who will involve me but then there’ll be some who just won’t talk to me or look at me. I think that the black community can exclude mixed people sometimes but I don’t think that they mean to do it, like I don’t think it’s intentional, they do it without realising type thing. Do you think that there’s a mixed community? I don’t really think there is, I know mixed people that hang around with many white people and I know mixed people that hang around with many black people and I know mixed people who hang around with both, so I think it just depend on the person themselves but I don’t think it’s necessary for there to be one .

13.What do you think of sexuality within the black community? I think like with depression and anxiety, it’s a less spoken about topic but it’s coming out

more, I’m seeing a lot more black people coming out, I’m seeing a lot more gay black people on social media talking about it more. Do you think that it’s hard to come out in the black community?

I think it’s difficult because personally I think that black people can sometimes be less accepting because religion is really important in the black community and coming out as gay is different and seen as not the norm. It’s harder to come out as gay if you’re black, like in secondary school being in a white school, if you came as gay it’s wasn’t seen as a big deal but when I came to college where there is more black people I don’t really hear of black gay people coming out. 14.What do you think of mental health within the black community? We don’t talk about it at all, you are just expected to just be grateful that you have a roof over your head. Is it different as a mixed person within your mixed family?

We don’t talk about it, both sides don’t really talk about, never. I’ve tried to talk about it and they’ve just not understood I guess and my parents are quite a bit old as well, there’s a big generation gap so for them talking about mental health wasn’t the thing in their generation whereas now we talk about it a bit more but they just don’t understand so I think age plays into it as well. 15.What would you change about the black community? Um, just being more open, talking, people don’t really talk about certain subjects like mental health sexuality, they just avoid. It’s that they don’t understand, they just need to be understanding. 16.What does the future hold for the black community?

I feel like black businesses are gonna grow, I am seeing more and more black own businesses, like some of my friends are starting their own businesses, even if

it’s small business it’s still a start.

‘‘Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.’’ - Confucius

Zuri Loftman ____________ 1. What do you think of when I say the word “black”? Um, I think unique, powerful, diverse, sometimes misunderstood and in someways a strong but influential minority. 2. Do you identify as black? Of course. 3. What does being black mean to you? For me, it’s an honour in way because you have to carry a lot in society and you have to prove yourself, it can be challenging but it can be worth while in the end. Why do you think it’s an honour to carry?

I think it’s an honour because if you relate it to the media and the past, being a black person does have negative sides portrayed at a very standard way but to be able to break those stereotypes can sometimes be very empowering which is something I like to do, to break stereotypes and prove people wrong in a positive way. 4. What is the easiest thing about being black? I think have fun, black people we just generally have fun, personally I always have fun when I’m with my family or friends, obviously everyone has their period of being upset but generally black people know how to have fun, we know how to make people happy. For example Bob Marley touched many people because of his music and he made lots of people happy. 5. What is the hardest thing about being black? Stereotypes, seeing stuff that is associated with your description, that doesn’t represent you. Most common example, black men especially like myself are always seen as gangster, and young black people as well but I know myself and a lot of black people

and that is surely not the case because there is a lot of young black males who are completely against that stereotype and are hardworking, smart, intelligent, funny and creative. But in society they don’t really think that of you, they have a set ideology of who you could be and it’s hard to break that unless they get to know you more. 6. What is the best thing about being black? Everything really, everything is good about being black, I think there shouldn’t be anything that you are ashamed of because you are who you are and you should embrace that. I love the hairstyles for black men and women and it’s something that you can’t really take that away from us. 7. What are the common misconceptions about being black? Probably stuff that you just see on TV all the time such as black males been referred to as criminals and gangsters when we can offer a lot more than that and that is not who we are. Especially for females as well, people don’t expect much from black females in society, like they are the most marginalised group in society, in the world, and that shouldn’t be the case because they are just as capable as anybody else. Where do you think the misconceptions come from?

I guess the lack of education and oppression. I think it’s the oppression that black people have experienced and you could argue that society wants to continue that dominance to stop black people from succeeding but in a different way. 8. Is there a thing such as “good hair”? Personally no, how can you rank hair? Hair is hair. I think all texture is beautiful. 9. Does cultural appropriation exist? It depends on how you use the culture, to exploit it that’s wrong, to use it for your own personal gain that’s wrong but to use it to show awareness and inform people then I can see why that’s acceptance but by exploiting it and selling it to make money off it that’s wrong because it loses its ethnicity

and orginality. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with wearing clothing from another culture unless you aren’t aware of where it came from, I’m a person who loves all types of fashion and if I see myself wearing clothing from another culture, I wouldn’t find myself exploiting it because I’ll make myself aware of where it comes from, do the research and ask people about it. 10. Does colorism exist within the black community? Yeah, we can see that, more before than now, then the lighter you are the more desirable you are and the darker you are the less desirable you are. This division is not good because that’s what slave owners did to separate the black people from coming together and arising and the fact that it is still here in modern society is not good and it shouldn’t be the case cause we’re all beautiful in our own way. Do you think that colourism affects black men and black women in the same way?

I think that unfortunately, the impact is more hard hitting on darkskin females and I disagree with that but I think it’s because of the media. Media is a big influence on how things are agendered and what is appropriate or not and the more people that listen to the media, the more controlled you are. 11. Who is allowed to say the “N word”? To be honest it shouldn’t be said at all. It a term that should remain in the black community, cause it’s a negative term referring to black people, why should any other race say it at freewill? I don’t think that it needs to be said even by the black community because the word comes from the word “Negus” which means “King” but the slave owners manipulated it and used it to oppressed black people, and I see where people are coming from that using it is reclaiming the word but for me it’s something that doesn’t need to be said. 12. What do think of the black community? I’m quite proud really, of the history and the stuff that we achieved and the changes

Zuri Loftman ____________ that we’ve come through in society and we should carry on with that because we have a lot to offer in society and we have a long way to go to achieve in certain stuff. A lot of black males tend to go into industries like music and stuff like that, there’s nothing wrong with it but when there’s other opportunities like being an accountant, lawyer, creative designer, design engineer, dentist, pilot, we should go into it cause there are so many options that we could do and not follow the same wave. 13. What do you think of sexuality within the black community? I’m from a Christian background and I’m Caribbean so I was brought up in a way that a male and women should be together but as things have developed now there are gay, transgender, bisexual and I’m seeing a lot of black individuals who aren’t just straight. My opinion from that is that I respect it and tolerant it but I’m not essentially supportive of it but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna hate you for it because I’m still gonna love you as a person. There’s a lot of stigma that you shouldn’t be gay and stuff but in order to prevent hate I think you have to respect it cause hate just generate hate. 14. What do you think of mental health within the black community? I think generally it’s something that needs to be talked about more, there is support in the black community but perhaps not enough and I think talking is a major cure for everybody. I think that people in the black community with traditional views may think that it’s something that doesn’t hold weight but it is something that’s important. 15. What would you change about the black community? I wish we were more equal in society to other communities and seen on the same level socially in terms of job roles. I think

there should be a change in expectations in education and media. 16. What does the future hold for the black community? A lot of success, optimism and I’m happy that things are going in the right direction but in order for that to happen people need to change and be more open and get involved more in other things such as technology. We also need to have more access to stuff that will help us to progress such as education because education is a big thing like Malcolm X said, “Education is the passport to the future”.

“Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” -Muhammed Ali “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” -Malcolm X

Laura Sylvester ____________ 1.What do you think of when I say the word “black”? I think of something strong, I don’t necessary think of the colour of the person but I think of something strong, powerful and bold. 2.Do you identify as black? I do. 3.What does being black mean to you? Being black to me means a lot more than the colour of my skin, it means culture, it’s part of my identity, it’s who I am, how I speak, how people interpret me and perceive me. 4.What is the easiest thing about being black? The amount of hair changes I can do on a daily and the culture. Another part is my figure, a lot of black people we have body and that’s something I’m very proud of. 5.What is the hardest thing about being black? I think appropriation of culture is highly infuriating and the abuse of police powers. I have a brother and when we were younger, I remember sometimes feeling that because he was black he could be stopped and searched simply because of the colour of his skin and not knowing whether he would come back safely or not was quite scary, especially growing up in South London there was a lot of that culture. The overt racism as well, being told that you are too aggressive simply when you are saying the same thing as someone else but you might say it a bit louder. 6.What is the best thing about being black? My culture, wow my culture is so rich, like when I got married for example I had two wedding, my traditional Edo wedding with my beads and my white wedding. I think that no matter where you come from, you have that culture and when people see your colour and they know that you come from somewhere and for me that’s really important.

7.What are the common misconceptions about being black? We eat chicken but some of us are actually vegans or vegetarians. Black people are aggressive, black people like hip-hop music, black people are in gangs and all black people know how to dance well. What do you think misconceptions are?

the

effects

those

I think the effects can be long lasting especially for younger people because those misconceptions are put on them, therefore it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy so if someone says something about that child, like “Because you’re black this is how I expect you to behave” therefore they treat them as that expectation and that child unfortunately internalises that expectation and actually become that stereotype. 8.Is there a thing such as “good hair”? No, not at all unfortunately we’ve come up with this whole misconception that good hair has to be a certain texture and length. And unfortunately because a lot of people wear wigs, other people feel that they wear wigs because they are trying to achieve good hair but really wearing wigs is just about convenience because sometimes your hair could be a mess and you just wanna pop that wig on your head because it’s easier. But if your hair is healthy, then your hair is good. 9.Does cultural appropriation exist? Oh my god yes, clothes, music, food, dressing. It’s become ridiculous and unfortunately it’s come to a point where if you speak up about your culture being appropriated people just say “Why can’t I do it?” “Why are you being so sensitive about it?” and it just takes away the true beauty from the culture and where it comes from. Appropriation of talking exists as well such as the use of certain words such as the “N word”. 10.Does colourism exist within the black community? Sadly yes, I didn’t know it existed until like secondary school when people would say “Oh you think you’re nice cause you’re light skin” and I’m like “What?”. Even my husband is really fair and growing up he said that there was like this thing that if you’re lightskin you would get all the girls.

Where do you think it stems from? I think it stems from slavery because the lighter skin people would have the easier jobs though they were still slaves and work in the house whereas the darker skin people would be in the field doing the harder work, and this divide between different shades created this mentality that lightskins are better and darkskins are less so this mentality has then been passed on from generation to generation and since slavery wasn’t that long ago it was just three generations ago this mentality is still there. 11.Who is allowed to say the “N word”? I think no one and I kinda came to that conclusion as a Christian because it’s essentially swearing but if it came down to it, the only people who allowed to use the word is black people. Before you use a word, you need to know the etymology of that word for example the word “motherf*cker” comes from slavery times where the slave masters would force slaves to sleep with their mothers to get them to reproduce so when someone uses that word or any other swear word to someone else they don’t know the etymology of that word and know how powerful it is. Emmet Till for example was a young 14 year old boy who was falsely accused of whistling at a white woman, he was beaten up and lynched and one of the words that was used to describe him was a “N*gger”. They didn’t describe him as a son, boy, student or brother but a “N*gger” so if that description as a “N*gger” has been used and that is how people saw him so worthless enough to kill him as a “N*gger”, if you use that word what does that tell me about how you see me? If you’re not black, my question is why are you arguing to a say word that is so derogatory and was used to put down black people down for such a long time and the actual meaning of the word is so disgusting yet you’re arguing to use? 12. What do you think of the black community? I love the black community, it’s my people. I think recently there has been a surge of pride for their country, when I was growing up I didn’t see a community, it was separate and everyone wanted just to be Jamaican like no one ever wanted to be Nigerian or Ghanaian but now there has been like more of a community and we are learning more

Laura Sylvester ____________ about where we came come and where we are going. 13.What do you think of sexuality within the black community? Sexuality is covered, everyone is “straight”. In America, there was a recent case where a black guy committed suicide because he was a CIS male who was going out with a transgender female and he was getting bullied on a daily and as soon as he died people are like “Send prayers pray for the family” but really where were you when this guy was getting bullied? Instead of being reactional, do something before it gets to that.

16.What does the future hold for the black community? The future is bright. There’s a wealth of opportunity for us, just don’t hold yourself back.

14.What do you think of mental health within the black community? I don’t think it’s spoken about enough, especially for black men, there are a lot of toxic traits where they expect men to be the provider and do this do that but actually it’s very hard in this day and age and even for women as well especially in African cultures, I’m expected to have a job, look after the house, bear like four children in the world, look after my husband, there’s a lot that’s going on and how do you deal with it all? Even in the Bible it’s there, David pulled out his hair and Jonah was suffering depression and went under the tree and said to God “Take me away”. It’s a real thing that has been spoken about for ages. I’m a mental health FirstAider so I think it needs to be talked about more because a lot of people go through mental health problems both young and old. 15.What would you change about the black community? Acceptance, as much as I love my people, it can be quite ignorant in terms of differences. Also we need to change how the black community views themselves and not take on the stereotype that are placed on us.

*CIS : someone who identifies with the gender they are born in, for example a man who was born a man identifies as a man.

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.”

- Dr Mae Jemision.

Thank you to my amazing participants : Angela Charisse Green Tobiloba James Jakiah Mitchell Laura Sylvester Zuri Loftman

*Please bare in mind that the six people taking part in my project are not a representation of the race as a whole, rather they are only representatives of their own values, beliefs and ideaologies. As I mentioned earlier, we are a spectrum of people therefore there will many other black people who will have different (or similar) views to these six.

Project by : Jesutomisin Adeagbo. Designed by : Eniola Adeyemi.

The Importance of Remembering the Holocaust Written by Kaiesha Melloy Designed by Elie Musieme Many claim to study history as a means of learning from humanity’s mistakes. Eighty years on, humanity is turning circles. Fascism has risen through the ranks again, smiling at people from the faces of their government representatives. It greets people from street corners, from internet communities, from public office. Nazi ideology disguises itself in online content, packaged and pedalled to children through their favourite YouTuber or sub-reddit; it reveals itself at rallies and counter-protests in Virginia , in California , in Oregon . White supremacists leave calling cards scrawled on the walls of public bathrooms and as identifiers at the end of tweets. Eighty years on, and humanity has not learned. Remembering the Holocaust is less about hindsight than it is compassion; history needs to teach empathy, even before empiricism. Humanity sits before their televisions and newspapers, watching children torn from their families and locked in cages, and they change the channel, turn the page. Desensitisation is a rapidly spreading pandemic. It is important to remember the Holocaust when the Labour Party is being accused of antisemitism. When the ‘progressives’ of a society stamp their feet and point their fingers the other way: don’t look at us, look at them. It is important to remember the Holocaust because ignorance can be just as dangerous as malice, and Jeremy Corbyn insinuated that a community with over four-hundred years of history in Britain was

somehow foreign . Former Labour MP John Mann stood up in the Commons, a woman phoned in to LBC in tears; the message sent by Corbyn’s attitude is clear: you are not welcome. It is important to remember the Holocaust when fiction is not free of antisemitism. The Harry Potter goblins are hook-nosed and greedy, selfish and untrustworthy. They work in a bank on the floors of which, in the movies, stood a giant Star of David. Antisemitic tropes have permeated society for as long as anyone can remember; the classic portrayal of witches is based on bigoted stereotypes, Orthodox Jewish people have their identities mocked and worn as Halloween costumes. It is important to remember the Holocaust when writers and directors use the murder of a Jewish man by Nazis and the imprisonment of a young Jewish woman in a gas chamber as fun plot points, and other Jewish characters have their identities ignored, except for an offhand comment about Hanukkah every Christmas. These choices are a reflection of society – and they highlight the worst parts of it. It is important to remember the Holocaust when online communities become breeding grounds for white supremacist ideology. Racist dogwhistles are used between supporters, who find covert ways to express their bigotry; ‘Skypes’ are Jewish people, with ‘Googles’ and ‘Yahoos’ also used to crassly refer to minorities.

Charlottesville, 2017. Unite the Right rally. June, 2016, neo-Nazi and anti-fascist clashes. Rise Above Movement based in Southern California. Portland, 2019. Far-right protests. In a 2013 interview Corbyn said (Jewish) British Zionists ‘don’t want to study history’ and ‘don’t understand English irony’. This is extremely alienating. Arrowverse crossover, entitled Crisis on Earth-X (2017). Martin Stein is shot in the back by Nazis.

‘1488’ is left stamped on the inside of public bathroom doors, a way for white supremacists to announce their presence. These actions leave marginalised people – especially Jewish people – unsafe and uncomfortable. Yet, they persist. It is important to remember the Holocaust when Quebec passes a law that prevents observant Jewish people from holding government jobs or receiving public services . It is important to remember the Holocaust when families’ Hanukkiahs are being vandalised to look like swastikas and University students are arranging red solo cups to look like a symbol of hatred – of which they proudly post photos on social media . It is important to remember the Holocaust when students in classrooms whisper between themselves about the ‘Jewish elite’, horrifyingly certain in their belief that Jewish people run the press, politics and the economy. Antisemitic rhetoric is being spewed from the mouths of children who have only known this: a climate that breeds hate – hate that did not end with the Holocaust. Eighty years since the outbreak of the Second World War, humanity is upcycling old hatred. Marginalised groups advocating their own emancipation are met with resistance at every turn; the All Lives Matter and ‘Straight Pride’ movements continue to grow. Impressionable young people come across hateful messages

every day. Campuses and workplaces are alienating and unsafe. It is important to remember the Holocaust because it is actively being denied. It is important to remember the Holocaust because forgetting could be fatal. There is nothing left to do but better.

14 words: ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’. ‘88’ as code for the eighth letter of the alphabet; this equates to ‘HH’ or ‘Heil Hitler’. Bill 21, or ‘An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State’, was passed in June 2019 and prevents some public servants from wearing religious symbols or clothing. This also affects Muslim and Sikh individuals. Arizona, 2016. The Ellis family’s menorah was vandalised to look like a swastika on the sixth night of Hanukkah. March, 2019. Newport Beach students in California posted photos of themselves doing a Nazi salute in front of the display.

YVES SAINT LAURENT

and how he helped black people dominate the fashion industry Written by: Atwiya Ahmed. Designed by: Eniola Adeyemi. Yves Saint Laurent was a greatly influential French fashion designer who began impacting fashion from the 1960s to present. He founded his fashion label at age 25, and it later grew to become one of the most complimented and respected fashion houses of our time. During a period of time where only the beauty of white women was celebrated, Yves Saint Laurent was the first fashion designer to place black models on the runway. “He was extremely important in my career, giving me one of my first jobs.” (Naomi Campbell to Channel 4). He was behind Naomi Campbell’s very first Vogue cover during the 20th century. Due to this, she became the first black model on the cover of French Vogue.

“My first Vogue cover ever was because of this man, because when I said to him ‘Yves, they won’t give me a French Vogue cover, they won’t put a black girl on the cover’ he was like ‘I’ll take care of that,’ and he did.”

Some of his muses who are people of colour include Katoucha Niane, Rebecca Ayoko and Mounia - who was the first black woman to walk a haute couture show. “I was his first black muse… He helped open the door for black models. Sometimes I was his confidante, and I would sometimes inspire his creativity. He called me Moumounn. This for me was history... After that I had more than 15 covers.” He unfortunately lost his life in 2008 to brain cancer, however he will not forgotten due to his great contributions to the world. He helped multiple people of colour dominate the fashion industry

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.” Yves Saint Laurent

'THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT' ~WINNERS~ COMPETITION RUN BY RUTH ADETUNJI

1ST PLACE : ECHOES OF THE DEAD BY JAMES BUTTON I chose this poem as first place because I absolutely love the dramatic imagery and the chills left tingling down my spine as it ends on a sombre and terrifying note.

I’ve been hearing the noise for weeks; The crunching of the leaves against frantic feet. The banging on the door. The sobs. The scream. “Let me in,” she cries, “let me in.” I grip the pillow closer to my head. There is no one there, I tell myself. Not anymore. Nevertheless, I still hear the screams. The scratching of her nails against the door as they pull her into the dark. The shrieks of desperation as she is torn apart. I can feel the bile in my throat as I internally beg myself to return to my slumber, to escape the reality of what I have done. I know there is no other escape from the truth. She had gone long ago, but the screams still haunt me, the sound of their feeding still haunts me, and my own inaction torments me the most.

I WOULD SAY THE THING THIS POEM ISÂ DESCRIBING SEEMS LIKE A BANSHEE

'THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT' ~WINNERS~ 2ND PLACE : SAM LINCOLN BY JACK FENNINGS This poem has such a calm and relaxed tone that it's almost unnerving. You can practically hear the eerie church music as you read the lines and imagine a group of church-goers trying to ward off an evil spirit.

Through worn, chewed church pews poured grief, it coursed and rushed unmoored, as if from mountains sent as if from a deep voice of the Old Testament. We stood, knelt, prayed, sang, offered words of comfort, even certainty, we mourners in black, full of holy effort our hands and faces punctuations of light, candles lit, the torn, stained hems of our understanding hung under smooth coats.

SAM LINCOLN SOUNDS LIKE THE OMINOUS SPIRIT IN A OLD FOLKS TALE.

'THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT' ~WINNERS~ 3RD PLACE : TIMORE VERSUM BY THE GAMING DEPARTMENT This is a bit of an exception, as it's a collection of poems rather than just one, but the amount of time and effort put into making this physical book is admirable and deserves recognition. The poems are random and strange, creative in its most naked form.

THE REAL THING CAN BE SEEN IN THE CREATIVE MEDIA GAMING DEPARTMENT OR WITH CHRIS

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS OF THE POETRY COMPETITION! PRIZES TO BE COLLECTED FROM STEPHANIE IN MINSTER COURT STAFFROOM FROM 28TH NOVEMBER.

Design by Rue. A

By Maia Casiraghi Design by Rue. A

With its wing broken and dejected, the black bird ambled into my focus. London was no more. Eaten away by the jealousy of the trees. A revenge almost for the dismal calamities that we inflicted on the world. On the Earth we used to shepherd, we abused our nature and it had come back to inflict a deadly revenge. The broken bird swooped sadly onto the iconic Big Ben. However, now the iconic had become demonic like the hell of the world we now lived in. Its broken clock a crooked smile and its side rippled and smacked with lashing of trees and vines; history unfurling and identities lost in its demise. Death had come to London and the vines swarmed around them as though they had landed on the Moon. If Big Ben could chime now it would strike thirteen. I looked and walked some more. The roads looked like a cracked smile and it was like the world was laughing at me. I had wished the mouth would open and swallow me up. Anything was better than seeing your identity beaten, broken and bruised and this city was the heart of myself. It was amplified by the unbearable stench of rotten cabbage as that is what the world smelt of – tell me someone who would want to live in a world full of the stench of rotten cabbage. Not I. I wished I could drive away from London where the air was fresher and newer, but I couldn’t. Not least because the countryside was overgrown, and everyone was dead, but the air was unbelievably toxic (oh, the irony). Also, the cars and buses were full of green garbage and you couldn’t get inside of them which was extremely egregious. I am running now, faster than I’ve ever ran before. I’m not looking back - looking back would only be of extreme detriment to me. I’m being chased by a beast, large and odious, full of the excesses of our own mistakes. It doesn’t learn, it doesn’t reason, we can only run and hope. The sad thing is, there’s no where to run to but if you’re lucky, you can always find somewhere. London used to be full of places and people. But no more. There used to be bunkers they said. An event known as World War Two made them but they’re hard to find. I seek solace here and salvation at the hands of the past to aid my own future endeavours.

I get to a place of shelter. The bunker is found. I am safe. The beast is outrun for now. The place smells like decaying cabbages. Oh joy. Food is scarce and people are human and by human I mean selfish, obnoxious but occasionally kind if they can muster up the courage to permit it. There’s very little food here but since the Event, it’s what I’ll take. Whack. The tinned roof takes a massive punch by what I already know has found me. When I said it cannot be reasoned with and will hunt you down, I wasn’t lying. Bang. It hits the dishevelled door, wanting, pleading to be let in, although the beast only has to knock it down and it’d be in. I am afraid of it. But fear doesn’t matter now. The very society we live in is fear. It’s like being born into ten repressive regimes all at once. The future we imagine for ourselves is always one of happy predicaments but in mine all I can see is the same old death. The same old life. The same old creatures in the dark and dismal days of disaster. It enters and I recoil from it. It smashes into my view, large and gelatinous, hungry for the taste of fear. It’s disgusting, formed from our own worse excesses and reeks like a gone off feast. I run because that’s the only thing I can do and have been doing so for a long time. This creature stalking me for years and never letting me forget it’s there. You can run, it will not stop. Rest at your peril as it won’t rest then. I run some more. At this point all my life consists of is running. Never stopping. This time I can’t run anymore. I’m cornered, tired and dejected. The beast has caught up with me. I wonder to myself about the end but I realise it’s happened already.

Written by Harry Bruns designed by Jay Chambers

Written by Holly Duggan Bre athe i n. La ve nd e r a nd co tto n. A sme ll so swe e t, but c ould b e fo r go tte n. B re athe out. Finge r s sli p a nd sl i d e , out the d o o r , into the f u tu r e yo u g li d e . Whe re your mi nd b e gi ns to whi r . Cre atu r e s lu r k Anxi e ty. And Fe a r . Is what th e y wi sh to sti r . T he y c homp and cha w, scr a p e a nd sco r e . And all yo u ca n thi nk i s, Whe re i s the d o o r ? Whe re i s the d o o r ? Whe re i s the d o o r ? B r e a the . In the m o r ni ng ha ze , do no t fr e t, You wi l l b e o ka y. Basking i n the r a ys. Of old frui ts a nd so ft e m b r a ce s, Of tatte r e d te xtb o o k s And fami l i a r fa ce s. B r e a the .

Broken anecdotes THEME: MELANCHOLIA

Designed by Maher Hossain I am constantly on the edge. On the borderline discerning insanity and normality. I have fallen into this routine. This awful routine of inveteratingly expecting the best out of the worst. When I see your abyssmal, caliginous eyes I can’t help but lose myself within them. I find myself swimming into the ocean of your eyes. I can see the atomic constellation of the galaxy incrested within them. You conquer me, I am your kingdom and you are my ruler. You dominate my every thought, I am never solitary and my memories have grown into constant flowers ever-blooming into my mind. I want to feel your violent heartbeats thumping against mine, yet I need to remind myself you are not good for me. I do not swim; no contradictingly I, drown. These thoughts penetrating inside my mind are not tranquil; no they’re tempestuous. These cravings are not solaceful; they creep underneath my skin, like some repulsive type of bug, and bite, bite away until all that remains is my susceptible soul in my innocuous body.

I want to dissect the anatomy of a memory, I want to remove a lover that no longer exists, i want so many things but I can’t even budge. A nudge from a place long forgotten. The glassy sky breaks into shards of rain, you kiss thy name in order to feel sane. There isn’t a method to your madness, you’ve simply lost it. But maybe that’s the whole idea. That’s your process. You self destruct to recreate, you destroy who you were to pave way for who you will indefinitely be until the last bell rings and you’re running late, when the test is over, there’s only one destination. I can teach you how to love like the way the ocean will always kiss the shoreline with a ferocity, you’ll stay mad at yourself until you’re too far gone to return or just too hurt to want to go back. I’m here to tell you that you’re going to be okay. No matter how bad of a person you’ve been, no matter how hard you’ve got it, no matter how often you have to relive the same fucking memory, no matter how long it’s going to take, I promise you. - Note to myself

Written by Maher Hossain

Naive is sitting here on the bench where our fates were first sealed with an innocent, serendipitous meeting, and I sit here irrationally believing that you miss the glow of the lampost just as much as I do. The glowing manifestation of our youth and time together. Our lampost. The alcohol coursing through my veins is what makes the whispers of the wind sound like words - like you - and perhaps that remaining in love with you, and remaining broken, is equal to being delusional. Chapped lips tremble with every passing second as I wonder yet again what went wrong, and the rational part of me says that I should have known better than to so willingly let myself be wrapped around your little finger. I listen to the birds chirp, bringing me back to the morning where I wake up knowing you're there, and in those moments my heart always thaws for you - for us - for being lucky enough to orbit in a galaxy that you are a part of.

Melancholy is wearing an oversized thin shirt you lent me that I never returned on a cold autumn night. The minuscule piece of you sticking to my body is the only shred of you I have left. The only piece of you I have had since you left my hands to seek warmth on their own, and I seek warmth by being exposed in the ungodly hour because coincidentally, the stars remind me of your smile. Breeze tickles my cheeks alike to the feeling of your fingertips grazing my skin. Smooth, shy, and cautious, just like how you had always been back when we were still tiptoeing on the edge of our feelings. I watch the snow glisten under the luminescent street light, taking me back to when your eyes used to reflect everything your mouth couldn't say, and in those moments a fraction of me always withered like how the wildflowers laced in our garden had.

You liked to call me your shooting star but the truth is I am nothing but an incomplete constellation without you. It's in the stride of my steps, the haze of my mind, the hollow in my chest, three of the many things that changed only because of you. Unlike the ephemeral snow before me, tomorrow the cycle of my sorrow begins again. The sempiternal nature of my regret renders me weak, and day by day I continue to recall the apple of your cheeks, the curve of your lips, the melodious jump of your laugh and how you're the embodiment of the sun during the brightest summer day. You always loved the summer. I stand in our little park and watch the shadow casted upon it ever since you removed yourself from our little equation. The ethereal nature of our delirium laced days all lead back to the warm days spent on this very bench. The bench where it all started. Written by Atwiya Ahmed

From 1st to 2nd Year Written and Designed by Zak Cronin

Transitioning from first year to second year in college can be a worrying time for some people with exams and the choice between universities and apprenticeships looming, however is it as bad as some people think it is? In this article we get opinions from some upper sixth students.

What is different compared to your 1st year?

How is the 2nd year going for you so far?

“In the second year the majority of students are focused on looking at where they will be heading after college between universities and apprenteships. By researching and going to open days students can learn a lot more about both, and the colleges cube is always there to help you. During the second year you are also likely to be spending more time on homework“

”I’m panicking more about the deadlines and feel less prepared as there’s so much content to cram into 2 years and you just come to realize that properly when you come back for second year”

If you could tell your lower 6th self something what would it be?

“Really well! I was looking forward to the topics and modules I was going to cover in the 2nd year of my subjects, and that anticipation was definitely not misplaced. Yes, it does feel a bit daunting that I will be having my final exams this school year, but because of the help we get from our teachers and the lengths they go to to provide us with study materials, I feel comfortable.“ “For me it’s going great and I enjoy the subjects i am doing, they are fun and have lots of different aspects to them that I consider interesting to learn about, I would have wanted to begin the revision I am doing now in the first year but it’s never too late to get ahead with the timetable I’ve set for myself to achieve the grades I look forward to.

“When your teacher tells you it’ll help to do your coursework/revision in the summer term, listen to them.“ “If you don’t think you’ve covered something, look into it yourself so you feel more confident. For example, exam strategy (- Film Students!)“ “Definitely to keep a routine of study. You might think you have a lot more “free time” on your hands compared to secondary school, but from there it is easy to fall into the trap of not studying at all. Creating a study plan or even just dedicating yourself to a routine using the extra time you have will really help you in the long run.“ “To dedicate more time for revision and homework, it is essentially the most important part of college as it allows you to progress in the subject more rapidly

without having to worry about many slip ups in the future, as it gets much harder and harder in the second year having heavy workloads and projects that must be completed within a specific deadline.“

What advice do you have to the new students at HSFC? “Decide right now how much you want this, whatever ‘this’ is for you - top grades, a university place, a job. Decide how important it is to you. Then start working for it. It is never too early, but it is often too late.“ “Don’t be nervous to be outgoing and to ask for things. You’ll settle in quicker and it’ll make things so much easier in tasks and projects to come where you’re completely comfortable with asking for help or equipment to get you going.“ “Work hard in all of your subjects even if a subject you have chosen is more of a personal interest rather than something you want to follow as a profession. My Dream profession is to be a game designer and not a historian but getting a high grade in history will really help me reach that dream. Not only will it earn me UCAS points for University, but it will also give me some transferable skills that other people in the industry may not have!“ “Try not to stress out too much, the first year is time to just learn, about your

subjects and yourself.“ “Make sure to be ahead of other students, such as doing work before you even go into class and looking at the topics that cover your course plan as it helps to get you further ahead of the stage you’re in class making it so much easier before exams as most lessons you go into will be just like revision lessons on top, which will relieve loads of stress where students are going to be stressing out and worrying that they may not cover everything whereas you have covered everything through textbook work or even past papers as exam practice. This triples or even doubles the amount of revision you do. In addition, another very important aspect of college that you may want to look forward to which will benefit a lot is, doing work experience related to the subjects you plan on doing in university for instance; Engineering - you may do electronical work outside of college for a few days which will look fabulous on your personal statement or even job application wherever you do plan to go.“

How are you revising for Exams? • Past Papers • Making Notes • Making online flashcards on Quizlet • Library for History books & note taking • YouTube Videos

Written by: Jack Designed by:Rad Although its release was poorly advertised in 2011, Arthur Christmas has proven to be not only a greatly entertaining film, but one that displays the importance of Christmas from a nostalgic perspective. The film tells the story of a long line of Santa Clauses: Santa Clause being an inherited family title as opposed to a single person. This title is held by Arthur’s father, Malcolm, and expected to be passed down to Arthur’s older brother, Steve. Arthur, the story’s protagonist, is a good-natured and caring, albeit very clumsy, boy who looks up to his father, inspiring him to try his hardest to make everyone’s Christmas a magical experience. After the presents have been delivered one Christmas night, it is disclosed that a single child was missed, and her gift was not sent. Despite Arthur’s concern, Steve is keen to ignore the problem, telling him that it is only one child out of billions and can be easily overlooked. Regardless, Arthur and his grandfather, Grandsanta, take the old sleigh out on a quest to deliver the present. As a CGI feature, Arthur Christmas is visually incredible. The character designs are vibrant and recognisable while remaining traditional and festive, the landscapes are beautifully realistic, looking as if they were taken straight from real life, and the level of detail seen in the film is nothing short of astounding. Everything, from each outfit and vehicle to random screens and pieces of paper, looks astonishing. Every character speaks in a different manner, individual to themselves.

Even the elves, which there are thousands of, look and sound unique. The effort that went into making this film is easily identifiable in the final product. As well as this, the film is extremely creative. While watching, it stunned me with the many eccentric, Christmas-themed gadgets used by the elves, and I was frequently left amazed by the intricate and unconventional ways characters would approach and overcome problems they were faced with. Arthur Christmas sets itself apart from other films of the Christmas genre by just how brilliant it is, partially due to its visuals, but also largely thanks to its cast. Not only are the Christmas family’s personalities fun and intriguing, their faulty family dynamic creates a number of problems that drive the plot, leading to their gradual yet satisfying development as the story progresses. They are also easily engaging and sympathetic, even a character as corporate and formal as Steve, who resembles the opposite of what many would associate with Christmas. Each of them possesses some sort of commiserating motivation, whether that be Steve chasing a well-deserved but seemingly impossible promotion, Grandsanta clinging to the traditional Christmas he used to know, or Malcolm hanging on to a job that he loves dearly but is just too old to do, making them one of the most human casts ever seen in a Christmas film. Besides the wonderfully developed cast of characters, the film delves into themes commonly discerned in the real world, one of

k Kerry dosveta Dimova which being ideas of a traditional Christmas con icting with the advancement of the rest of the world. This is portrayed by the recurrent s uabbling of Steve, who stands to improve Christmas with technology, and randsanta, who habitually reminisces over the way things used to be and how they were superior to the complications of current times. The way the film handles such a topic presents the merits of each argument, without doing so at the otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expense, showing that both viewpoints can be beneficial while at the same time having aws. n terms of the films protagonist, Arthur is a somewhat deep and relatable character. Despite his only evident goal being to deliver the present by any means necessary, he is not as two dimensional as he may seem at first glance. e shows obvious despair at being ignored by the other, more dominant members of his family and his efforts to help being shut down, but this is what motivates Arthur to help everyone around him. owever, his seemingly pure-hearted motives are tainted by fear and anxiety, keeping him from becoming one of the many generic and faultless heroes littered about the film industry. espite his virtuous intentions, he is not devoid of any aw, instead working against his shortcomings to achieve his goal. e is just as human, if not more so, as the rest of the cast and one of the most endearing protagonists have seen in a Christmas film. n all, Arthur Christmas in a brilliant film that personifies the meaning of Christmas and what it means to give. ts beautiful visuals, lively

dialogue and remarkable cast and story make it one of the best Christmas films have seen to date. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who has not seen it as it is a thoroughly enjoyable and uni ue take on the story of Santa Clause, and Christmas in its entirety.

25 day CHRISTMAS SONG CHALLENGE

We challenge you and your loved ones to listen to a Christmas song everyday for the 25 days leading up to Christmas

Day1

Day 2

It beginning to look a lot like Christmas Michael Buble

Mistletoe and Wine Cliff Richard

Day 3

Day 5

Rockinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Around The Christmas Tree

Day 4

When Christmas Comes Around Matt Terry

Happy Xmas (War is over) John Lennon

Day 6

Wonderful Christmastime Paul McCartney

Day 7

Mistletoe Justin Bieber

Day 8

Most wonderful time of the year Andy Williams

Day 9

Driving home for Christmas Chris Rea

Day 10

Merry xmas everybody Slade

Day 11

Last Christmas Wham

Day 12

All I want for Christmas is you Mariah Carey

Day 14

Do they know its Christmas Band Aid

Day 13

Day 15

Step Into Christmas Elton John

Jingle Bell Rock Bobby Helms

Day 17

Day 16

Santa tell me Ariana Grande

One More Sleep Leona Lewis

Day 18

I wish it could be Christmas everyday Wizzard

Day 21

Day 19

Christmas time (Don’t let the bells ring) The Darkness

Day 20

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Frank Sinatra (Have a good HALF TERM)

Day 25

Merry Christmas everyone Shakin’ Stevens

Fairytale of new York The Pogues, Kirsty MacColl

Day 22

Day 24

Santa Claus is coming to town The Jackson 5

Day 23

Oh Santa! Mariah Carey

Underneath the tree Kelly Clarkson

By Ella Tipping and Gabrielle Prah

make your own

COMPUTER GAMES

EVERY TUESDAY @ 1310

Meet in International Building I106 All Welcome, Come and learn about Game engines and developing your own ideas into playable games. Learn from the Games Development students and develop skills in Unity and other game engines

Many thanks to our enrichment team Eleanor Morgan Mason Terry Mobolaji Babalola Jesutomisin Adeagbo Tori Lillywhite Imani Patel Daniela Dronic Jack Kerry Kaiesha Melloy Silvia Hodyakova Jay Chambers Harry Bruns

Syed Murshed Atwiya Ahmed Annabel Smith Gabrielle Prah Ruth Adetunji Zak Cronin Liam Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon Halima Abubaker Maher Hossain Ruta Antanaityte Bureyqa Hassan Radosveta Dimova

FACILITATED BY Stephanie Sekula

Eniola Adeyemi Isabella Pavitt Ella Tipping Sophia Fury Holly Duggan Gracie Gardiner Tory Dickson Maia Casiraghi Elie Musieme Angela Abubakar

FRONT COVER BY Syed Murshed

Spring edition out February 2020