The first time I became aware of the various unpleasant nuances associated with the issue of race and racism in modern America was when I was about 10 years old. Right about that time was when I read James Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man along with The Ways of the White Folks by Langston Hughes, both...
If I had to guess, the question on the lips of anyone who has come across the #ZimbabweanLivesMatter on Twitter would be: what is happening in Zimbabwe? And the answer is, well, a lot; but for everyone’s benefit, let’s start with the basics. Zimbabwe is a landlocked African nation with a population of about 15.6...
Owning and running a business is not easy and if you are a black entrepreneur, the challenge of funding can be downright overwhelming. In a perfect world, free from racial biases, a black–owned business might be able to acquire the capital it needs by merely selling its services or products for profit. The reality though...
The world has been so focused on COVID-19 over the past few months that we seemed to have forgotten another alarming global issue – hunger. In 2019, almost 690 million people went hungry, demonstrating the chronic problem of hunger that shot up by 60 million from five years prior. And now, the COVID-19 pandemic has...
Australia prides itself on being a successful multicultural society. Yet Australian television does not reflect the make-up of the wider community. This in turn means many stories of multicultural Australians remain untold. An analysis by Deakin University, to be launched today, shows Australian television news and current affairs programs across all channels are overwhelmingly curated,...
Every government school in Victoria will now provide students free pads and tampons in a bid to to reduce shame and embarrassment around periods for girls and ease the cost of living on families. An Australian first, the $20.7 million initiative will be rolled out to more than 1500 government schools across Victoria. The menstrual...
Manila, Philippines: In June, high numbers of sexual harassment cases began to surface at a string of schools across Metro Manila after a former student at Miriam College High School shared her story of how her Grade 11 teacher had admitted to having inappropriate fantasies about his students with her. Emboldened by this display of...
2020 has been the year of unimaginable upheavals in practically every sphere of human life. For one, extant coronavirus pandemic has challenged life as we know while questioning the very fiber of modern day capitalism and shaking the core of our global economy. Human relationships, workplace politics, governments and everything else in between has been...
The climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity in modern times. Some people find this hard to believe though because in day-to-day life, the climate concern does not translate into an immediate worry. Put differently, when you consider that so far, no city has been swallowed by water or any of the...
A couple of years into the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” in the states engaged in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Two years after the proclamation, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, was...
As Black Lives Matter protests rage across the world, many of us are motivated to learn more about racism, and talk to our students and children in ways that can facilitate change. Education is a powerful tool for creating change. So, it’s important teachers don’t shy away from difficult conversations in the classroom, even if...
If I hear anyone say that we live in unprecedented times again, I’m going to scream. It doesn’t make it less true. Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for eight minutes and 36 seconds in response to a call that Floyd may have used a counterfeit bill...