reclaim your voice.
South Africa has always been a nation that is run by its people; we protest, we shout, we demand for change and recently we have become complacent. However, various groups across South Africa have protested and brought attention to the tragic issue of gender-based violence. I had the opportunity to speak with Tersia Erasmus, one…
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By now, I’m sure you all have heard of, and hopefully not forgotten, the tragic story of Elijah Al-Amin, the young Arizona boy killed on Independence Day because of his decision to play a certain genre of music. A man slit the throat of the 17-year-old because of the “threatening” music. The accused threat? Rap…
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You never forget your first time. I must have only been in the 2nd grade when it happened to me — I was playing in the driveway of my North Carolina home when an older white kid ruined the otherwise peaceful moment with a message to “go back to your country.” Much like my dad’s…
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I was sitting on the train recently when a group of young high school students boarded the train. Among them was a tall boy with curly bleach blond hair and skin fairer than snow. As I was admiring the curls on the young boy’s head and wishing my 4C hair would be as receptive to…
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On March 15th, I went to sleep heartbroken because of the news of a terrorist attack against Muslims in New Zealand. I had opened Twitter directly after my sister went to bed and my heart stopped. I couldn’t stop crying. I was in pain, and angry. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. And as I…
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Femicide is described as “the killing of one or more females, primarily by males because they are female. It represents the extreme end of violence and discrimination against women and girls.” The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability website states that: “One woman or girl is killed every other day, on average, somewhere in…
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A year ago, students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hid under their desks and inside closets, terrified for their lives. A year ago, 17 innocent lives were lost in a school shooting. That day was beyond devastating. I remember how afraid I felt, because I thought: that could have been my school. Today needs…
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Below is a modern play on Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came For The Socialists” from the view of a white American citizen, and following that is a story from the same perspective. “First they came for the Blacks, and I did not speak out — because I am not black. Then they came for the…
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For South Africans, the 2019 schooling year began with cries of racism when a school in the North West Province of South Africa, Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke, dominated headlines after a photograph of Grade R pupils went viral on social media. The image depicted black pupils sitting separately from white pupils. Pending an investigation, teacher Elana Barkhuizen…
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