Let's Start Somewhere

By Jamel  McFarlane  Here is a little bit about me.  Contrary to popular belief I was not born in Jamaica (I do sometimes tell people that I was born Jamaica). I was born in Lewisham, London. My family and I moved from London to Ashford in Kent in about 2002.  Back in 2002, Ashford was a predominantly caucasian populated town. If any of our family saw another black person in an area, we would say hello or give the infamous black nod. I believe that this interaction is an act of recognition and respect for their presence. It’s something that happens mostly in places with a lower population of black people - it happens where I live Chichester now.  Spending most of my childhood growing up in schools that were predominantly white had its challenges. One of the challenges I faced growing up was racism from uneducated people that I crossed as well as being bullied.   One situation I faced was back when I was in about year 5. Growing up I played rugby for the loc...

By Théo Rogier  Disability, by its very nature is broad and expansive. That being stated, the growing sentiment within the community is one of frustration. Our mutual frustration is one of ignorance and the fading acceptance that we have in general society. Even though, we are still physically present.  In general, my intentions in writing this come about from having a need for greater acknowledgement about disability and our presence as disabled people in society. The disabled reality is a struggle. A struggle, in the sense that we are present but we are put aside as an access issue or an inconvenience administratively, physically and from the perspective of government. Even in social settings, the disabled reality is still an issue. Social Setting and Social Interaction  For readers that are able-bodied, let me ask you to think about the times where you have interacted with someone who is physically disabled. In those situations, if you aren’t familiar to the person pri...

By Jack Freeman    Since the pandemic began, the rise in anti-Asian hate has grown across the western world. We saw seniors being violently attacked in the streets, business owners having their livelihoods destroyed by thugs overnight, and families shunned from their local communities.    All because of what they looked like.    To the rest of the world, East Asian people and those that were close enough were depicted as the one true villain of the world and the root cause of the biggest global health crisis in centuries. Through subtle messaging like news outlets using imagery of East Asian people with reports of the virus. To more overt methods such as world leaders describing it as the “ China virus ”.    A war (of sorts) against immigrant and expat Chinese populations and those that looked like them had begun. It didn’t matter whether you were a third-generation immigrant that was born and bred in the country and called it home, or a passing t...