Meghan: A Story of British Racism
For a long time, I was one of those Brits who didn’t really care too much about the monarchy. I didn’t have much interest in their lives, or their weddings – when Wills and Kate got married I took advantage of the extra bank holiday to go on a city break to Copenhagen. The way I saw it was: they’re there, there’s little I can do about it, but if we were to ever have a referendum on their abolishment I would 100% vote yes. As I’ve gotten older, my feelings about their abolishment have gotten stronger and I am now of the opinion that the entire institution should be…
#GE2019: Anti-Semitism and the Erasure of Minority Voices
The General Election is this week. Despite the fact that there are plenty of candidates standing for other parties, the reality facing us is that the real competition is between Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party and the Conservatives, ‘led’ by Boris Johnson. This has been, in my opinion, one of the nastiest election campaigns in recent history, and as such I have actively tried to stay away from it as I knew where my vote was going the minute the election was called. But among the many, many aspects of this election campaign that have seriously disturbed me, there is one issue that has really done so more than others, and…
Giving Blood: Why More Black People Ought to Do It
A few months ago, I received a letter from the NHS informing me that I have the sickle cell trait. For those of you who are unfamiliar, sickle cell disease is a group of red blood cell disorders. Red blood cells contain haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body, and people who suffer from sickle cell produce abnormally shaped red blood cells. These ‘sickle’ shaped cells die prematurely or can get stuck in small blood vessels, blocking them and causing serious medical problems. Sickle cell anaemia is the most serious type of sickle cell disease, and those who have it are susceptible to life-threatening infections, loss of vision or stroke and…
National Windrush Day has passed. Where do we go from here?
Saturday 22 June saw the arrival of the UK’s first official Windrush Day, a day commemorating the arrival of British citizens from the Caribbean on the Empire Windrush in 1948, and celebrating the immense contribution the Windrush generation has made to British society and economy for the last 70+ years. Windrush Day also brought with it the announcement of a memorial dedicated to the Windrush generation in Waterloo station, where many members of the Windrush generation first arrived in London. The announcement was met with a mixed reception, with members of the community questioning the choice of location, criticizing the lack of consultation and, quite rightly, wondering where was…
The Windrush Scandal Isn’t Over: CALL TO ACTION
Last year, the news of the Windrush scandal shot into mainstream political discourse and, rightfully, became a subject of national outrage. Members of the Windrush generation – Caribbean people and their children who were invited here as British citizens to help rebuild Britain and fill labour shortages after World War II – suddenly found themselves being deported, fired, losing access to their benefits or pensions, losing their homes, access to healthcare and even access to their bank accounts. Some, who had travelled abroad to see friends or family, found themselves unable to return to the UK, stranded in the countries they’d gone to visit. Why? Because Theresa May, our soon-to-be former Prime…
