While walking down the bleachers one afternoon in high school, I suddenly heard a group of students mockingly shout, “Coronavirus!” and chortle amongst themselves while pointing at me. As enraged as I felt, I walked away face flushed instead of confronting the band of jeering aggressors, driven by a fear of verbal altercation turning physical […]
One day while driving my brother and a few of his friends to our house, his friend Jerry, a black 16-year-old from Buffalo who has been to our house countless times since he was 12, looked at me and said “I feel like I’m not allowed to be here. No one looks like me…Shit is […]
Of the 895 students admitted to Stuyvesant, the best public high school in NYC, in 2019, seven students were Black. Despite being one of the most diverse cities in the world, New York City has the most segregated school system in the world. Education is one of the primary predictors of economic success. Simply earning […]
Unbeknownst to many Americans, many urban law enforcement agencies have begun to implement facial recognition surveillance systems that disproportionately target Black citizens. In 2016, for example, a unique surveillance program, known as “Project Green Light” was enacted in Detroit, Michigan, a predominantly Black city. A network of high-definition cameras was installed throughout the city that […]
Already alienated by the Canadian government and society due to a longstanding history of colonialism, forced assimilation, assault, and more, Canada’s Indigenous communities struggle to access a basic need: healthy, traditional, and affordable food (Haskell & Randall 2010). This situation is common throughout most Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada (Kuhnlein & Receveur […]
Why do so many veterans choose to handle detrimental forms of mental illness on their own when so many resources are available to them? Clint Van Winkle, for example, is a veteran who fought in the early 2000’s in Iraq for the Marines. After witnessing various traumatic events while on the front lines, he did […]
The Statistics In 2021, there was a 40:14 ratio of white students to Asian American students at Harvard University [1]. Everyone knows how difficult it is to be admitted into Harvard, but should the gap separating white and Asian American students be that large? Students for Fair Admissions thought otherwise and have sued Harvard. An […]
Google Earth Art Project Attending Newton South High School in Massachusetts, I had access to over 100 clubs and activities, a wide array of AP and honors courses, and an on-site college counselor. 98.4% of students graduated in the past year, and 88% met or exceeded expectations on the statewide MCAS English Language Arts exams […]
The UN estimates that more than 10 million people may flee their homes in Ukraine.[1] Accepting refugees is not something new for Europe. Since the 2015 Refugee Crisis, the European shores have welcomed millions of displaced Syrians, Afghans and refugees of other Middle East wars.[2] Arabs have been treated as foreigners, while Ukrainians are welcomed […]
When I was eight years old, I started training as a competitive rhythmic gymnast. As the only girl of color on a team composed exclusively of Russian members, I faced a constant struggle for acceptance. I was called unkind words like “kakashki”, which means poop in Russian by my teammates and was even told by […]
