Michaela Makusha

Two weeks ago, a video posted by a Durham student and society president showed another person in blackface at a party. The person claimed they were dressed as a chimney sweep, but I missed the lesson in history where I was told that Victorian children wore Yeezys when cleaning chimneys. Many found it shocking, with […]

Last week, there was a tragic shooting in Plymouth which saw five lives taken, including a three-year-old girl. The police classed it as a domestic incident, rather than a terror incident. I found this decision confusing. This attack had all the characteristics of past terror attacks. The perpetrator had identified himself as a member of […]

The government are planning to create a commemorative coin for the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Windrush. According to minutes from a government meeting, the coin is to be designed by a Caribbean artist and issued in 2023 as part of multiple events planned for the anniversary. This is obviously a performative […]

The England Riots of 2011 – commonly referred to as the London Riots – remain a memorable event of the 21st Century. The 10th anniversary was on the 6 August this year. But what actually happened and why did it happen? What was the initial cause of the riots? The protests and riots began in […]

Rapper Stormzy is pledging to send a further 30 black students to Cambridge on scholarships worth £20,000 per year. The scholarships will be funded by Stormzy’s Merky Foundation and the bank HSBC, covering tuition and maintenance costs for 10 new students per year, over the next three years. This is an extension of his first […]

The X Factor. The show that brought us One Direction, Little Mix and Leona Lewis is finally coming to an end after 17 years. Whilst we could look back at the talent the show gave to the world, let’s take a look at moments at the show that are truly iconic.  Here are the top […]

Another week, another Piers Morgan tweet. For the past few weeks, he has spent his time delegitimising the mental health struggles of women competing in the most elite sports competition. He began with young Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who declined to speak with the press at the French Open and decided to pull out […]

Germany’s women gymnastics team have changed their uniforms in protest against the sexualisation of women in the sport. Rather than wear the traditional swimsuit-cut leotards, they have been wearing full-coverage bodysuits. The gymnasts competed at the European Championships in these bodysuits, with Sarah Voss explaining that they wanted young girls to feel safe in the […]

Reparations. A controversial topic when discussing post-colonialism. The conversation around whether former colonial powers should pay back former colonies was brought back into the spotlight when, last week, Jamaica formally demanded monetary reparations from the United Kingdom over slavery. Olivia Grange, the Jamaican Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, told Reuters: “We are hoping for […]

 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. This book was an unexpected buy, but the premise of the book had me hooked. A Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars-type thriller but with two black leads who are LGBTQ? Sign me up! In fact, the plot is so much more than I could’ve hoped for. I can see […]

Last week, it was revealed that rape convictions have fallen to their lowest ever in England and Wales. Authorities have been accused of decriminalising sexual assault as official statistics show that prosecutions have fallen to 1.4% in England and Wales over the last year. This is a record low for convictions since records began. Police […]

The Handmaid’s Tale is currently airing its fourth series on Channel 4. The Emmy award-winning show first aired in 2017 and has hooked audiences since. Based on the classic book by Margaret Atwood, the show looks at a dystopian, theocratic America, now called Gilead, where fertile women are forced to become ‘handmaids’ – to carry […]

Students across the country are concerned that they will not receive fair GCSE and A Level grades this summer. Rather than taking exams, students have been assessed by their teachers, based on a range of evidence including mock exams, coursework, and in-class tests using questions by exam boards. According to a poll by the Social […]

In the UK, black people will know that they can’t just walk into any hairdresser in town and have their hair done. It is a common experience that most black people can relate to. There can be a look of fear and intimidation on stylists’ faces when confronted with an Afro or textured hair. Thankfully, […]

Unfortunately, football did not come home at the Euro 2020 final on Sunday. Well done to Italy for a game well played. However, England fans are famously terrible losers and so racism ensued. Rather than congratulate the men’s team on making it to the final and playing their best, what followed was a barrage of […]

Last week, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family were deployed on a tour of Scotland, dubbed ‘Holyrood Week’. She and the Duke of Cambridge visited an Iron Bru factory and later in the week, the Queen went to a car factory with Princess Anne. Whilst this seems like the usual fluff that […]