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Shaken and Stirred: The New Black Female 007

Shaun Flores
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Shaken and Stirred: The New Black Female 007

How do you like your 007? Black or white? Well look no further, black female 007 is here, and it’s shaking and stirring.

It has been announced that Black British actress Lashana Lynch will be the new 007.

Lashana Lynch to play the new 007

Lynch will take over from Daniel Craig, but it is not a complete overhaul as she is simply taking James Bond’s secret agent number after the character retires from MI6. This has already been characterised as a momentous day for young black women.

The Daily Mail quoted from an anonymous “movie insider”, who proclaimed the 25th film opens with Bond (Craig), who is retired in Jamaica and is called back to action to fight a new villain.

“There is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says, ‘Come in 007’, and in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman,” the source said. 

“Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don’t work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed.”

However, as with most things, there are two sides to this coloured coin.

Twitter user @failinghuman ‘”I don’t agree with having a BAME actor play Bond. It’s not realistic. Think about who James Bond is, he’s a bloke who travels around the world murdering people & getting away with it. The only people who can do that are rich white men who went to Eton. #JamesBond

A sarcastic joke, but historical resounding accurate.

@askJillian “I don’t want a female Bond. James Bond was created by Ian Fleming as a man. Thankfully Barbara Broccoli told the @guardian last year there will never be a female Bond. If you’re a feminist, create your own bad ass spy don’t piggyback off an already existing male character!”

Interestingly anger towards the new 007 has emerged. Does Ian Flemming as the author of the James Bond stories have objections to who can play 007? If so would he agree with a changing of the literal colours and gender of 007?

Is the tide of black female heroism changing?

Last week it was announced that actress Halle Bailey will play the lead Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

Image result for the little mermaid halle bailey
Actress Halle Bailey will play the lead Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

There was outcry with some people even using science to explain why Ariel as a mermaid could not possibly be black.

Disney was even accused of “Blackwashing.” Paralleling statements around reverse racism, as explained by the twitter user @LaulaGrimm “White washing = a white actor (for example) gets a role for a black character Blackwashing = is the opposite Disneys Ariel is white. So Black Washing. It’s not rocket science.”

Unfortunately, there is one major flaw in this argument that moves outside the realm of fiction into reality, mermaids are not real and the Little Mermaid is fictional, which can make it subject to change.

Disney had to defend themselves and their decision to cast a black actor for Ariel.

Disney defends Ariel casting decision

Is this the Black superhero we’re looking for?

Whilst Bond to some is a hero to others, he is not. A bastion of the freedoms entrenched in the law to stop tyranny and exercise justice. Fighting threats to democracy and putting his life on the line is the earmark of Britishness.

The majority of superheroes appearing on our television screens are white and so the term ‘superhero’ has become synonymous with a white men.

Debatably, this has not only overlooked the capabilities and talents of individual black superheroes but it has impacted popular culture. To be both black and a superhero has historically been inconceivable unless we go back to Blade played by Wesley Snipes who paved the way for many other black superheroes.

Danai Guria in Black Panther

In Black Panther, the strength of the fictional Wakandan kingdom came from Okoye played by Danai Gurira who was strong, capable and determined, resolute and was no pushover to the men who ruled the throne. This was powerful for many young women, girls all over the world inside and outside of blackness. She was also bald similarly to Lynch’s natural hair. Otherwise known as “Nappy headed afro, with its kinks and curls.”

Lynch will be the new 007, I wonder too how the film will navigate her blackness, her femininity in the modern-day age

Movies are a crucial space in popular culture that allows us to see the worlds outside of ourselves and this space is highly appreciated by black women who have suffered in the hands of poor representation.

To many, representation does not matter, however to some communities seeing themselves on a screen gives them hope beyond their wildest dreams and it becomes tangible.

There are, after all, certain things that we cannot deal with in our lives, and we want to have this idea that there is somebody that could deal with it. As people, we endure and continue to survive racism and trauma. There is somebody that could save us from racism, because we have seen, felt, lived and been birthed in the trauma that is racism. We see civil war in our communities and war on the black body. We see black bodies killed. We see trauma in our lives, so the idea that we could be saved by something feels almost liberating. We were saved by Black Panther, Ariel is going to be played by a black woman.

It is nearly impossible to quantify how important it is that we be able to see people that look like us in entertainment, but the concept and image of a Black female 007 is something special and unique.

Let’s Talk About: Why Millennials Hate Politics

Fleur Boya
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Let’s Talk About: Why Millennials Hate Politics

In the last few years, there has been an increasing apathy and disassociation towards any sense of political involvement amongst the majority of millennials in the UK. Though voter turnout between the ages of 18-24 has steadily increased since 2005, figures show that in the 2017 general election, just under half of the millennial population did not vote. This begs the question: Could it be that there are still so many young people in the UK that are not interested in politics, and if so, why and what can be done to resolve this?

Do millennials care about politics? Source: The Atlantic

The root problem

One of the biggest issues that could be the cause of many young people disengaging with the political sphere, may be as simple as a lack of understanding of what is going on in British Politics. As politics is not a compulsory subject taught in schools, many students do not know anything about the British political system until they reach the age of 16, and even then, they must have actively chosen it as an A-level. So many young people go through life being completely alienated from politics.

It’s likely that during the build up to a general election, some millennials feel pressured to vote and embarrassed that they’re not as informed as they are expected to be when they reach their mid-20s. It’s clear that the best way to tackle this issue would be from the root, to make Politics a compulsory subject in schools, so that millennials will at least have some form of basic understanding of the British political system as they come of age. 


Who cares? No one

It is difficult to determine where the apathetic ping-pong between millennials and politicians first began – but one thing is for sure that politicians have been just as apathetic and out of touch towards young people. According to the Independent, Charlotte Gill writes: “For years millennials have been sidelined in Parliament, where the average age of members is 50, so our problems continue to spiral. Unfortunately, our plight is only ever mentioned when someone needs to promote the EU (“think of the young people!”). No one dares bring up the practical, everyday issues millennials struggle with”. 

It’s clear that it’s in the hands of MPs to break this ongoing tension by making more of an effort to deliberately target millennial support – which is likely to be easier said than done given that the majority of Parliament is made up of adults in their 50s.

Trip Gosain, 19, is an ex-Youth Parliament member and founded Millennial Counsel in October 2017 after working on several campaigns and seeing the disillusionment between politicians and young people. He states that in order for politicians to engage more with young people, they must:”Build a plan around engaging millenials in the community, in real life. Attend events and make sure this is reflected in your social media output. Develop messaging that works for a specifically under-30’s audience. Messaging on issues. Use personality in social media. If you don’t have one that works, make sure you hire someone who can deliver it for you.”

Trip Gosain formed Millennial Counsel to bridge the politics generation gap. Source: Yorkshire Evening Post


Is it pointless? 

There are many initiatives that can be introduced to get young people more engaged in British politics: lowering the voting age, making voting compulsory as done in Australia, even making studying politics obligatory in schools – but are all these efforts futile? According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK is an ageing population, which could mean that whether millennial voter turnout increases or not, the older population has greater influence. Brexit is a prime example of this. According to newstatesman.com, 74 year old Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable states: “The older generation shafted the young. Their life chances have been radically affected by what the older generation has decided”. 


It’s clear that “Millennials are in a rut, and no one can be bothered to step in. Which is unfortunate because one day we will be entrusted to care for the very population that neglected our needs”,Charlotte Gill states. “Perhaps it’s time for a change; perhaps it’s time for a millennial party”. One thing is for sure is that British politicians need to wake up and see that their diminishing relationship with British millennials is a pressing issue. Is there hope for improvement or should we just accept the reality of an unchanging situation? 

The Tail of the Bull: An Upcoming Crash?

Richard Bolton
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The Tail of the Bull: An Upcoming Crash?

The nature of crashes is they are often seen in the rear-view mirror. Only in retrospect does it become clear they have happened. Except for 1987, they haven’t been short blips.

It took the summer of 1932 for the 1929 Great Depression to bottom out at 90% retreat. Every time the market turned upward a few days, hopes were lifted that the pain was over, the bottom in place and the market in recovery mode. The same applied in 2001 and 2007.

The next downturn won’t be seen, and it will take its good old time.

January 2007, banking stocks slowly crumbled as they were weighed down by “non-performing loans”. The markets as a whole continued to rise. It wasn’t until fall 2007 that the rest of the market started to comprehend the depth and scope of the issue.

A market crash is like missing the forest for the trees. We are 10 years into a bull market and the cracks are starting to appear, slowly but surely.

A bull market is a market where share prices are rising, encouraging buying

From start-ups rushing to the market with all time high total market capitalizations anticipating slowly earnings growth. Chinese downturn and weak European data. Significant deficits in the US, which could well be exacerbated by a recession, hampering the Fed response to stimulate the economy. Share buybacks have been propping up earnings. Trade tariffs have cost consumers over 20 billion dollars in 2018 alone, and are set to worsen as companies are forced to relocate, switch out banned or expensive technologies and cut back operations. The yield curve briefly inverted which has occurred pre to the last 7 recessions. Trump tax cuts are accelerating US deficits. The housing market is cooling, and with it the wealth effect and consumer confidence, feeding into a diminishing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI). While these factors do not entail a recession in and of themselves, the market reacts to a confluence of news. These can worsen or abate depending on new economic and geopolitical inputs as and when they arise.

No one can predict the future with any degree of certainty. Anyone who knows a crash is imminent will have magically gained an insight no other has. If you find them, let me know and I’ll leverage every piece of property to my name, mortgage my home and convert all to cash and short using the most leveraged instrument like index futures with a strike far out of the money.

Sarcasm aside, what makes investors good returns is not timing the market but time in the market.

Monthly contributions over many years will average out these dips and troughs in widely diversified plays. But there is something to be said for placement and rebalancing. It is starting to look like the bull market has run its course, bar the US election year looming.

The problem for investors isn’t just falling prices but the risks built into the financial system, the most potent of which in recent memory was the 2008 market collapse, acutely felt in properties and stocks.

Alternatives to Decouple From Risk

The problem with asset-based financial instruments is their interconnectedness. The ease with which new products can be built from existing instruments already accepted as having value has spawned a financial system with two critical flaws. One being every aspect of the system is connected to every other aspect of the system meaning that the failure of one institution can precipitate catastrophic failure in the system itself. Secondly, the extent of the risk of this interdependent system cannot be quantified, i.e. the risk is unknown.

This can be illustrated by the total value of 2014 broad money at $80.9 trillion. All derivative contracts came in at $1.2 quadrillion. No one really knows the size of the market.

The 2007 subprime mortgage bailouts with the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 led to a full-blown international banking crisis. Excessive risk-taking helped to magnify the financial impact globally. Massive bail-outs and palliative monetary and fiscal policies were employed to prevent the world financial system’s collapse.

Steve Eisman, perhaps know best as played by Steve Carell in “The Big Short”, happened to see this coming. He described the situation like so:

“There’s no limit to the risk in the market. A bank with a market capitalization of one billion dollars might have one trillion dollars’ worth of credit default swaps outstanding. No one knows how many there are! The failure of, say, Citigroup might be economically tolerable. It would trigger losses to Citigroup’s shareholders, bondholders, and employees – but the sums involved were known to all. Citigroup’s failure, however, would also trigger the payoff of a massive bet of unknown dimensions from people who had sold credit default swaps on Citigroup to those who had bought them.”

The “unknown dimensions” quoted by Eisman are the dependencies of other institutions on, in this case, Citigroup. That is to say, the value of financial institutions – banks, insurers, brokerages, clearing houses – all depends on others in the chain. This mutual dependence is the result of asset-based instruments, and the scope of its risk lies in the inability to assess the exposure. Combined, these represent systemic institutional failure.

Belief-based instruments like gold or oil are unlikely to carry the same systemic failure risk, because their value does not depend on another asset by necessity. Bitcoin and oil may well carry value even in the event of worldwide financial system collapse. A good analogy would be comparing them to the internet, one asset fails and another can take its place.

Failing development of belief-based instruments like Tether coin pegged on parity with the US dollar, redeemable for fiat-currency at any time. Media in 2018 stated it was not backed by US dollars. This would mean that the parity is established as a function of expectations. Therefore, it demonstrates belief-based instruments can track specific stated value, e.g. tokens track spot price of gold without the risks of exposure to the asset-based instruments and the token value would be outside legislative security requirements.

A point of failure is isolated, quantifiable and limited to the sum invested. Any repercussions are thereby limited. It would open possibilities of saving as a form of investment, currently made not possible because of the inflationary nature of fiat currencies.

This paves the way for investment products that deviate from the unquantifiable, systemic risks of institutional failure arising from asset-based instruments (hedge funds, derivatives).

A decoupling would preserve value should globally interconnected markets and their institutions fall.

Failing faith in cryptographic tokens, what are the alternatives?

Short term fixed deposits earning higher interest as the Fed raises interest rates to cool the overheating economy. Other Central Banks tend to follow suit. Current stock valuations at all-time highs, so when the dip comes, you may want to wait it out for confirmatory trend reversal. In 2000, it took 3 years to reach the bottom. Valuations are not far off 2000, meaning this crash may last longer than expected. Shorting the S&P E-Mini Future Contract with leverage and liquidity, and sans the premium decay of options.

Experts tell us to sit tight and wade it out. Experts are generally the same. For those of a nervous disposition, seeing half your net worth evaporate before your eyes, being told to pucker up and sit put isn’t a whole lot of comfort as they watch their hard-earned savings sink. Instinct tells us to sell out before it gets worse.

Stock market crash vs stock market correction

The occasional crash is the price paid by investors for the higher returns available from stock markets. Otherwise, investing would be easy. The trouble is, people tend to over-react to volatility, often selling out just as markets are about to recover. In fact, what may seem like a crash is actually a correction, defined as 10% fall as opposed to a 20% fall. Corrections are natural parts of the cycle and occur annually according to Deutsche Bank.

Investors should bear in mind: the strongest gains often come after the biggest falls.

So Should I Sell?

The US research group Dalbar runs a study on investor behaviour each year.

It has found investors have lost an average of 8% per year over the last 30 years, as a result of buying at the wrong time and selling at the wrong time. As such, it’s crucial to stay invested, no matter how uncomfortable it feels.

There is one exception to the rule: Japan 1989 December 29th. The Nikkei reached 38,916 all-time high. The asset bubble had surged upwards with property prices leading the way. What goes up must come down as they say. After 30 years, the Nikkei sat at 21,269.

So, although patience tends to pay, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

The Fat Shaming Advert By Cancer Research UK

Shaun Flores
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The Fat Shaming Advert By Cancer Research UK

The latest advert by Cancer Research UK has caused quite a stir as there has been a huge backlash against the advert.

Image result for cancer fat shaming advert

The advert has continued to highlight the diametric opposing sides on conversations about if there is a right and wrong way when it comes to talking about obesity.

Twitter user Wrishi Basu said: “#obesity is not always what people choose! It is incredibly difficult to lose weight too. However, there is no reason to pussyfoot around the scientific fact that obesity is a hugely contributing factor for all sort of illness including #cancer! Well done #CancerResearchUK.”

Image result for cancer fat shaming advert
In an act of dissent
Left, “obesity is a cause of cancer too, weight stigma causes shame not health”
Right “obesity is a cause of cancer to fatphobia ”
middle “anti-fat bias”

Its hard not to agree with the above user. There is massive nutritional inequality and knowledge is saturated, almost like the fat consumed in most foods. There is a plethora of nutritional advice. It increasingly creates decision fatigue and option paralysis when it comes to where we start with very simple nutrition.

Large companies such as Coco-Cola, should be fined for their products which are laced with sugar.

Image result for coca cola nutrition

Using Nutella is another product which is an extraordinary 58% sugar and yet it is a staple in some peoples diets, which leads towards higher rates of diabetes and obesity.

Products in a consumer society are disposable, however, our health is not disposable, we have one life. Companies prey upon our weaknesses and they can not get away with any longer.

In some senses, the buck continues to be passed from the consumer when it should be held at the front door of the production from the companies who are feeding nutritional suicide to individuals.

Food is an intrinsic part of peoples lives, providing jobs, nutrition and happiness. Whilst that happiness may work to the enrichment of individuals’ long-term health but also to their short term detriment. Companies must be held to account, even though, in capitalism, it all seems to be about supply and demand.

Image result for healthy vs junk food uk so expensive

The consumers are addicts and sugar is one of the most desired on the palette of individuals. I do not believe CancerResearch UK intended to fat shame but as a matter of consequences, it crossed the line.

Obesity is on the rise and the government must do something about it, as well as the individuals who will inevitably suffer. Regardless of what we feel or think the world is changing and CancerResearch UK may be correct.

Healthy choices are far too expensive, and the higher calorie and food saturated with death are far more prolific in the UK. Hold the companies to account and I am sure we will see a decrease in obesity.

Obesity Billboards Get A Huge Backlash

Mellissa Dzinzi
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Obesity Billboards Get A Huge Backlash

A new campaign by a leading cancer charity has come under scrutiny after the adverts liken obesity to smoking, despite new statistics revealing that obesity is now a leading cause of cancer. 

According to the new statistics by Cancer Research UK, obese people outnumber those who smoke in the country by two to one. 

The figures also reveal almost a third of adults are now obese, while smoking is still the biggest cause of preventable cancers, their analysis revealed that being obese trumps smoking in the cause of the deadly disease. 

They state, there are over 1,400 more causes of kidney cancer than smoking each year, 1,900 more causes of bowel cancer, 460 of ovarian cancer and 180 of liver cancer. 

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive at Cancer Research UK, defended the campaign and said that, something needs to be done about the rise in obesity. “As smoking rates fall and obesity rates rise, we can clearly see the impact on a national health crisis when the Government puts policies in place – and when it puts its head in the sand.”

It is clear the charity did not mean to be malicious, they have used a previous campaign, which was successful, to highlight another cause of cancer and start another tough conversation. 

Obesity is an increasing issue in society which cannot be pinned down to one factor. Causes of obesity can range from lack of exercise, to poverty and even social class. 

Healthy foods and diets that can prevent obesity can be hard to come by and members of society cannot always afford to make these lifestyle decisions which can stop obesity. 

There are various issues which need to be tackled before we start talking about obesity, or weight problems in general but obesity is usually the main focal point.

We need to look at the accessibility of fatty foods, the cost of nutritious foods such as fruit and vegetables, as well as households incomes for those mostly affected by obesity because this is an issue which mostly affects the most deprived families. 

Dr Alexa Will See You Now

Common Sense Contributors
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Dr Alexa Will See You Now

by Dolline Mukui

Amazon’s Alexa and the NHS will partner up to take on health related questions in a bid to ease the pressure off the NHS.

The technology assisted device will search NHS websites to answer medical questions, which is verified by professionals. This differs from the process before, where Alexa answered questions based on a variation of popular responses.

Its purpose is to help those with vision impairment, elderly and others who are unable to access internet to gain control of their healthcare. The Department of Health says is would empower patients by providing reliable information.

Amazon’s algorithm uses information from the NHS website to provide answers to questions such as: “Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?”; ‘Alexa, what are the symptoms of flu?’

Matt Hanock, health secretary said “Technology like this is a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading NHS advice from the comfort of their home, reducing the pressure on our hardworking GPs and pharmacists.”

Using the voice assist technology has been on the rise and by 2020 it is expected that half of all searches are expected to be made by the device.

The number of people needing to see the GP are often told to go to A&E because they can’t get any appointments but are in need to see a practitioner. 

However, the NHS does not have enough money to keep doing what it does e.g. treating the growing number of sick and often elderly people but the government plan reduce the demand of the NHS by doing more with less.

This is by stopping people getting sick the in the first instance, hoping to use technology that is already in people’s homes. 

Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, hopes that combining technology with the healthcare system will cut the numbers of people heading to A&E.

In the grand scheme of things, there are few professionals that are sceptical of the data partnership.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, welcomed the move but urged caution, saying: “This idea is certainly interesting and it has the potential to help some patients work out what kind of care they need before considering whether to seek face-to-face medical help, especially for minor ailments that rarely need a GP appointment, such as coughs and colds that can be safely treated at home.

The Alexa device, on a nightstand, is a popular device regardless of its capabilities to ‘diagnose’.

Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said: “Encouraging the public to give their private health details to one of the most aggressive corporate data guzzlers is astonishingly misguided.

“Amazon’s Alexa records what people say, stores recordings in data centres we know nothing about, and exploits our data for profit.

“This scheme will likely result in people being profiled and targeted by data brokers based on their deeply personal health concerns.

However, Amazon has said all data would be kept confidential and multiple layers of authentication would protect the data from UK customers and that all information would be encrypted.

The partnership is directed by NHSX which is new division bringing digital transformation to the health and social care industry.

Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX announced five main targets entailing reducing burden on staff, increasing NHS productivity, supporting improvements to patient safety, making sure clinical information is safely accessed across the system and ensuring people have access to information and services directly.

Dolline is a traveller, journalist and blogger who has palate to try new things. She is a very spontaneous person; you might find her skydiving over the Kenyan coast to kayaking in the Lake District. She can be an over thinker who thinks of every outcome but if she doesn’t she welcomes the change that wasn’t planned. However, she is a very simple person who is up for a good laugh or a book and enjoys living the moment. Dolline also writes for her small personal blog called ‘Swatches of Beauty’ and is currently a production journalist trainee at ITV Border.

Global Conference for Media Freedom: Ownership IS Independence

Fergus Macphee
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Global Conference for Media Freedom: Ownership IS Independence
Common Sense Network members attended the inaugural conference to Defend Media Freedom in London this week, organised by Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt. On Wednesday, one of the opening discussions shone a light on ownership and striking the balance between funding and control.

The panel discussion was chaired by Nishant Lalwani, Director of the Luminate Group within the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm which has recently given financial backing to a host of media outlets. This set the tone for a really engaging delve into the critical nature of journalistic funding, analysed by a stellar panel.

Sonny Swe, Founder of Frontier magazine in Myanmar, spoke in detail about supporting independence and freedom, drawing on his own imprisonment between 2004-13 while Co Founder of The Myanmar Times. Director of the independent funding foundation Stichting Demacratie en Media (SDM), Nienke Venema was keen to highlight that for critical and fact driven journalism to thrive “we need more investors”.

The final panel member is something of a superstar in international journalism, so much that at one point Nienke Venema exclaimed how she felt privileged to be on the same panel as one of her heroes. As Chief Executive of Rappler in the Philippines, Maria Ressa has faced countless arrests and investigations over her criticism of the government. She has been labelled an ‘icon’ of media freedom and has now gained legal support from another conference attendee Amal Clooney.

Ressa and her new Allies (George Clooney, Amal Clooney and Maria Ressa)
Source: Yahoo! Philippines

To kick off, all panellists agreed that Venema’s claim that journalism needs more investment to continue and progress in the 21st century. It is not that simple however, and the conversation soon turned to the questions of whether economic control inevitably means editorial control? Venema herself was quick to point out how this can be problematic from an editorial point of view, saying:

“If you go in that direction, I won’t be able to support you anymore because my board won’t support you.”

Nienke Venema, SDM Director

Coming across loud and clear was the message of how difficult it can be to toe the line between keeping investors happy, while exercising journalistic freedom. This responsibility ultimately lies in the integrity of the journalist and their respective publication, something Maria Ressa summed up perfectly in her closing remarks on this section.

“Journalists make critical calls that are bad for business, because that’s our job.”

Maria Ressa, CEO Rappler

Conversation then turned from investor control, to the regulation of media and exactly where this funding comes from. Foreign funding was a key point of contention, in ensuring we do not allow foreign forces to meddle in national jounalism. Sonny Swe explained in detail how the Chinese government pay for propaganda in Myanmar. Maria Ressa was once again called upon to speak here and did so by stating the ultimate solution is technology and collaboration, leaving ‘PPC obsession’ behind. She was especially passionate about working with and understanding the social media giant Facebook.

“No one can beat Facebook […] it’s about working together […] I’m not demonising them.”

Maria Ressa, CEO Rappler

It was two questions from the audience though, which provided some of the most intrigue. First from a Serbian reporter, who fundamentally disagreed with the title of the debate, explaining how ‘ownership’ has destroyed any media independence within various Eastern European states. The next question came from Ezra Levant of far-right Canadian political website Rebel News Media.

Levant was especially critical of the whole event, and made accusations that the whole conference could not stand for media freedom when it was supposedly funded by the Omidyar Group, for which Nishant Lalwani is a Director. He accused Ressa too of “being on the payroll”, but taking aim at Lalwani, the quote of the day was that his boss was a “left wing Rupert Murdoch.”

Ezra Levant
Source: Tyler Anderson/National Post

Lalwani was at least given an opportunity to close the discussion after this, keenly summing up into three take home points. Media ownership does not have to be malicious or feared, but economic control can sometimes mean sacrificing editorial control, and foreign investment is to be treated with caution. An informative and truly fascinating 90 minutes, with four excellent speakers, but dominated by the immense presence Maria Ressa, who provided some fitting food for thought to end with.

“Look at the [media] world with fresh eyes. While I really loved the old world, it’s gone.”

Maria Ressa, Rappler

A Police Force That’s Been ‘Utterly Transformed’?

Joshua Best
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A Police Force That’s Been ‘Utterly Transformed’?

Recently Scotland Yard Chief Commissioner Cressida Dick has insisted that the Metropolitan Police is no longer regarded as “institutionally racist”, which she believes is a label that is harmful. Believing it creates distrust within the public towards the police, inhibiting any intelligence, collaborations to aid the police in solving crime.

https://twitter.com/badwithcolour/status/1149222246071844864

What’s even more inconsiderate is her claim regarding the Macpherson Report released 20 years ago following the death of Stephen Lawrence. Resulting in an inquiry into the entire police institution, due to proceedings into the investigation of Stephen Lawrence’s murder. The report commented on the Metropolitan Police stating the investigation was “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership”.  

The nature of Cressida Dick’s comments is in poor taste calling for the public to change their opinions for an institution that has failed many particularly those from deprived areas, certain ethnic backgrounds; for which it has been ordered to protect and serve like that of Stephen Lawrence.

Stephen Lawrence, Who Was Murdered In A Racially Motivated Attack- April 22, 1993

The policies in place while Cressida Dick has been Chief Commissioner point to now evidence of a “less racist” nor “reformed” police force. In the recent years the increased power to officers with the use of stop and search targeted predominately at black males, the death of many black males such as Rashan Charles and Edson Da Costa while in policy custody within London and around the UK. Personally, in the recent years the conduct of the police has not convinced me or much of London, to place genuine trust in a police force; which has deteriorated rapidly in the recent years. Inquests into BAME deaths within police custody also highlight a sickening insight within police conduct.  

Edson da Costa (Left) and Rashan Charle (Right) Both Who Died In Police Custody

Cressida Dick frankly has a plenty to answer to, whilst being commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 2017 and her overall involvement the Met in the previous decades.

Her launching of Operation Trident in 2001 a scheme targeted at African-Caribbean communities to mitigate gun crime and homicides; which proved to be ineffective due to political interference and lack dedication specialism and focus.

Jean Charles de Menezes Who Was Wrongly Deemed As A Fugitive

The death of Jean Charles de Menezes following the London bombings, who was shot dead after being wrongly deemed a fugitive for the terrorist attack. Even more recently in social media, increased hostility towards police officers have been trending, highlighting the misconduct of police officers; with their over exertion of force and power. Whereby continued footage of police overexerting force over residents within BAME communities.

As of today, the comments made by the Met Chief Commissioner has brought much scrutiny to her creditability, and her general comments from the start of this year. Although the Metropolitan Police attempts to make strides to becoming an institution that the BAME community can trust but as off today we’re far from that point. But nevertheless, the bold claim of a reformed police force in the light of activities by officers and senior management, is rather questionable; and the commissioner has a lot to answer to.

Why RT Was Banned From The #DefendMediaFreedom Conference

Maisie Barker
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Why RT Was Banned From The #DefendMediaFreedom Conference

Over the last two days, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), in association with the Canadian Government, has run the Global Conference for Media Freedom. Delegates from around the world have come together to discuss plurality of media, protection of journalists and general media freedom.

The conference ran in London on the 110th and 11th of July 2019

The conference, however, faced controversy for refusing to award accreditation to the Russian television news agency RT (formerly known as Russia Today). The FCO stated that this was due to RT’s “active role in spreading disinformation”. Critics of the decision argue that it is hypocritical to hold a conference on media freedom and yet bar representatives from a major news outlet. But a closer look at RT’s history will show that they are far from a beacon of free media.

What is RT?

RT was created in 2005 and since then its editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has repeatedly referred to the network as a weapon. In a 2012 interview with Kommersant, she stated that the Russian taxpayer should look at RT in the same way it does the Ministry of Defence. In the same interview she said “there is no objectivity”. She repeatedly highlighted the role of Western media in propagating anti-Russian bias, saying that RT is Russia’s response to this bias.

Russian state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today (RT) (Source: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

So is Russia open about its use of propaganda?

According to the 2019 Freedom of the Press Index created by Reporters Without Borders, Russia is classed as a “difficult situation” – the second most oppressive category. It shares this classification with countries such as Myanmar, Belarus and Honduras.

Comparatively, the US ranks one step below as a ‘problematic situation’. The UK (along with Canada, South Korea and Ghana) ranks as satisfactory.

Are Reporters Without Borders biased or are we right to look upon RT as a tool of Russian state propaganda? Well, one only has to look across the border into Ukraine to see how RT’s output is beneficial to the Russian government.

Ukraine and Russian propaganda

In 2014, the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was arrested and allegedly tortured due to his support for Ukraine’s ‘Maidan Revolution’. After a trial (in which the prosecution’s key witness recanted his testimony, claiming state harassment) Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Outcry came from filmmakers, human rights organisations and everyday citizens. In protest at his incarceration Sentsov went on hunger strike for an astonishing 145 days and, as of today, he has yet to be released. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Human Rights Chief Konstantin Dolgov rejected calls for Sentsov’s freedom, criticising what he called Ukrainian terrorism and American hypocrisy regarding its own detention of people without trial. RT referred to Sentsov as a ‘terrorist’ and claimed that his supporters in the West were “jumping on the bandwagon”.

Dr Sasha Dovzhyk, a Ukrainian academic at Birkbeck, has written and campaigned extensively on behalf of Sentsov. She said “he is so important for Ukrainian human rights activists, including myself: he speaks for all of the hostages of the Kremlin. He directs the spotlight away from himself and draws our attention to 100 people imprisoned in Russia and on the occupied territories of Ukraine.”

Crimean Tartars

Crimean Tartars have also suffered from the bias of RT. The more pop culture minded amongst us may recall Susana Jamaladinova’s (stage name Jamala) 2016 Eurovision entry which recalled the mass deportation of over 240,000 Crimean Tartars by Stalin’s government in 1944. An op-ed from RT decried the overtly political nature of the song, calling it ‘crude Russia-bashing‘. More recently Edem Bekirov, a Crimean Tartar who suffers from multiple serious illnesses and disabilities, has been refused treatment from the Russian government, contrary to the Russian Federation’s own legislation. Bekirov is supported in his fight for freedom by Amnesty International and the Russian annexation of Crimea has been condemned by over 100 countries. RT has yet to report on Bekirov’s detention.

LGBT lives in Russia

The situation for LGBT people in Russia has also drew international criticism. In 2013, Putin signed into federal law “for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values”. This law forbids the “promotion” of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” among minors and will call to mind the UK’s own Section 28, which was protested for many years by the LGBT community. Maksim Lapunov has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that he was arrested and tortured in Chechnya, simply for being gay. His lawyers state that Russian investigators have continued to ignore his please to investigate his imprisonment. RT has yet to report on Lapunov’s case, or the ‘purge’ of LGBT people in Chechnya.

As you walk through security to the conference, you are greeted by a quote from the late Anya Politkovskaya – pictured below. Politkovskaya was a vocal critic of Putin’s Russia, particularly her reporting on Russia’s war crimes in Chechnya during the Second War (1999-2005). On October 7th 2006 she was gunned down in her apartment in Moscow. Five men were eventually sentenced to between 12 years and life for her murder. However, it is still not known who arranged the assassination. Since 2001, 6 journalists from Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper which employed Politkovskaya, have been killed.

Quote from murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya: “What matters is the information, not what you think about it”.

During the conference, Russia’s suppression of dissident voices (in particular that of Oleg Sentsov) has been criticised by human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Amal Clooney at the #DefendMediaConference

The answer to a biased media is not to deny its bias, or deflect to the bias of other media outlets or governments. The answer is to confront it, highlight it. Many people will think the conference made a mistake in refusing accreditation but RT has consistently shown that it cannot be relied upon to report accurately or fairly. I can think of no greater insult to Politkovskaya’s legacy than to allow RT to a conference on free and open media reporting.

Tommy Robinson, Social Media and the Pursuit of Justice

Flora Barker
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Tommy Robinson, Social Media and the Pursuit of Justice

Last Friday, Tommy Robinson, the far-right extremist, was convicted of contempt of court. The anti-Islam activist has already been to jail three times. He faces up to two years in prison and the sentencing will take place tomorrow.

Judges ruled that Robinson interfered with the course of justice after broadcasting himself over Facebook Live “aggressively confronting and filming” defendants outside a child grooming court case in May 2018. Two senior judges ruled that this breached laws surrounding the recording of criminal proceedings, that are in place to ensure fair trials. Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Warby reached their decision after a two day hearing at the Old Bailey.

Tommy Robinson outside court (Source: The Independent)

Dame Victoria Sharp stated that the video “gave rise to a substantial risk that the course of justice in that case would be seriously impeded”, continuing “In our judgement, the respondent’s conduct in each of those respects amounted to a serious interference with the administration of justice.”

Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was imprisoned for 13 months last year after being found guilty of contempt of court on the day of the broadcast. He served two months in jail before the charge of contempt was overturned by the Court of Appeal in August of last year. The case was reopened in March 2019 after the Attorney General decided it was within public interest to bring new proceedings against Robinson.

Robinson, whose damaging Islamophobic views have gained him legions of followers, does “not believe he was breaching reporting restrictions when he broadcast footage on social media of defendants in a criminal trial while jurors were considering their verdict.” In a move typical of the English Defence League Founder, he is defending his actions as simply raising awareness of the issues surrounding child exploitation. Robinson believes the seriousness of the issue means that it should be made public. However, we are yet to see Robinson hanging around the trials of white defendants of similar crimes with the same publicising vigour, highlighting Robinson’s determination to demonise Islam. While the defendants were accused of abhorrent crimes, surely the illegally broadcasting of trials in this way should face punishment.

Protesters at a “Free Tommy” Demonstration last year (Source: Hope not Hate)

Social Media and Justice

Due to the rapid way in which social media use has increased over recent years, the law surrounding it is still being established. For example, France have just passed a law this week against hate speech online. Robinson used Facebook Live to broadcast his illicit behaviour outside the court in 2018, which was only available for mainstream use in March 2016. Although only Robinson’s followers would have been alerted to the stream on Facebook, it managed to reach over 250,000 viewers.

In a strange twist of events, Robinson is now calling on Donald Trump to welcome him to the US as an asylum seeker. Robinson broadcast the video on InfoWars – the website run by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones which receives approximately 10 million monthly views.  In the video, Robinson states that in England all that waits for him “death at the hands of an establishment who will feed me to Islamic gangs of Jihadis within the prison system.” He goes on to say that “the British state’s appeasement to Islam, the unrestricted waves of migrants into this country, means that they are deliberately persecuting and illegally imprisoning anyone who speaks out against their globalist agenda”. In appealing to Donald Trump for political asylum, Robinson seems to forget Trump’s clearly stated attitude towards immigrants as unwelcome. Furthermore, Robinson fails to recount when he entered the US illegally in 2013.

A cartoon in defence of Robinson (Source: YouTube)

Trump favours political debate through social channels, recently criticising Theresa May’s handling of Brexit over Twitter. Perhaps, therefore, he will be impressed by Robinson’s appeal. For now, the fate of Tommy Robinson will be decided at tomorrow’s trial.

Let’s Talk About: BME Attitudes to Mental Health

Joshua Best
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Let’s Talk About: BME Attitudes to Mental Health

Looking back at my experience with being diagnosed with psychosis at the age of seventeen, in the middle of a A-Level crisis and the effects on my family particularly my mother from a Caribbean household was something that changed my perspective around mental health. From being hospitalised for 6 months in a adolescent’s unit, being forced to resist my A-Levels, to only just finishing my 1st year. Three years later having learnt and grown from that experience from a mental, physical and spiritual aspect; has motivated me to share my story to help and inspire others. I believe this chapter in my life has given me the freedom to discuss this complex and socially sensitive topic.

Let’s Talk About Mental Health

I want to focus on the stigmas around mental health within the BME communities and raise awareness to give people like me the confidence to talk about something important. Often, this subject has felt taboo or prohibited and is never talked about within our households and/or personal circles. Going through what I did, with my own mental health has now become part of my testimony and given me the confidence to encourage others going through a similar stage in their life.

What is Mental Health

Hearing these two words often causes panic. for years now, this phrase has been attached to negative connotations. The World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of mental health, simply refers to it as ‘a state of well-being’.

That means we all have mental health, but the question to be raised is the state of one’s well-being. We can associate well-being to certain aspects pf ourselves, such as the physical, mental and spiritual parts of our beings. Of course the relationship to each of these will differ from person to person. For mental health to then be “good” or “poor” correlates to Marie Jahoda classification of Ideal Mental Health and likewise is included in WHO’s definition also. But is this not a high standard to live up to because we fail to do most of these at times. And we wouldn’t expect anyone to be demotivated or disheartened by not living up to this classification.

Marie Jahoda

Ultimately the point remains that everyone has “mental health”, and the negative stigma unfortunately stems from societies norms and values and more specifically the media and popular culture.

Mental Health Amongst the Black Community

We’ve all at some point heard the term “mental health” and coming from an Afro-Caribbean background, this term came with a lot of stigma and often had negative connotations to it. More times than not, ‘mental health’ was associated with crazy, mad or disturbed.

Within the black community, hearing that an individual has been sectioned for psychosis or is taking anti-depressants, can often bring about feelings of shame, contempt or embarrassment. This shouldn’t be the response in supporting and helping that individual, but unfortunately today it is still often the most displayed response from the Afro-Caribbean community.

I spoke to Ama Blackson, a fellow undergraduate at Manchester University about her views on mental health. She emphasised the lack of seriousness amongst the black community regarding mental health and that responses from parents centred around the statements such as: “you should be praying more”, or “don’t you go to church?”, feeding the narrative that truly religious people don’t have issues with their mental health. These responses show the lack of empathy or understanding with an issue such as this. My own mother’s response was very similar prior to my psychotic episode, and now she uses me as a case study to encourage parents, to seek help from services such as CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

It’s amazing to see that even with the stigmas surrounding mental health in the black community, stats tend to show that “among the 5 broad ethnic groups, people in the Black ethnic group were the most likely to have been detained under the Mental Health Act in 2017/18 (commonly known as being ‘sectioned’), and people in the White ethnic group were the least likely to have been detained”, other stats show that black Caribbean people have the highest rate of detention of all ethnic groups for which ethnicity was recorded. While the high rate of detention and sectioning of black people by services could be a symptom of a broader institutional issues of over policing of black bodies, these stats could also highlight that within the black community mental health is a pressing issue and stigmas towards it, does not help the situation.

It’s also evident that mental health is something which black men struggle to talk about and open up to others about. It is easy to empathise. prior to my own psychotic episode, it was difficult for me to talk to friends about the ongoing situation for fear of being embarrassed or humiliated.

Others may also be going through a battle with their mindset or well-being but talking to others can help. Putting on a facade to hide your struggles and feelings in an effort to show your strength or toughness to those around you, in the end only prevents you from moving forward. The quote “a problem shared is a problem halved” applies, regardless if you’re the only male figure in the household who seems to be carrying the weight of a household on your shoulders, talking to someone about sharing the burden or just your thoughts can go a long way.

Stormzy is an example for black males to emulate, regardless of his image and statues in society is still humble enough to talk about his depression knowing full well it’ll be on social media moments later.

Other artists such as Ramz (also known as Ramone Rochester) recently shared his experience of battling through a difficult moment in his life with depression and suicidal thoughts. He was thankful for having family and friends to share his thoughts with.

We want the future to be filled with boldness, confidence and shamelessness and in order to do this my brothers everywhere need to speak about their worries, fears and tribulations; because it doesn’t make anyone less of a man to talk about their mental health.  

Mental Health Support

The presence of many mental health support services throughout the UK, such as CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), EQUIP (Early Intervention) and Mind have further increased awareness of mental health wellbeing. Activities of celebrities and high profile individuals in further promoting awareness for mental health services have also encouraged people to seek help. While YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram or any other social media can be detrimental to our self-worth, it is a useful tool for providing support and encouragement for others.

Links to any support and advice linked below:

https://www.mind.org.uk/

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the…/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs/

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/mental-health-services

The UK’s First Rap Degree

Shaun Flores
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The UK’s First Rap Degree

In the hope of finding the next Stormzy, The Academy of Contemporary Music will host a rap degree.

The Academy of Contemporary Music at its campuses at the University of Birmingham, Guildford and Middlesex University, will allow students to gain a degree in rap.

Image result for shao dow
Rapper ShaoDow

The rap course will be run ShaoDow a by professional, award-winning rapper

Kaine Clements, chief executive of ACM, said: “I could not be more proud of the team at ACM who have put together this incredible programme for lyricists, rappers, MCs and those of you who want to make beats.

“You know that you can really only get to where you want to be by collaborating. I cannot wait to see what happens next.” 

The course will run for two years, or three with a foundation course for students who do not possess A-Levels. The degree will cost up to £11,000 per year.

This is £2,000 more than the £9,250 for many undergraduate degrees.

The government has said it will fund parts of the degree in certain circumstances. The degree has already become popular as there are “limited spaces” left.

Stormzy is the new Black British Icon

Last year Stormzy created a scholarship to encourage the admission of more black students to the top universities in the UK.

This has come after no black students got into some Cambridge University colleges between 2012 and 2016.

The Stormzy Scholarship will allow two successful Cambridge applicants every year to have their fees paid for by the scholarship.

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but Stormzy proves he can strike twice directly and indirectly.

Image result for stormzy cambridge university
Stormzy launching the Cambridge scholarship

The rap degree and the Stormzy scholarship are stone throws in a racial pond littered with good intentions. The scholarship was branded racist by many.

In an article written by Mike Omoniyi  “Is the Stormzy Scholarship Racist?”, it was deconstructed as to its supposed racism.

Is The Stormzy Scholarship Racist?

Stormzy makes history for a moment at Glastonbury

One is a fluke, twice is luck and three times is a charm. Stormzy is becoming a charm and making history once again. This time at Glastonbury.

https://twitter.com/stormzy/status/1144545171956207616

Stormzy has almost cemented himself a role model, an icon and a memoir in Black British music culture for many young black artists after being titled as “The first solo black artist at Glastonbury.”

Stormzy has climbed the ladder to achieve such a coveted event. He has been dubbed as an inspiration by many, however, he was not the first black solo artist at Glastonbury.

The first black artist at Glastonbury was a black woman called “Skin” from the Skunk Anansie band.

https://twitter.com/stormzy/status/1145700622383091714
Image result for skunk anansie
Skunk Anansie and her band

Positive or Negative?

What started out a political tool of dissent, Rap is now being dragged into the space of government, where undoubtedly it will be restricted under the eyes of the government. From talks of banning drill, the table has dramatically turned.

Furthermore, rap has for a long time been viewed as a negative art form, whilst other music forms have been seen as acceptable. With a rap degree, will this make rap a more palatable art form?

Can rap be controlled and no longer allowed to exonerate death, sexism, and materialism, but that is what sells.

Back in 2018 Eric Benet spoke of this as he believed many rap artists are “black face for white supremacy and are being used to helped destroy your own people.”

Image result for rap is a tool to kill black people

Rap has characteristically become an art form now commercialised and profited by a new emerging middle-class consumption in the UK While the hip-hop music industry is predominately Black, studies consistently show that over 70% of its consumers are White shown in a 2005 paper by Janise Marie Blackshear (2005) “Understanding the white, mainstream appeal of hip-hop music is it a fad or is it the real thing?”

If rap music was not consumed by such a largely white middle-class base would this ever have become a degree?

Universities have slowly adopted a business model and much like the virtue signalling, companies have jumped on any and every social justice issue. The government are now adding to this through the guise of the university.

On the 19th June, the drill advocates came out to stop the shutting down of drill music where artists such as Krept and Konan spoke at parliament.

Image result for ban drill krept and konan
Krept and Konan at parliament far right Labour PARTY member Dianne Abbott

Black culture is an adored culture all over the world, with a strange pull factor, a lot of people are in love with the culture, but not the people. But they do not want the experience of being black in society as it comes with dire consequences.

Consequences ranging from being up to seven times more likely to be stopped by the police, more likely to be raised in single-parent households, less likely to be employed after graduation although there are more black people going to university.

Will this rap degree makes the students a more desired commodity in the ever closing job market? I doubt it. Will they omit the use of the N-word as well in attempts to censor racialised music?

The rap degree may take away from the stigma perhaps rap is associated with but will change the demographic that it primarily attracts. Perhaps instead of a new Stormzy, it could be a new Eminem.

Glastonbury 2019: A Year of Historic Beginnings

Anya Ryan
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Glastonbury 2019: A Year of Historic Beginnings

Glastonbury is the land of promise. With its vast 900 acre site, population of around 200,000, and endless hidden treasures, once you’ve overcome the queues and are finally through the gates, anything feels possible. We’ve all heard the stories, from the history of its £1 ticketed beginnings, to the legendary David Bowie headliner slot in 2000, or the tales from those who survived the unrelenting rain in 1997; there is something sacred about the festival that ensnares the masses and brings them back year on year whatever the line up, rain or shine.

For 2019, the year before the festival’s 50th celebrations, the site was graced with the latter. Baking sunshine- the hottest on record, towered over the mini-state for the weekend’s entirety. Any place else shade would have been a necessity, but not at Glastonbury. Revellers powered through, turning out in their thousands to support Kylie Minogue’s Sunday legend slot as she cried out “I’ve never seen so many people in my life”. Its a special place, one that should be made the most of, and the crowd know it.

So much more than a festival, Glastonbury is a cultural and political landmark. A place where a 25-year old black grime artist can front the Pyramid wearing a Banksy designed grey-scale Union Jack stab proof vest and urge his supporters to cry out “Fuck Boris” on mass. Stormzy’s set was iconic, and not just because of his status as the first black British male headlining artist, with dynamic personality and charisma he bulldozed the stage with a lesson on what it means to be black in Britain. As ten-year old Princess K stood out in her orange tracksuit, dancing for her life among a sea of boys in black tracksuits and bikes, the Pyramid was given a tiny insight into the everyday of a London council estate.

Alex Mann onstage with Dave
Source: lTIMMSY / BACKGRID

Yet, while the roars from the crowd were evident, Princess K’s brilliance has since been overshadowed by Alex Mann, a 15-year old who was picked from the crowd during Dave’s Other Stage set to perform with him in the song ‘Thiago Silva’. “He’s wearing a Thiago Silva shirt, let’s take a chance on him” Dave announced, and Alex followed with an impressive display. Heaped with praise from Piers Morgan in the aftermath, as well as a clothing deal with boohooMAN, the teenager has become a viral sensation. This is unsettling, not just when compared with the lukewarm response Princess K’s performance received, but also in the wider societal context. The praise from Morgan in particular, who has made a habit out of criticising black British culture, is hypocrisy on a monumental scale.

It’s a sad representation of 21st century British discourse when a talented but amateur white male can gain 10 times the amount of traction than a black girl performing her profession at the top of her game, but its not unexpected – even at Glastonbury. In its most musically diverse year to date, the festival’s crowd was still overwhelmingly white and inclusion had not spread to the likes of the Left Field speakers or stall venders of the festival. Steps are being taken, with Emily Eavis’ diversity pledge to follow a 50:50 gender ratio, but the fact remains that 8 in 10 headliners since 2007 have been male and you can still count the number of non-white headliners on one hand.

Source: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Glastonbury is a British musical institution and its only right that it should reflect all in society that sing its praises. It’s the people’s festival, and if you’ve been you’ll understand its power to unite, as Stormzy announced to the crowd in his set, ”Glasto, it’s only the f****** beginning”. If any place can embrace diversity in all its forms Glastonbury can, and Stormzy has paved the way for history to continue.

Are There Too Many Sports Tournaments this Summer?

Jireh Antwi
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Are There Too Many Sports Tournaments this Summer?

Does it feel like a struggle dividing your attention between the Women’s World Cup, the Cricket World Cup, African Cup of Nations and not to mention Wimbledon which started this week? As much as we enjoy the entertainment, is it starting to feel a bit much?

A Women’s World Cup to Remember

With the Women’s World cup already reaching its latter stages of the tournament with plenty of goals, goalkeeping mishaps and VAR controversy, 36 teams are now down to 2 – USA and Netherlands!

A year later and England face the same semi-final heartbreak, this time at the hands of our long time allies and annoying cousins, USA, losing 2-1 with a game that left the England Lioness’ heartbroken. They put everything out on the field, dominating possession and recording more shots on target than USA before going 1-0 down. They pulled 1 back before half time through a clinical Ellen White finish, but it proved not enough.

The Lionesses emotional after their 2-1 loss in France. Source: Shields Gazette

It was Alex Morgan, America’s superstar that sealed the deal for the best team in Women’s football in the end with a tea sipping celebration that caught some controversy.

There was already a bit of controversy surrounding the game England vs USA game, with what seemed like a member of the USA camp being in the vicinity of the England hotel whilst they were training. Former Manchester United and Everton player now coach of the Three Lionesses stated that it wasn’t proper ‘etiquette’ but it will have no bearing on the game. Indeed it didn’t.

The Netherlands managed to beat Sweden in extra time with a 99th minute goal from Jackie Groenen with a nice placed shot into the side netting past the Swedish goalkeeper to put the Leeuwinnen in a World Cup Final. The Leeuwinnen by every metric seemed the better team but just couldn’t finish in the 90 minutes but in the end it didn’t matter, now they face an uphill task of beating the USA on Sundays final.

We’ve seen some amazing matches so far with Italy beating Women’s World Cup debutantes, Jamaica, 5-0 and the USA scoring a whopping 13 goals against Thailand in the group stages – a World Cup record.

Individual records are being broken by players all over of the tournament. Likewise, viewing figures have soared comparatively to the last Women’s World Cup, with over 10 million watching France’s opening match.

Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe celebrating. Source: Forbes

A tournament of new records

Brazilian’s Marta Viera Da Silva now holds the record for the most goals scored in any World Cup, with 17 goals in 19 matches beating the old holder Miroslav Klose of Germany. Sam Kerr, who’s lighting up the footballing world, became the first Australian soccer superstar in respects to money and leads the US National Women’s Soccer league in all time goal scoring making her first debut at just 15 years old. Alex Morgan of the Women’s USA team has developed into one of the best forwards in the world having a 101 goals in a 163 appearances for her country and to be a stand out player in a team for a spectacular players speaks for itself.

African Cup of Nations

The 32nd African Cup of Nations held in Egypt has also began this summer. The group stages see new teams to look out for in Madagascar who are ranked 103rd in the world, but wasted no time showing their stock in the tournament, beating Nigeria 2-0.

Record Seven time AFCON winners Egypt, Algeria and Morocco are the only teams with a flawless record so far, winning all 3 of their group games. Recent Champions League winner with Liverpool Mohammed Salah and Egyptian player is amongst the 8 players in the competition joint for top goal scorer with 2 goals to his name, but as his team progresses there will definitely be more to add to his tally especially with someone of his calibre.


Nigeria and Egypt are tied favourites to win the whole competition due to the talent of players both countries possess, having more professionals at the top level compared to the rest of the competition.

Cricket World Cup and Murray’s Return to SW19

After beating India last week, and holding on to see off New Zealand yesterday, England are really coming into themselves in this Cricket World Cup as they wait to find out if they’ll make it to the semi-finals beginning on 9th July 2019.

Meanwhile over at SW19, Andy Murray and Serena Williams have just announced that they’ll be teaming up in the Mixed Doubles. With such exciting news though, how can we satisfactorily balance between enjoying this new duo, seeing if England can come out on top in the cricket and watching one of the most thrilling Women’s World Cup’s for a long time?

Serena Williams and Andy Murray will team up at this summer’s Wimbledon. Source: Sky News

It certainly feels like tournaments galore this summer, and anyone that enjoys multiple sports will be hard pressed to tune into them all. Is it bad planning on the part of sports governing bodies or have we just been blessed with the unbearable burden of too many good options?

It is for certain that a lot of highlight videos will have to be watched to possibly keep up with every sport of interest.

Regardless, this will be a summer to remember for a lot of reasons and as each of these tournaments progress, we eagerly await to see who will emerge victorious!

Stay up to date for more sports related updates on TCS

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