You Don’t Need to Go Vegan to Save the World
A month has already passed since the U.N. announced that we have 12 years left to prevent climate change catastrophes around the world. If we don’t start acting now, countries will be under water, and heat and poverty as well as everything that comes with these will be prevalent in our lifetime. As many of you might have heard by now, everyone going vegan could make a massive impact in reducing greenhouse gases and saving
Shonda Rhimes, Dove & The Girl Collective: Supporting the Next Generation of Empowered Girls
Last month, TV giant Shonda Rhimes (best known for producing Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal), teamed with the Dove Self Esteem fund, to launch a new campaign: the Girl Collective. Focused on body positivity and confidence, the initiative aims to address the drastic numbers about negative self image, that are the reality for many young women. 8 in 10 girls refrain from participating in important activities because of low self-esteem. Statistics like this should simply not have
The Rohingya Genocide: Amnesty International Removes Top Honor from Aung San Suu Kyi
Amnesty International has recently removed its highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscious award, from Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi due to her neglect of the Rohingya and other minorities in Kachin and northern Shan states. In a letter formally addressed to her by the organization, the group states that she is no longer “a symbol of hope, courage and the undying defense of human rights.” Aung San Suu Kyi once stood as a symbol of
How I Improved My SAT Score
Taking tests was always a struggle for me. I did well in school, but I always found myself running out of time when it came to testing. This was a big concern for me as I started to prepare for the SAT. I decided that I wasn’t going to study for the test and just see how I would perform. When I got my first score back, I was disappointed. It was a decent
Matthew Shepard’s Death Still Matters
He was found on October 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming by a bicyclist. He was tied to a buck-rail fence and the cyclist mistook him as a scarecrow. Matthew was kidnapped, robbed, beaten and left to die. He was found 18 hours after the attack and was in the hospital, comatose. Two men were found and convicted of the crime, a crime committed because he was gay. Matthew’s parents instantly became involved in the gay community,
Why World Leaders Are Planning To #DitchTheDollar
The U.S. dollar is the world’s greatest reserve currency, with around 63% of global reserves held in it. It also enjoys a special position as the fiat currency – or a currency widely relied upon by businesspeople worldwide – and as the primary currency in which international bilateral trading is done, even when the U.S. is not a party in the said deal. All this has given the U.S. dollar, and hence the country it
Dear Teachers, Stop Trying to Make Me An Extrovert
Throughout my elementary and middle school years, the scrutiny on my shyness hung over my head like a storm anvil. My report cards were flawless but for that one comment that told me to ‘speak up,’ and my parents heard the same suggestion at every conference that it became a mantra we’d laugh about at the dinner table. In my mind, they were whispers that trailed behind me like accusing shadows. I’d always hoped that
Agricultural Child Labor Is Legal In The U.S. & Countless Children Are Suffering Because Of It
Every year, thousands of children and teenagers gather along rows of tobacco to pick the leaves for cigarette companies. In front of them are long and physically heavy workdays in extreme heat, with neither adequate breaks or proper shade. Together, they are part of a larger group of agricultural child workers who remain invisible and unprotected by the state. Since child labor still isn’t something of the past in the U.S., these children have to
Here Is Victoria’s Secret
The famous Victoria Secret Fashion Show last Thursday exhibited a multitude of models and lingerie, but what really stole the show was a published interview Vogue submitted on the same day. Chief marketing officer of L. Brands Ed Razek and executive vice president of public relations at Victoria Secret Monica Mitro discussed diversity. Mitro discussed the diversity at first of Victoria’s Secret, with models using their natural hair and being encouraged to speak for themselves. Razek
Democratic Maryland Re-Elects Republican Governor
On Tuesday, as a part of the momentous 2018 midterm election, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan was re-elected for a second term in office. Hogan is a fairly popular figure, and there is always the added factor of incumbent advantage, so why is this so unusual? Larry Hogan is a Republican. Maryland is a deeply democratic state; in 2016 votes for Hillary Clinton outnumbered votes for Donald Trump by about 26.4 percent and in 2012 former
The Politics of High School Halloweens
If your high school is anything like mine, Halloween is a really big deal. Preparation starts the first day of the month and doesn’t stop until the morning of when we shrug on our costumes and go off to school. For most people, the hardest part (besides picking the costume, of course) is figuring out who you’re going with. For me, this part was probably one of the easiest parts. I’ve had the same three best
How Racial Targeting Prevents Black People From Living Their Lives
It’s been an interesting year for African Americans who are simply trying mind to their business. Instead of coming out into the world to live their lives, they’re being subtly pushed away by their white counterparts. Not only is this an infuriating act of discrimination; this is a major waste of time for emergency response teams to deal with. At this point, it’s unsafe for black people to merely take part in their own society.
The Damage a White-Centric Education Has on Young People of Color
With it being Black History Month in the UK, it’s that time of year when schools pretend to care about black history for a week before returning to their ethnocentric education. It’s that ironic month where pupils sit in school assemblies where they watch videos about how a lack of representation in school subjects can affect pupils of color before going to their history lessons where they’ll learn about the Tudor period for the fifth time in their
A Note To Trump: Trans People #WontBeErased
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 I GLBT National Help Center: 1-888-843-4564 In their latest attempt not to discriminate against women under Title IX, the Trump administration has decided to institute a legal and fixed definition of gender, which in turn discriminates against transgender people. (Nailed it.) For those who don’t know what Title IX is, it’s a law under the Education Amendments Act of 1972 that basically says no federally-funded institution can deny someone from participating in
Suicide Is An Epidemic– And It’s Becoming #Relatable
“I want to die.” “I’m so done, I just want to die.” “I swear I’m going to kill myself.” “This makes me suicidal.” To many counselors, therapists, parents, or anyone not clued into to the cynical dialogue of teens and young adults, these statements raise huge red flags. They carry the shocking weight of someone brazenly stating something so tragic and upsetting. However for many, this is simply a sarcastic expression, a way to blow
Why The ‘V Word’ is So Important
In America, the Constitution’s amendments grant power to the citizens. With the 15th Amendment, black men were able to vote. With the 19th Amendment, women were able to vote. Voting was something that everyone wanted to do, could be involved in. A right that all citizens in the United States had and can use to mold the government in the way that they wish. Of course, just because of the amendments, that didn’t mean these
Ben & Jerry’s Releases Anti-Trump Flavored Ice Cream
It seems that the current climate has pushed companies to appeal to the masses like never before by taking political stands. Big industries such as Microsoft have even become political by stating they will protect their undocumented & DREAMer employees. More and more companies are taking risks to appeal to the liberal market, including Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. B&J’s has been teasing their new flavors for hours until they went live at 10 AM on Oct. 30th.
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To Parents of Depressed Children
Having a child who is suffering from a mental illness can be worrying, tiring, and stressful — especially if they’re a teenager since their feelings are already all over the place. Most of the time, your child won’t tell...
