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The month of February is very much a month of celebration; the UK celebrates it as LGBTQ+ month, the Americans celebrate it as Black History Month and within all that the whole world celebrates it as the month of love. What this year’s February is not celebrating is the impeachment of Donald Trump; it is hard to feel the love in the air when he has successfully avoided the consequences of his actions.  What we can celebrate is the fact that he was held accountable for his actions, that his pedestal is not as high anymore within the Republican party and mainly that he is no longer the President of the United States; so maybe there is still a reason to celebrate this month. Aside from Donald Trump other events need to be acknowledged and celebrated. In the UK it is officially LGBTQ+...

“This is not America, they’re shooting at us. They’re supposed to shoot BLM, but they’re shooting the patriots." On January 6, 2021, the United States Congress was evacuated for the first time since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and it was the first time the Capitol has been breached by American citizens. After marching throughout DC in the morning, and listening to Trump's incendiary speech to the mask-less thousands, the angry pack of men and women converged towards the Capitol, a supposed beacon of democracy around the world. The crowds were a mix of MAGA enthusiasts who were dressed head to toe in stars and stripes, or Trump paraphernalia; and those who were more obviously there for the fight, wearing helmets, flak jackets, military gear; holding makeshift shie...

January 6th 2021 will go down in history, not only because it was the first week of a new year after a disastrous 2020, not only because it was one of the deadliest days in American history as white supremacists, those white ‘terrorists’ stormed the Capitol building further demonstrating their white privilege to the whole world. But what has now been overlooked is the success the Democrats had in the special run-off elections in Georgia. The run-off elections in Georgia were due to the fact that there was not enough of a majority in the General Election back in November with neither candidate gaining over 50% of the vote and therefore not clearing the state mandate to be able to claim victory. In this case it was the two Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock; for the Republican...

Let’s face it, 2020 was a write-off of a year. A global pandemic combined with historic societal tremors has left our world in a state of disrepair, so it’s no wonder that people were so keen to see the back of it.  Admittedly, both of those problems still exist. Unfortunately, when the clock struck midnight and the new year arrived, there was no magic switch to get rid of all our woes. But nevertheless, the new year gives us collective hope. It’s a milestone which points us in the right direction. Yes, the pandemic is still here, and yes there is still much work to do to remedy the systemic inequalities that exist in human society, but 2021 is a sign of progression.  Although Covid-19 is still rife in the United Kingdom, we can take solace from the advancements of vaccine...

2020 was a challenging year for us all. During the lockdown, we spent countless hours with our loved ones. However, for some, they experienced not only domestic violence but also emotional and mental abuse.  Being locked up with family members for an extended period is hard to deal with. However, for some, it was a lot harder. During the lockdown, many lost their job, which caused stress and pressure. As well as this, many were irritated as the lockdown meant that you were not allowed to go out. All of the frustration created from the lockdown triggered an outburst on loved ones. Even though some might not have meant to, it caused a strain in their relationship and the victim’s well-being.  The police recorded 206,492 violence against the person offences flagged as domesti...

During 2020 it became easier to focus on the negatives and to become lost among global pandemic news consuming media, government and public attention.  It was also the year that saw ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) protests gain international media traction, another increase in reporting on the continued repression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjang China, and a refocus on the achievability of the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). These are few of many important human rights discussions taking place across the global stage, and some of which caused a subsequent surge in the use of social media for activism.  What this transcended into was an increased attention on human rights campaigns and organisations facilitating them, including Amnesty International and the Unite...

Charis Owen One of the greatest Christmas traditions at this time of year should be the Netflix films that come out, from the middle of November onwards there is a wide variety of trashy romantic comedies to be watched. This year a new one came out; Operation Christmas Drop. And it is not like the others, it is still a romantic comedy and it still can be cheesy and over the top but what makes this one different is the story that it is based around. Operation Christmas Drop is a real operation performed by the US Air Force from 1952 onwards and watching this film can teach the importance of giving back and never taking advantage of how lucky we are. Every year the Air Force flies over the islands in Micronesia and drops items that are needed such as fishing nets, rice, clothing and s...

Courtney Bridges ‘Fast Fashion’ is a term used to describe a new accelerated fashion business model that has evolved since the 1980s. It involves increased numbers of new fashion collections every year, quick turnarounds and often lower prices. Reacting rapidly to offer new products to meet consumer demand is crucial to this business model.‘Fixing Fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability’, House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee ‘Thegoodtrade’ also effectively summarises this market to be one which ‘utilises trend replication, rapid production, and low-quality materials in order to bring inexpensive styles to the public’.  Fast Fashion has evolved due to traditional ‘seasonal’ production models of larger brands, or catwalk producers, to adopt bi-weekly merchan...

James Bowers When Boris Johnson unveiled his ten-point plan to lead a ‘green industrial revolution’ for Great Britain, one of the most headline-grabbing statements from the announcement was that the sale of new petrol and diesel-engined cars and vans would be prohibited by the year 2030. The UK Prime Minister revealed that this deadline was part of a £2.8 billion investment into the further development of electric vehicle technology, with much work still needing to be done to make the EV infrastructure viable for mass use.  Importantly, Johnson has promised to ‘lace the land’ with charging points for electric vehicles, something which will be much-needed if electric propulsion is to rival the ease and accessibility of fossil fuel motoring.  After all, the widespread ...