Success Beyond The Score

A few weeks ago, there was a xenophobic incident in the area where I live. A hotel that hosts asylum seekers was surrounded by an aggressive crowd that hurled abuse and shouted at them to go back to their places of origin. Leaving one’s home and life behind due to the threat of violence is traumatic enough. The asylum seekers should be helped, not attacked! I reached out to the city council and my MP to tell them about the incident, and got their opinion. However, to effect real change, we need many, many voices.

The Ella Baker School of Organising knows the importance of community. For this reason, they are taking steps to connect with people all across the UK and give them tools to —as their name suggests— organise and react quickly to the constantly evolving political situation. They aim to help everybody develop leadership and critical thinking skills, make them know their rights and how to interact with authority based on them, and ultimately, change our perception of society.

T...

The recent death of Dr. Jason Arday, the youngest black person to ever become a Cambridge professor has, yet again, highlighted the issues others have towards people of colour.

In case you have not heard, this is what happened: a few weeks ago, the media reported that Dr. Arday had allegedly plagiarised some of his writings and made false claims about his life. This should have been looked into by his employer, the University of Cambridge, and his publishers. In a situation like this, the press ought to report the story to the extent that it is of reasonable public interest. However, what they did was create a huge scandal, amplifying racist and prejudiced voices both within and outside academia, which relentlessly hounded Dr. Arday, even when the matter no longer concerned the general public.

Shortly after the University of Cambridge announced an investigation into his appointment, Dr. Arday resigned. The attacks did not stop, despite the warning by multiple experts about the higher...