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5 Best Series

5 Best Series: Understanding Other Cultures

As a child, I never really noticed the lack of cultural diversity in the shows or films I watched. Since I was growing up in a fairly diverse city, race wasn’t something I was very conscious of – until I started to get older. That’s the thing about systemic racism; you don’t necessarily notice it until you actively start analyzing and questioning the societal “norms” we were taught. People may not have been calling me names or making fun of my culture in obvious ways, but racist ideologies and cultural ignorance were (and are) embedded into institutions and every day…

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Movies

“The Greatest Showman” Unveiled

The Real History Behind P. T. Barnum and The Circus The Greatest Showman has quickly become a favourite amongst new releases in the last six months and I am in no way and exception to that. I absolutely adored the movie! How could you not? Everything from the characters, the music, the society defying love story were utterly lovable. However, despite all the feel-good feelings I got out watching it and listening to “This is Me” on repeat, I could not shake the discomfort I felt at the blatant re-writing of history going on in this movie. For any of…

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TV Shows

Why Sense8 deserved a Season 3

Netflix’s Sense8, a show that started in 2015, has taken its viewers on a wild and emotional ride. After season 2’s cliffhanger ending, we were aching for more, only to find out that Netflix cancelled the show due to the high production cost and not enough viewership to maintain the budget. Though it was a fairly straightforward reason to do so, Sense8’s audience was enraged that one of the most refreshingly inclusive, diverse, and thought-provoking shows was cancelled. Many petitioned for a renewal, though the odds seemed dire. However, in true spirit of the hopefulness in humanity that Sense8 inspired,…

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Books

Unpacking Race in “Americanah”

“I only became black when I came to America” says Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s protagonist, Ifemelu, of her latest novel Americanah (2014). This line stuck with me long after putting down this incredible book, which brought to light some of the complexities of race. Adiche has made multiple headlines in recent years with her unapologetic approach to race and gender issues, namely ignorance surrounding those issues. Most recently was her clapback to a French interviewer asking if libraries existed in Nigeria. So, it is inevitable that this same unapologetic attitude would appear in her writing, particularly so in Americanah. As a…

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Reflections

Visibility in Marvel’s Black Panther

“Can you believe that? A kid from Oakland running around believing in fairytales.” Erik Stevens, Black Panther, 2018 Marvel’s latest movie adapts the comic book character, which first emerged in 1966 and was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), to present the feature film, Black Panther. The film is majorly set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, the home of super-metal vibranium which has allowed extensive technological advancements and prosperity to be achieved in the country. However, Wakanda is hidden “in plain sight” from the rest of the world, believed to be a poor third world country,…

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Reflections

Black History Month Reading List

Black History Month is upon us once again! For those who are unaware, Black History Month is an annual celebration of the achievements of African Americans and a recognition of the central role of Black people in the history of the United States. This tradition spread to Canada shortly after its conception in the US in 1926, though at that time it was merely a week-long event, expanding to a month in 1976. Unfortunately, this month it is not met with enough attention as it should be. As argued each year, Black History should not be a topic left to…

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