Ilhan Omar

8th October 2020

Elected as a representative for Minnesota in Congress in 2017, Ilhan Omar has grown to be an eminent politician and given so many minorities a voice in the United States Congress. She has earned the title of the first Somali-American, the first naturalised citizen of African birth, and the first woman of colour to represent Minnesota. In a country still struggling to foster political equality, her election and policies have been a center of controversy, and she has to constantly defend herself and her story from prejudiced hate and discrimination. She is one of the few politicians that is inseparable from her story. Omar commented that hate for her is “anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-Black, sexist”. The intersectional oppression she has had to endure is no easy task.

Ilhan Omar

Quarantine: A Summary

1st October 2020

Unless you’ve comfortably been glamping under a rock (you little geologist), a lot has happened in the space of the past few months. But, since I had English recently, I suggest we zoom in and dissect a smaller part, to really unpick the “techniques” we experimented with as quarantine progressed.

Behold the Tour of Lockdown: an insider’s edition.

Quarantine: A Summary

Edward Yang’s masterpiece: Yi Yi

1st October 2020

Edward Yang’s 2000 film for which he won Best Director at Cannes is witty and deeply heartfelt – the menial problems of everyday life are brought before the camera with overwhelming love and care. Over this quarantine, I decided I would watch as many films as I could (which ended up being well over a hundred) and in the process discovered this film. The almost-three-hour drama deals with the life of an ordinary Taiwanese family at the turn of the millennium. Yang brilliantly demonstrates different stages of life, and while his style might feel quite reserved, there is nothing reserved about his commentary on the half-truths of life. Warning: spoilers ahead.

Edward Yang’s masterpiece: Yi Yi

In defence of differentiation

1st October 2020

I adore maths. I love the intricacies, how each concept builds you up to one more complicated, and just the pure satisfaction when you get a whole number solution to an eight-mark question. But alas, much to my sorrow, not everyone feels the same way.

In defence of differentiation