Mocked for my dark skin, I long loathed myself and yearned for a lighter complexion. But now I fight colourism and defend diversity. “Leaning away from un-African beauty standards,” by Alana Muchemi, August 2020. The author is in the yellow shirt....
Adolescence is a time of self-discovery, and Clarice Gillian Achola of the African Leadership Academy finds that the discrimination she has faced since her days on the playground plagues large numbers of girls and women with dark skin. With detail and sensitivity, the author gives shape to the abstract notion of colourism, then moves from the first to the third person pronoun as she extends her personal battle to a broader campaign to save others from bigotry.
New York City is fighting COVID-19 and setting an example for revamping America’s criminal justice system by releasing some inmates to hotels. Protesters calling for the early release of inmates from New York jails, New York, 23 April 2020 (EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE)...
New York City was hit hard by COVID-19, which exposed health and social inequities. But Dr. Graham Barr says there are useful lessons for the future. News Decoder · What COVID-19 tells us about the U.S. healthcare system This is the third of five articles by students...
Individual acts to shrink our carbon footprint are fine. But to prevent a climate disaster on Earth, governments must pass laws to cut carbon emissions. News Decoder · The Great Acceleration The numbers are shocking. In just seven decades, our population has more than...
In this podcast, three students from the European School of Brussels II argue that individual acts to shrink our carbon footprint are fine, but governments must pass laws to cut carbon emissions to prevent a climate catastrophe. Gustav Paulander, Henrik Skaringer and Thomas Winship examine “The Great Acceleration” – the dramatic surge in growth across a large range of measures of human activity since the mid-20th Century – and what it implies for our planet’s future.
I’m a mix of black Jamaican and white American. My distinctive identity is both a target of hatred and my weapon for fighting injustice. A demonstrator at a protest against racism in Berlin, Germany, 6 June 2020 (Friedrich...
Art and culture are integral to New York’s economy and sense of community. COVID-19 has hit the sector and its people hard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Upper East Side, Manhattan. Circles spaced six feet apart, marking where people were to stand while waiting...
My family came to the U.S. from Mexico. I used to be ashamed of our humble lifestyle. I offer these photos to show I’m now proud. This story won a third prize in News Decoder’s Ninth Storytelling Contest. Originally from Zapotitlan Palmas, a small town in...
Many students have much to say, but freeze when asked to put pen to paper. Asking them to first engage in other forms of self-reflection may make it easier to produce powerful written texts. Miriam Hernandez of Westover School demonstrates this point with her piece on growing up in the United States as a daughter of Mexican immigrants. Hernandez began with uncaptioned photographs of her family’s surroundings — a dinner table, a kitchen sink, a breeze through the front door — and later produced accompanying text — simple, direct, unvarnished — that complements the photos. Together, the pictures and text offer a candid glimpse of the author’s upbringing and how she came to terms with her heritage.
Exercise: Ask your students to take a series of photographs of life at home and to then write about what the images represent to them.
The U.S. minimum wage has not changed since 2009. Joe Biden wants to raise it to cut poverty. Opponents say a rise would hit business. Who’s right? Activists appeal for a $15 minimum wage in Washington, DC, 25 February 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) A...
South Africa has had more cases of COVID-19 and more deaths than any African country. We asked students in South Africa how it has affected them. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit South Africa hard. It is the African country with the highest number of cases (1,566,769)...
COVID-19 has hit businesses and tourism hard. But when New York said it would close a famous ice rink, Serena Sabet fought back — and won. This is the first of five articles by students at The Hewitt School in New York City about how COVID-19 has affected that city...