Column
LGBTQ+ groups calls for cultural appropriation ban at Birmingham Pride celebrations
A number of LGBTQ+ groups across the city have called on Birmingham Pride to ban cultural appropriation, following an I Am Birmingham article highlighting the issue was published last month. In light of several Native American headdresses being worn as ‘costumes’ at Birmingham Pride celebrations, representatives from queer groups of colour have condemned the practice.
OPINION | Life of ‘Dr Tony Xia’
“Always look on the bright side of life, always look on the light side of life. If life seems jolly rotten, there’s something you’ve forgotten…” Great song from the Monty Python film Life of Brian, a song which gives us Villa fans some solace in these dark and troubling times. The club has no money…
The second largest migrant community in the UK, Romanians still targeted with media misrepresentation
Newly released data on migrant population in the UK caused again quite a stir in the media. Most outlets, from tabloids to quality press, published the news: Romanians now number 411,000 in the UK, which makes us the second largest migrant population on the island. At the end of last month, the Office for National…
OPINION: It might be 2018 but cultural appropriation is STILL a thing
Why is it that in 2018, with constant talk in the media about racism and interracial relations, do we STILL have people that don’t understand that cultural appropriation is wrong? In this case, revellers swaggering along Hurst Street during Birmingham Pride in the cultural attire. I mean, come on, seriously?
OPINION | The heart and soul of Gay Pride
With the coming together of various communities – not just the predominant LGBTQ+ community – for Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations, it’s easy to forget the past struggles which have allowed us to be in this position to celebrate Pride the way we do. I’ve known about Pride celebrations all my life – from the rainbows that…
OPINION: Should Channel 4 really move to Birmingham?
There’s a lot of drums being beaten in the West Midlands right now, and none louder than in Birmingham, where hashtagged calls for Channel 4 to make the city its new home have become almost deafening. Between the Government pretty much forcing the iconic state-backed broadcaster to move out of the capital, and West Midlands…
OPINION | IT: The real horror is not a killer clown, it’s us
Imagine coming home to a house where you can still smell the fragrance of a loved one who will never come back again, their clothes and belongings are still there, and you feel a deep emptiness as you step inside. Imagine coming home to a place where you know the demon of bullying stills haunts…
OPINION: The whitewashing of Birmingham’s street art continues
Stroll down Lower Essex Street this morning and, other than the usual gloomy summer weather confronting your commute into the city centre, you may also have notice the brutal removal of Golden Boy’s set of stencilled bespectacled faces that have adorned one particular building these past few years. Golden Boy is one of a group…
OPINION | Political activists scrawl city streets to chalk up Labour victory
On a cold and windy rainy Birmingham night, I found myself alongside some of the grassroots campaigners, all of us hoping to see The Labour Party elected on the June 8th. Armed with a box of pavement chalk, the group had taken to the streets of their constituency to spell out their message for a…
OPINION | John Dee | Hemp, History, Happy 4/20!
Dr John Dee is back and ready to party, as we look at 4/20, once again, only emerging from his haze of smoke long enough to write this article for you, the gentle reader. Hemp. Before 1937, hemp was the world’s biggest, global crop, with a myriad of resourceful uses. It is an easily grow…