BraiAmie and Nollywood Entertainment Ltd. are looking for an outgoing student representative to help with the promotion and ticket sales for this event.
BraiAmie is an events and appearance management based in the UK. They are part of the team managing assisting Nollywood Entertainment Ltd. in the preparation for the ZAFAA 2011.
ZAFAA premiered last year with a successful showcase and recognition of some of the talent involved in the African Movie industry. This year the event will be even bigger, being held at the Troxy hall, London on Friday October 21st.
If you would be interested in applying for a position as a student representative for this event, please do not hesitate to comment below!
We hope you had a rich and fulfilling summer, and that you're as ready as we are to get started with the new year. It has to be done!
It's been lovely seeing old friends and meeting all the freshers and new post-grad students at Fresher's Fair yesterday. We hope you all have an awesome time at Imperial. Make sure you check out some of the photos that were taken.
If you're not aware yet, the Meet and Greet is happening this Saturday. Buy the tickets here.
And in commemoration of Black History Month, we will be hosting Back to Black Week again. We will be hosting a range of events aimed at sharing, discussing and celebrating black history. As always, the week will end with ACS Eats - Chop Chop, a celebratory round-off of a (hopefully) successful week and plenty of African and Caribbean food. So, make sure you come through and bring all your friends and buy your tickets online now!!
On 16th July, the Imperial College Gospel Choir participated as finalists in the University Gospel Choir of the Year competition... While we didn't win, (Royal Holloway took it -- well done to them!), I believe our performance was thoroughly enjoyed.
Look at me saying 'our'... Well, we're all one big family, right?
I wish I'd been there to see it for myself. Anyway, here's some media from the event:
Chances are, if you're reading this blog, you're already aware of this debate.
I recently came across a really contentious debate that may or may not result in an LSE professor being dismissed. Dr Kanazawa published an article in Psychology Today in which he described and discussed a method by which he was able to rank the beauty according to race. Black women were placed last in all his 'findings,' while black men came out at the top. If you want to find out more, go to the Times Higher Education website. I think the original article has since been removed, but suffice to say, it was... interesting. I don't usually entertain this sort of thing, but the issue has been given so much fire, it would be irresponsible not to bring it up.
A graph from the original study
Now, as you can imagine, there has been a huge outcry from black students in particular. A protest is being held next week with the aim of putting pressure on LSE to dismiss Dr Kanazawa. I can't speak on behalf of anyone else, but I personally was not offended by the article. At the end of the day, I know who I am and a graph is not going to tell me I'm ugly. One LSE student even says on the events page of the protest:
"Moreover, our students pride themselves on being able to question what we're told and form our own views."
However, I can understand why people are angry.
The problem is: where do we draw the line between acting against racist views and suppressing one's freedom to express what they believe to be scientific findings, no matter how unpopular the opinion? Both sides of the debate seem to make some very good points, but I suppose we will just have to await the outcome.
...
As always, what are your views? COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT!
Make sure you check out this amazing opportunity and become part of a movement to see more ethnic minorities represented in Parliament.
Operation Black Vote and the Department for Communities and Local Government are hosting an upcoming Parliamentary Shadowing Scheme. The aim of this cross party project is to address the deficit of BME individuals in politics and nurture a new generation of BME leaders.
For more information, click here and download the pdf file at the bottom of the page.
No matter where you step on campus these days, you're sure to pass by familiar faces sporting either a bleak look of despair, or that pained expression of concerted determination.
Either way, you know without saying that it's exam season...
Don't worry; we're in the same boat.
But worry not! There is still something to look forward to beyond the endless nights in the library and the formulae that just won't stay put in your head:
Anyway, the purpose of this blog is not to prove that dark-skinned people are beautiful, because quite frankly, it isn't necessary. "Colourism" isn't an issue that's isolated to black communities (think South Asia), but it's sad to see that so many young black people are so ignorant about it. It's this kind of self hatred that will be our downfall as a race. The media is not blameless at all. Think about it: when was the last time you saw a dark-skinned girl in an American music video? I'll speak for myself, but it has become somewhat of an event when I spot one.
This is nothing new. The opinion that light skin is better and more desirable than dark skin has been historically perpetuated throughout slavery and colonial times. Here we are singing the 'End Racism' song, yet we're perpetuating the very same mentalities. So, it would seem we have separated ourselves into "Team Lightskin" (a.k.a Team Yellowbone) and "Team Brownskin." Each claims the other think they're too good for everyone else. Is that really the case, or is it just a knee-jerk defense from what each group perceives as persecution from the other? Basically, we just keep trying to find more reasons to hate each other.
When are we going to realise that beauty doesn't know a skin tone? The world is not going to see us as beautiful until we see ourselves so. We won't get past any kind of oppression until we stop oppressing ourselves. Of course, if we keep putting down our own, there will never be a reason for others to regard us with any less disdain than that with which we regard our own people.
Anyway, I've said my piece. Let me know what you think in zee comments, pliz!
So, to avoid the risk of sounding cliche, I'm going to end off by adapting a quote from one of the students in this video:
