Since I have arrived in London, I have not slept at night. At first I thought it was because of jet lag (or that I am a vampire lol) but maybe it’s because each day of this journey requires tons of reflection. It’s sensory overload like walking into my grandmother’s kitchen at New Years as a kid - the greens, meat, cornbread, cabbage, sweet potato pie would overwhelm me (I am hungry now lol). London is grandmother’s kitchen.
Though I slept last night, I also took a nap. From that nap I woke up thinking "Birkbeck or bust." It was a way of psyching myself out, because I was still sleepy lol. I was attending Birkbeck College to listen to lecture a scholar from Columbia University was giving on the systematic inequalities within the United Kingdom and US higher education systems. At the end of the train ride, the lift to the top floor was broken so the PA announced that we had to take the stairs. I looked at the stairs and it said use only in emergencies, and I thought,“that’s a bad sign”. 175 steps and 15 stories later and I was stumbling out of there like the walking dead lol. Felt like I had climbed Machu Picchu. As I walked out the station, I was greeted by an Indian guy walking up to me trying to fist pound me saying “wassup brother!” He started saying, “Trump is for the brothers in the hood” along with some other nonsense. He mentioned Jimmy Hendrix, Muhammad Ali, Tupac, Prince, and Michael Jackson saying he knew about the brothers in the hood. I said, “What about Trump’s racism towards minority groups?” He then said, “oh those are just Mexicans.” (Insert sad face here). It was quite comical, but his ignorance does remind of how global racial stereotypes are. Its dangerous the messages that are being transported. Like the influence of the stripper culture in constructing gender; racism has began to rejuvenate a highly visible and expressed xenophobic movement not just in the US but globally. There constant talk of closing borders here and stopping certain groups from entering. There’s all sorts of debates about border closing in the United Kingdom and European Union and scapegoating ethnic and minority groups. It is also a reminder that the world is always looking and to be the best version of ourselves as scholars in the US. The lecture by Kevin Dougherty at Birkbeck College was insightful. It was a discussion of the UK and US higher education. There are a lot of similarities but plenty of differences though – like students get into their studies sooner (no general education courses) and funded primarily through loans. One thing that was the same in higher education in UK, like the US, has a highly stratified system based on race, gender and class. The disparities are among students and professors. (Here an article on that there are only 70 Black professors.) During the lecture, he explored the ways each system attempts to resolve this and how they can learn from each other. So after all the information on the education system in the UK and I’m left trying to process and wondering if either system will ever be the meritocracy it claims. Dr. Dougherty’s statement that the education system can’t be fixed without addressing social inequality, resonates. And asserts that if either system are to provide equal opportunity to every citizen, then it has adopt the slogan “totally equality or bust.” Because half measures only cover the problem and not solve it.
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5/22/2023 09:30:28 pm
Really Informative! SUM was involved in numerous aspects of the launch of circular swimwear brand, from strategy to brand identity, and website design to campaign shoot. As the project progressed, one of the most involving and exciting aspects became the creation of a range of new sustainable packaging formats, using new sources of 100% recyclable materials. If you’d like to speak to SUM about the growth of your own craft-oriented luxury or fashion brand, please email us.
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Myron Strong
professor. learner. traveler. emerging artist Archives
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