Author Archives: Cicely-Belle Blain
No, UBC, I won’t be white for you
Last week I was perusing the shops in our beautiful new $107 million, horizon-obliterating, architectural giant, also know as the AMS Student Nest. In one cute, somewhat bizarrely placed boutique, I discovered something very shocking: Cake Soap. Cake Soap is what I – with a penchant for Vybz Kartel and some Jamaican ancestry – would […]
10 Shitty Things about Vancouver Nightlife: A QWOC* Perspective
TW: this article contains mentions of rape, harassment and sexual assault. As a queer, black woman, moving through a straight, white world can be challenging. From everyday micro-aggressions to huge systemic structures of discrimination, our society privileges those who are very much not me. This is evident when I’m picked out in class to give […]
President Gupta Accepts Racist Christmas Challenge
Every year at Christmas, a bunch of celebrities get together to ponder whether or not the predominantly Christian continent of Africa is aware that it is the annual celebration of Christ’s birth*. More accurately, they get together to question whether their stereotypical Africa – the hopeless, starving, disease-ridden continent of uneducated people suffering from malaria, […]
Ayotzinapa Protest and the Importance of Solidarity
These atrocious acts of censorship and abuse of institutional and political power mirror the recent Burnaby Mountain protests and the acquittal of Darren Wilson. There are clearly many layers of injustice here; why has there been so little investigation on the whereabouts of these 43 students? Why is police brutality still so prevalent when they are meant to protect us? Why does the Canadian government still consider Mexico a “safe country” for refugees? Why have so few Vancouver publications reported on the protests that happened in the heart of Downtown?
March Against the (neoliberal) Machine: Students Unite Against Fee Raises
On Friday October 24th, angry students gathered at the Koerner Plaza to demand fair tuition and housing costs. The university, in a move of callous money-grabbing, has recently announced that it will raise international students’ tuition by 10 percent and residence fees by 20 percent as well as adding new costs to the residence meal […]
Social Justice Synonyms #5: “Reverse Racism”
This week’s phrase is reverse racism. The general understanding of reverse racism is “racism” towards white people, by people of colour. Proponents of reverse racism also liken it to oppression of white folks and compensation/revenge for centuries of oppression against people of colour. However, reverse racism does not exist. It does not exist because there […]
Public Art: Understanding Students’ Desires for Campus Aesthetics
The UBC Vancouver campus is full of a brilliant range of public art pieces that have been generously donated by alumni and community members. According to the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery Outdoor Tour, the purpose of these art pieces is to “enrich the campus environment”. Many of them are in the form of sculptures […]
Photo Essay: UBC Students for Accessible Education Teach-In
Today, around 400 students gathered at the Martha Piper Plaza on Main Mall for a Teach-in hosted by UBC Students for Accessible Education, The Calendar and the Social Justice Centre. With many students confused, frustrated and angry about the recent announcement of a 10% tuition increase for international students and a 20% increase in residence fees for […]
Social Justice Synonyms #2: “Man Up”
Welcome back to Social Justice Synonyms, a column at The Talon that encourages inclusive language and provides alternative words or phrases for some of the words we use in our everyday language that can be offensive or problematic. For more insight, see last week’s SJS article. This week’s phrase is man up. It seems pretty […]
Meet the Editors: Cicely Blain
My name is Cicely Belle Blain and I’m a third year Modern European Studies and Russian student from London, UK. I’m a Global Lounge Community Animator, Vice President of the British Club of UBC, founder of the Celebrating Women at UBC initiative and an editor at your trusty alternative student press. I’m into British history, […]
