The Victoria's Times

A chat about racial justice, Part 3: the never-ending impact of colonialism

Hello everyone! Welcome to the last episode of my series on racial justice. Today I am going to speak about colonialism, showing how it is responsible for the episodes of racial injustice we often experience and witness to this day, and about the contemporary forms of imperialism. Hope you enjoy!

A chat about racial justice, Part 2: structural racism in the West and microaggressions

Hello everyone! In the next couple of episodes I am going to speak about two common features of the different forms of racism: its 'structural' element and colonialism. Today I am going to speak about structural racism and how it manifests in our day to day lives, through aggression and microaggressions (emphasis on the beauty industry!). I hope it is relatable and helpful, and that it could be the starter for interesting conversations!

A chat about racial justice, Part 1: a reflection upon the events occurred in 2020-2021

Hello everyone, long time no see! Today, about one year after the murders of Breonna Taylor George Floyd in the USA, I reflect upon the topic of racial justice, speaking about both Black Lives Matter and the most recent episodes of Asian hate. I also speak about the type of activism that stemmed from these terrible events, and some of the hypocrisy around it. More to come next week! Extra resources: George Floyd:  George Floyd death: four ex-police officers indicted on civil rights charges | George Floyd | The Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/07/george-floyd-death-murder-police-officers-civil-rights-charges] Breonna Taylor: What to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death - The New York Times (nytimes.com) [https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html] Immigrants and Italy: Italy’s war on migrants makes me fear for my country’s future | Roberto Saviano | The Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/19/italy-war-migrants-fear-civil-rights] (a bit dated, but still interesting and relevant), Italy | International Rescue Committee (IRC) [https://www.rescue.org/country/italy] (the most recent/reliable data I have found!) Also, N.B. I was not able to found the exact statistic, but when I said that in Italy there are approx. 60000 refugees I meant refugees being accepted every year (there are clearly more refugees living on Italian soil, but still a minority compared to the overall Italian population and to how many are currently living other countries in Europe and in the Middle East). The last precise statistic I found was of 2015, which was one of the peaks of migration flows, and Italy welcomed 76000 refugees. I will record an episode dedicated to migration and the refugee crisis in the following weeks, and make sure I have all the most up-to-date figures! Canada and Australia: check out this book - Short, D. (2016), Redefining genocide: settler colonialism, social death, eco-cide. London: Zed Books Ltd.

NEWS COMMENTARY: Harry and Meghan, International Women's Day, Rishi Sunak's budget plan

Welcome to the first real episode of my podcast! Today we are going to discuss some of the news of the week I recorded this episode (8th-12th of March), namely the interview of Harry and Meghan, addressing some of the main arguments around it and the social issues that were discussed, women's security and gender justice in 2020-2021, and Rishi Sunak's plan to recover the UK's economy from the impact of the current global health crisis. Resources: The Guardian on Harry and Meghan: Buckingham Palace breaks silence on Meghan and Harry claims to Oprah | The Queen | The Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/09/buckingham-palace-breaks-silence-on-meghan-and-harry-oprah-claims?utm_term=d05c9212422d569ad27d9952c03f461d&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email] Sarah Everard: Sarah Everard missing: Serving Met Police officer arrested after 33-year-old vanished off London street (thesun.ie) [https://www.thesun.ie/news/6681619/police-officer-arrested-missing-sarah-everard-2/] My article on gender-based violence (with hyperlinks to the figures I mentioned): Weekly Roundup of Human Rights News | Human Rights centre blog (wordpress.com) [https://hrcessex.wordpress.com/2021/03/10/weekly-roundup-of-human-rights-news-4/] Sky News on Rishi Sunak: Rishi Sunak - The Latest News from the UK and Around the World | Sky News [https://news.sky.com/topic/rishi-sunak-8527]

Welcome to my podcast! A bit about me and what I am going to talk about

As a Politics graduate and master's student in Human Rights, I have always wanted to make a difference in the world. However, throughout my university studies I have come to the realisation that no difference can be made unless we normalise having insightful conversations about what is happening around us. Moving to the UK, I have noticed that speaking about politics and human rights can be very uncomfortable: people want to avoid the type of confrontation that these conversations may trigger. And this is such a shame: these topics which, especially in democratic societies, strongly influence our lives, have become taboos.  With this podcast, I want to start these conversations in a way that is respectful, relaxed, and takes different perspectives into account. I want to remove that stigma. Look at Black Lives Matter in May 2020: once the stigma was removed and conversations were started, everything changed - or, I should say, at least began to change. In the following episodes, I will engage with the political arguments and the human rights issues that are brought up by books, movies, and the news of the week.  Every opinion and background is welcome: let's just start the conversation!