‘Think more like an Etonian’: The Hidden Curriculum at Oxford
I was not allowed to speak English at home until I was around ten years old. My parents refused to teach it to me at all. My primary school teachers grew concerned and labelled them negligent, but my parents’ intentions were protective. With Darija and Kabyle spoken at home, they wanted to ensure
Two-Tiered Care
‘There’s going to be a lot of people around you, but it’s because we care.’ This is what the nurse said to me before rushing me into emergency surgery at my local hospital. It was the shortest time I had ever spent in the waiting room. The gratification I got when I was hurr
The acceptable face of the unacceptable
It will escape no Oxonian’s attention that Tommy Robinson, convicted criminal, former BNP member, founder of the EDL and now Elon Musk’s favourite British fascist authoritarian, is appearing at the Oxford Union this week.
Coming In
‘Did you know he’s gay now?’ Now…? Ah, yes. Obviously in reference to that fateful day when he woke up, necessarily on the wrong side of the bed, walked into his dressing room and came out adorned in rainbow clobber head to toe. A changed man. The ignorance of such a question is pl
re: power in pride
The increasingly rapid march of Reform UK across the country’s councils has been impossible to ignore. From the David Brent-like monologues of George Finch to the more sinister figures who have emerged from the woodwork over the past few years through the party, Reform has produced a motley crew o
The New Era of Pop and RnB is here – and it’s British
Defining an artist is easy. ‘A person talented in the art of music,’ the Oxford English Dictionary tells me. Yet there is an irony in that definition. The tacit implication of an immutable confinement to convention, telling you exactly what you are and how to be it—a strain on musical culture
Under Review: Scenes with Girls
‘“All that time, all that time, I thought I was missing Jude.” And the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. “We was girls together,” she said as though explaining something.’ — Sula, Toni Morrison (1973) Co-produced by Labyrinth Production
Under Pressure: Oxford Fashion Gala
About a year ago now, I came across a Cherwell piece on the origins of the word ‘diva’. Before even reading, I texted my friends: ‘Bet you there’s no explicit reference to its roots in black queer history’ Unsurprisingly, I was right. Beyonce is mentioned, as is queer culture, yet its expl
25:00
25:00 We are told what we see is real. We are told not to question who arranged the seeing. Here is an ordinary week. I wake to an alarm, optimise the hours, hit the deadlines, the achievements, and begin again. Short are our 8 week terms; fast is the pace. We are promised […]
