VOL 1.5
FEBRUARY 2022
THE_ISSUE The official newsletter of International School Ruhr
5
The Issue FEATURES
IS Ruhr Newsletter
First Exams for 6th Graders
03
Valentines Day
13
Black History Month
16
Vol. 5 Issue 5 2022
THE _ISSUE: The Official Newsletter of International School Ruhr
Editors’ Note Dear readers, We recognize that these past weeks have been a stressful time, particularly for our Secondary students during exam season. For this reason, while we also want to represent our community’s academic experiences and challenges, we are centering this issue around ‘entertainment’. Whether it be books, movies, or celebrations world-wide; we want to show the ways our students have been
Editorial Team This newsletter is produced through the efforts of the IS Ruhr Journalism/Media Creative class.
Editors-in-Chief
Marketing
Newsletter
Newsletter/Yearbook
Jonas Gesing
Greta Stracke
Christina Lamprecht
Mona Zanjani
Writers
Photography
Jonas Gesing
Masha Kolot
Masha Kolot
Hadi Mhanna
enjoying their free time and taking
Mia Mbalisike
breaks from school stress.
Hadi Mhanna
Layout
Sreeja Prasanna Kumar
David Peña-Vega
Nonetheless, you can be sure to also find content on both the Secondary’s and the Primary’s academic matters, like the 1st Graders current unit on family history! Best regards, Jonas Gesing and Christina Lamprecht (Editors in Chief)
Eashan Vineed Christina Lamprecht
Important stuff Top priority.
First Exam for 6th Graders Eashan Vineed and Hadi Mhanna The students of 6th grade had their first-ever semester exams from the 19th of January to the 24th of January. We interviewed the students and got their thoughts on how the experience was for them. The students were very anxious before the exams and immensely relieved at the end. The students expressed that listening to music, preparing flashcards, and writing down important information helped them ease the difficulty of studying. They suggested that studying efficiently is more important than the amount of time spent studying inefficiently. They balanced their study times and tried not to stress too much. The students tried their best not to get distracted and use gadgets. After the students got back their results they felt relieved and happy that their hard work had paid off. The students found the first semester good but completely different from their semesters in the PY building.
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IGCSE Exams - What’s it like? Christina Lamprecht
While the 6th graders are still exploring what it’s like to have exams for the first time, the IGCSE students have more experience, but arguably more pressure on them at the same time. The middle schoolers may have seen the Grade 9s and 10s preparing for exams and wondered what it’s like for them. To anyone curious; this is for you! No one should be surprised to know that procrastination never really goes away, and IGCSE students are a prime example. However, figuring out your strategy of how to deal with it is our best advice to you. For instance, Jonas from Grade 9, manages his procrastination with shortterm and long-term rewards. This might include limiting his phone activity or rewarding himself with snacks. Eya from Grade 9, agrees and recommends taking breaks to avoid burnout. More importantly, every student has to discover their preferred study method. Some, like Greta from Grade 10, make study notes to summarize the course material. Another student from Grade 10, Tanya, also makes herself summaries, as well as flashcards. Jonas recommends active studying. He uses past papers, which are easy to find online, and the questions from his school books. Also, Lena, from Grade 10, recommends YouTube tutorials if you struggle with content. Knowing how to prepare yourself is one of the best steps to avoid fear and stress over the exams. Other tips are finding daily balance through hobbies as Greta recommends. Apart from hobbies, Tanya from Grade 10, also mentioned that walks are a good way to calm yourself down. Most importantly, like Eya from Grade 9 said, don’t forget to take care of your body by staying hydrated, eating enough, and exercising. When asked whether or not it is good that middle schoolers write exams, the IGCSE students agreed that it was. Kris from Grade 9, felt that his middle school exams prepared him for what was to come, and Tanya mentioned that it helps familiarize and prepare students. Greta added that she thinks they are beneficial, but there shouldn’t be much value put on them in middle school and should instead be seen as practice.
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Interesting stuff Sankranti Eashan Vineed Makar Sankranti is a festival celebrated every year on the 14th of January. It can also be celebrated on the 13th or 15th of January (this happens rarely) depending on the solar cycle. The name of this festival is derived from the words Makar and Sankranti. Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti means transition. The transition of the sun into the Capricorn is observed on this day. This festival is celebrated in different forms in various parts of India. The people celebrating the festival decorate their houses with flowers and also make a colorful pattern known as rangoli. The main traditions followed include taking a dip in Triveni Sangam. It is believed that taking a dip at this point, where three holy rivers meet, will wash away all your past sins and all obstacles you were going to face in the future. This day is also for donating sweets and other delicacies to people in need. The most eye-catching event happening during this festival is the beautiful and colorful kites in the sky, flown by adults and children. To conclude, it is a festival of joy and happiness. It is a festival of great importance in India and is celebrated with different names all over India.
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Olympic
From the 2nd of February to the 20th of February, the
Winter
will compete against each other. This Olympic Winter Game
Games in Beijing
Olympic Winter Game, which is held every four years, will take place in Beijing. Around 2 900 athletes from 90 nations edition is the most gender-balanced it has ever been (55% male, 45% female). Athletes will compete in 109 events across 7 different winter sports in 13 competition venues. Part of the sports program is biathlon, figure skating, ice hockey, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding. Due to the current COVID-19 situation, the sports competitions will be held with regulations and rules to minimize infection risk. The mascot of the Olympic Winter
Jonas Gesing
冰墩墩) and was
Games 2022 is named Bing Dwen Dwen (
created by Cao Xue. The name represents ice, purity,
strength, robustness and liveliness. The character is a panda wearing a full-body suit made out of ice. Shortly afterward, on the 4th of March, the Paralympic Winter Games of 2022 will start in Beijing and last for 10 days. Around 600 athletes will compete in 78 different events across six sports split into two categories: snow and ice sports. Throughout central Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou the events will be hosted in 6 different stadiums of which 2 have been used for prior Olympic and Paralympic Games. Special about this Olympic host metropolis is that Beijing is the first city to have hosted both the summer and winter editions of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The mascot for the Paralympic Game
雪容融) and looks like a
2022 is named Shuey Rhon Rhon (
Chinese lantern child. The name should symbolize greater inclusion throughout society, more dialogue and understanding.
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Movie Review - Dune Mia Mbalisike The movie Dune aired in 2021 and is based on the book Dune by Frank Herbert. Both the book and the movie tell the same story, but the movie is more recent. Dune is about a young man named Paul Atreides, who lives in the far future (10191 10193). His father, the duke, wants to travel to a dangerous planet named Arrakis because he wants to retrieve a powder called “spice”. “Spice” is responsible for most technological advancements that were possible to be made in the past millennia. The movie was a big success and brought in 398.3 million USD. It starred many famous individuals like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Jason Momoa. A lot of people were quite satisfied with the accuracy of the movie vs the book, though it still had some differences. Some people also agree that the movie is overrated because of multiple factors like slow pacing and background noise. Many MENA (Middle East and North Africa) individuals are showing disappointment in the casting of Dune, since it is heavily inspired by MENA culture, but doesn’t include any MENA actors. There are a lot of split opinions about Dune, with many liking it and others disliking it.
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Anime Review - Black Clover David Peña-Vega To give you a quick rundown, Black Clover is a 170 episode anime based around a kid named Asta, who can’t use magic in a world of magic. Black Clover is one of the best-fighting anime shows of all time. Not only are the battles entertaining, but the value of not giving up is also predominantly shown throughout the series. The humorous segments, along with the serious tone during battle, create an enjoyable and immersive atmosphere. The animation is done with great care and attention to detail. Additionally, the story is well developed and is structured with thought, perfect for keeping interest in such a long anime. Overall, I suggest giving this anime a try, as it is a phenomenal work that is a great form of entertainment.
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Spiderman No Way Home Hadi Mhanna
As you likely have heard, ‘Spiderman No Way Home’ came out in December. However, it was only shown in the movie theaters and nowhere else. This disappoints many people as some may not want to visit movie theaters due to the current COVID-19 situation. Some people don't want to make contact with other people, so they would prefer to watch the movie at home. Looking at the current number of cases this might be safer too! Many people suggest Sony should sell the movie ‘Spiderman No Way Home’ to watching platforms. In that way, people can enjoy the movie anywhere safely.
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Movie Review: “American Psycho” (2000) Vadim Ilkaev The movie American Psycho was a clever and divisive adaptation of the 1991 novel by writer Bret Easton Ellis. Directed by Marry Harron, the movie explores the crests and throughs of modern capitalist society. It is a manifestation of an entire era, a corporation incarnate. The main themes are the covert greed and rapaciousness of Wall Street, the empty nature and loops of consumerism, and the Darwinist principles explored in a mix of blood and tom ford cologne. The movie itself isn’t a pure, terrifying horror that many are used to, but rather a blood-soaked comedy. A rigid thesis, a work of art. Our main character, Patrick Bateman, played masterfully by Christian Bale, represents the epitome of the era. A man that many look up to and envy. ’’There is an idea of Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction…. But there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory’’. In the movie, he appears as someone with no family or friends, no substantial relationships. The things that he so desperately grips onto, and what make up his personality are superficial and only cater to his bottomless sense of narcissism. Thus, tending to let his mask slip once in a while. He is a monster incarnate, something foreign from a human, but still inseparable from one’s likeness. In the movie, the main character goes through a repetitive, but everso detailed sequence of events. The near-perverted descriptions of his day-to-day activities, such as the use of skincare and choice of morning exercises to the crazed and obsessive attitude with which he accomplishes mundane tasks, such as comparing business cards or making restaurant bookings. Bateman is a broker by profession, occupying what many think of as the top of the food chain in the financial world. Foreign to the life 99% of people live, he has everything one could wish for. Albeit he is not unique, surrounded by almost identical copies of himself, embodied by his colleagues at work. Who, ironically, seem to indulge in the exact same things Batman does, portraying identical mannerisms. The movie delivers the slow and excruciating collapse of him as a character, getting less and less human with every minute. The juxtaposition of brutal violence, sparked by the smallest whims of Bateman’s psyche, is closely accompanied by him mimicking human mannerisms, such as discussing issues or talking about his favourite music album. He is a master con artist in faking his humanity. Thus, he gradually devolves, losing the sense of himself and becoming the monster he was all this time. The moral of this story is to depict the sheer vanity and self-obsession of modern society. The more one indulges in that dynamic, the easier and quicker it is to be consumed and lose yourself. The movie satirizes the societal dynamics of capitalism in a mix of horror and dark comedy, laced with 80s pop-culture references that take shots even at the movie industry itself.
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The Loop - Book Review Jonas Gesing The Loop is the first book of a trilogy series written by Ben Oliver. In his first-ever book, he manages to create a pacy and futuristic story that reminds the readers of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner. The book is for readers age 14 and above who enjoy a gripping, thrilling, and terrifying read. In The Loop, Luka Kane, the protagonist, lives in a future dystopian society. Happy, an artificial intelligence controls the world and has decided for Luka Kane to serve sentence in the Loop, a prison for teenagers under 18 where inmates are subjects to torturous conditions and crippling loneliness. He has been there for over two years and knows the game: Every inmate has an execution date, which they can delay every 6 months if they undergo surgery. The surgery is only beneficial for the elite outside the prison, as inmates become scientific and medical experiments for new body upgrades for them. If this would not be terrific enough he and his inmates hear the rumors about a war starting outside the prison. From there everything goes quick: the daily scheduled rain of the government (Happy) stops, the torture program within the prison becomes disrupted and Happy is failing. Luka knows he must get out to save himself and his friends within the Loop. However, there are a lot of challenges to overcome, such as enemies in the Loop who plan on killing him, the population going crazy and him getting out of the immensely perilous prison. An exciting adventure starts that won’t let you go. Ben Oliver keeps throwing one incident after another at the reader, which constantly keeps the reader enthralled. The characters are built with plenty of emotions and backstories. Especially, Luka is very mature, brave, and kind. Those who can’t get enough of the first book can now already read the second part (The Block published on the 04 of May in 2021) and soon the last part (The Arc published on the 19 of July in 2022).
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Entertainment Visual Page During the special situation everyone is going through at the moment, we, the Newsletter Team, have asked IS-Ruhr students what they do in their free time to entertain themselves. The most popular entertainment method amongst our SY students is watching TV, which 81% of the surveyed students do. 66% do sports, 61% read, and 57% listen to music. A few of the surveyed students also said they would play video games, use their phone or spend time on social media to entertain themselves. Below you can find some visual representations of what the students specifically do to entertain themselves.
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Valentine’s Day Masha Kolot 14th February is known as Valentine’s day which is an important day for all couples. Presents, emotions, and love, it’s all about Valentine’s day. The story of Valentine’s day is quite dramatic and sad. The legend says that a man named Saint Valentine was known as a patron saint of love. He used to wear a ring with a Cupid which is the representative of love that helped soldiers. Saint Valentine was killed by Emperor Claudius II who was against men marrying anyone because he thought that unmarried men were better soldiers. Saint Valentine was against his ideas and was killed for disagreeing. Because of what Saint Valentine is, now, the day of his death is celebrated as “Valentine’s day”. Another legend that is told about the origin of Valentine’s day, is the festival of fertility called “Lupercalia”. During the festival men and women were divided into pairs after which most of them ended up in marriage. By the end of the 5th century, it was decided to celebrate Valentine’s day on the former “Lupercalia”.
Sources: “Happy Valentine’s Day 2022: History, Importance, and Significance.” The Indian Express, 12 Feb. 2022, indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/happy-valentines-day-2022-history-importance-andsignificance-7722518/.
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26th of January: India’s republic day Sreeja Prasanna Kumar On the 26th of January, India celebrates its days as a republic. This year, India celebrates its 75th republic’s day. India gained its independence on 15 August, 1947; however, it wasn’t until January 26, 1950, that the Indian constitution came into force, declaring its sovereignty and becoming a republic. The day also celebrates the Indian citizens’ power to choose their government democratically. In India, Republic Day is celebrated with great pomp and joy all over the country, from the states of Kerala to Arunachal Pradesh. Children hold flags, sing the national anthem, wear festive clothes and take part in different parades to express their respect; adults take part in assemblies, wear festive clothes; dancers dance; singers sing, praising their country. In Delhi, an annual parade consisting of soldiers, trumpeters, and other musicians begins at Rajpath, Delhi, and ends at the India Gate. The parade usually starts after the president’s arrival, first, the president’s cavalier bodyguards salute the flag, then the National Anthem is played followed by a 21gun salute which is done with seven canons of the Indian Army called “25 ponders” that fire 3 rounds each. The president hoists the Indian flag at the Rajpath, New Delhi. The dignified event also features India’s cultural and social heritage, airshows, and parades by the Indian-Army, Navy, and Airforce. Live webcasts and shows of these parades to the people who prefer to see them online. In addition, the president also distributes the Padma awards: Padma Shri, the highest civilian award; Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award; Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award; to the people who are worthy of the suitable awards to honor their contribution to the nation. In conclusion, the Republic Day of India is a memorable harmonious day celebrated to commemorate India’s Republic and the Indian citizens’ power to choose their government democratically. It is celebrated with honor and respect all across India. Annual parades take place significantly in Delhi. The president hoists the flag at the Rajpath, New Delhi. Awards and certificates are distributed by the president to admire the contribution of people worthy of the awards, to the nation.
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Grade Ones’ Family History Unit Christina Lamprecht The Grade Ones’ current unit revolves around family history, which helps the young students connect past and present while also understanding their different backgrounds. More specifically, through fun and engaging activities, they learned how their families are affected by the place and time they live in, and how they’ve changed over time. Some of these activities included a family tree, coloring in on world maps where they and their families are from, painting their own family flags, and presenting about their different family members. Of course, due to COVID regulations, the school was wary about inviting parents over to personally tell their families’ stories. Instead, they used their communication skills to interview their parents, prepare a presentation, and share the information with the rest of the class. More history-related, the kids sorted pictures from different decades in the last 100 years, and then guessed in which their parents and grandparents were born. They also got to sort pictures of different fashion types, transportation methods, and communication tools over time. Ms. Sarah, their teacher, was not the only one organizing and supervising her students’ projects; two teacher students, Molly from Kenya and Eva from Ireland kindly helped out. They both attend ITEps (International Teacher Education for Primary School), so this experience was also beneficial for them in their future career pursuit. For the young students, this experience was an ideal mix of learning and discovering themselves and the world around them.
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The Future of the Entertainment Industry Adrian Ehrenbeck From Radio to TV to Netflix. The entertainment industry has experienced a massive cluster of changes over the past century and the nature of the sector has evolved as well. Nevertheless, the future is blurry and so far people have only formulated vague predictions for the next couple of years. However it is clear to many that the rapid growth of the industry will be pushed forward by modern giants like Netflix, Disney, Prime Video etc. Television viewership has started declining. In 2011, the average time a person in Germany spent watching TV was 225 minutes, but had fallen to 217 in 2018 and 211 in 2019. It is important to note that the statistic saw an increase to 220 in 2020; however this was most likely due to people spending more time at home because of the global pandemic. This has also affected other countries. In the US in 2021, according to a statistic by ‘Variety’, news and opinion networks were amongst the greatest losers, with viewership on FOX News decreasing by 34%, CNN by 38% and MSNBC 28%. Nevertheless, sports channels saw the exact opposite, especially given their poorer performance in the last years. Hunting for redemption, ESPN viewership grew by 11% (1.6 million in primetime), TNT by 10% and Fox Sports 1 by 25%. The trend with traditional television is clear. News and opinion networks are becoming less and less attractive, which is most likely a result of the easy accessibility of information from various sources including apps, websites, etc. Another factor are movies and series on TV, which seem to be becoming less popular, especially as giants such as Disney or Netflix are slowly buying up the entertainment industry. With almost 3,800 movies and roughly 2000 shows, the library of Netflix has an impressive size and it is likely that there is more to come. The
streaming
service
also
has
over
220
million
subscriptions at the moment, while only crossing the 100 million mark in 2017.Although this development slowed a little last year (the pandemic had previously caused it to speed up quite a bit), studies indicate that this industry will experience huge growth in the next couple of years. One of its largest competitors is most likely Disney Plus, who launched in November 2019 and roughly 2 years later already have a solid 118 million subscribers.
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I personally believe we should be cautious with this development as it leads to a wider issue. Over the last few years, giants have developed in many industries that dominate their respective markets, creating monopolies. Many countries have laws in place to combat this, an example being the “Antitrust Laws” in the United States. These try to stop the creation of monopolies by increasing In their English class, Grade 6 held a competition of who could write the most popular opportunities for competition, which can occur in multiple ways, one being the lowering of prices short story. It was a very close tie, but the Newsletter Team congratulates Beta on the win! for a certain area. Many are not yet certain on how these will affect the entertainment industry, but will be a big player in the sector moving forward. Nevertheless, everyone needs to make of this what they want. Traditional television certainly has a nostalgic aspect to it; however the accessibility of what you want, whether it’s news, movies or shows, has been made very easy. All you need is one simple subscription. For now. However, many see a danger in services splitting things up between themselves in a way that you are forced to pay for more than one broadcaster. Nevertheless, this is hard to predict and only time will tell.
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Black History Month Mia Mbalisike What is Black History Month?
Black History Month is a month (often celebrated in either February or October) where black people, who have been oppressed for centuries, are honored and remembered for how much they have done for the world. Black joy, black achievements, and black history are shared. Why do we need Black History Month?
Black people have been an overwhelmingly big part of history. BIPOC (Black and Indigenous and People Of Color) achievements were excluded from the public sphere unless they supported white narratives. Erasure, oppression, and aggression constantly happen, and Black History Month educates, celebrates, and brings happiness. Why isn’t there a White History Month?
Historically white people were in power and determined official narratives; therefore, general history is white history, so there is no need for an additional white history month.
Afro-german figures: Florence Brokowski-Shekete
Ms. Brokowski-Shekete is the principal/headmistress of a German school, which makes her the first ever black principal in Germany. This is challenging to achieve because there is hardly any black teacher representation in German schools. It is very impressive that she was able to get that spot and then continue to lead the school wonderfully. Noah Sow
Black author, musician, moderator, artist, and activist, Noah Sow, wrote the book “Deutschland Schwarz Weiß”. It talks about casual racism in everyday interactions, which is also called microaggression. Casual racism is normalized in many countries, but Germany's everyday racism is very subliminal. She is one of the first known people that spoke out about it in a book, and others followed in her footsteps, with more informative books..
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Aminata Touré
The German politician Aminata Touré is part of the party “The Greens (Die Grünen)”. She was elected in June 2017, she is the vice president of the parliament of Schleswig Holstein. She sees great importance in topics like migration, anti-racism, women’s equality/feminism, queerness, religion, civil protection, and rescue services. This is the reason why she is responsible for these topics being fostered in the party of The Greens. May Ayim
She was a poet, educator, author, and activist, who worked in the field of afro-german history. Her poems often had a critical view of racism and oppression. Her poem “Blues in Black and White” mentioned themes of slavery, exploitation of natives, Germany’s reunion and criticizes how Germans were happy to be united again and celebrated, but it was just their white, Christian bubble, without immigrants, Jewish, black, and other POC individuals. Theodor Michael Wonja
Theodor Micheal Wonja was a child actor. He was born in 1925, which means he lived to see WW||. He was forced to work in a labor camp, but survived and continued to live as a prominent afro-german. Other than his first occupation of acting, he also was a journalist and worked for the local government. Before he passed away in 2019 he was one of the last black witnesses of WW||.
Black suffering:
You might think that Germany has left its violently racist history behind, but that is sadly untrue. Germany’s racism is very diverse, just like anywhere else. Racism here ranges from microaggressions and stereotypes to hate crimes and brutality of public services like the police. It isn’t commonly talked about, but they still happen in Germany. The most prominent case is Oury Jallohs.
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Oury Jalloh
Oury Jalloh was a black man, whose life was brutally taken by a policeman in 2005. The police claimed that Oury Jalloh killed himself, which was a blatant lie. He was severely damaged by the police’s brutality against him and then died in his cell. The murderers had then started a fire to remove the traces and blame it on the victim. To this day you will find Germans saying “Oury Jalloh, das war Mord, Widerstand an jedem Ort” at anti-racist demonstrations. This translates to “Oury Jalloh, that was murder, resistance at every place”. People continue to say his name because justice is more difficult than awareness. He was only 47. William Tonou-Mbobda
This case was not by police brutality, but rather by brutality from hospital staff. William Tonou-Mbobda was in a hospital and one day was found smoking on a hospital bench, which resulted in the staff brutally attacking and started tugging him back to the hospital. They hit and beat his body. He was severely injured and lost consciousness. Eventually, they had to put him into a medically induced coma, and died 5 days later. He was approximately 44, and this case was only in 2019. 3 years ago.
Anti-racism training If you care to educate yourself about antiblack-racism and you want to genuinely learn, it is advised to listen to black people themselves, since they are the ones experiencing this specific type of racism. Black women, black men, and black people of other genders experience racism in very different ways, so their experiences might vary, though all of them are valid. Sources to learn from:
- German sources: - Deutschland Schwarz Weiß: Der alltägliche Rassismus - Noah Sow - Exit RACISM: rassismuskritisch denken lernen - Tupoka Ogette - Und jetzt du.: Rassismuskritisch leben ‑ Das neue - Tupoka Ogette - Was weisse Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen: aber wissen sollten - Alice Hasters - English sources: - https://www.bu.edu/antiracism-center/ - https://www.theroot.com/ - https://nikolehannahjones.com/
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The IS Ruhr Newsletter Team