Issue 4: March 2018

SOAS SPIRIT

14 MARCH 2018

FREE

MISALLOCATION OF BURSARIES

YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH

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ISSUE 4

COMMENT: OXFAM SEX SCANDAL

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UCU strike against proposed pension cuts Ali Mitib BA Law and Politics Members of the Union of Colleges and Universities (UCU) at 61 institutions across the UK have taken strike action against proposals by Universities UK (UUK) that would see a reduction in the pension income of up to 60%. Action was approved in a vote by 54.5% of SOAS UCU members. It has taken the form of UCU members refusing to conduct lectures or tutorials on strike days.

Despite the icy weather conditions, which dipped below, picket lines have been present at the entrances to all SOAS buildings with the intention of encouraging students to show solidarity and empower the strike by not using university facilities during working hours.

On strike days the Students’ Union has voted to close the JCR shop and the Bar, services which provide a large amount of revenue to the SU. Furthermore, the SU has voted to extend the closure for the entire duration of the strike.

Carrie Benjamin, SOAS UCU Fractional Rep, said: “The picket line represents radical solidarity. This is a wonderful spacial exchange. It’s not just us sitting around and asking people to not cross the picket line.

It’s a place to exchange and challenge the path that higher education is taking. There are amazing acts of solidarity here. There are people from other universities, student standing out here in the snow.”

On strike days it is estimated that up to 500 students have been crossing the picket line to attend their teaching hours and use the university facilities.

Sai Englert, a Graduate Teaching Assistant, said: “Overall the students have showed solidarity. Some students have decided to cross the picket line and not respect the strike. Ironically people have done it while saying ‘I support you’ but not doing the

Staff and students congregate outside the Main Building during a strike day (Credit: Ali Mitib)

one thing we asked them to do in terms of supporting us. I think we are talking about a minority. I think a lot of people are voting with their feet and just not coming at all and finding alternative ways of meeting up and studying.”

These tactics are aimed at demonstrating to SOAS Director, Valerie Amos, that the students and staff stand united in solidarity against the proposals of UUK. SOAS UCU members hope that Amos will then use her influence as a member of UUK’s 24 member board–the main decision-making body of UUK to remove the proposal from consideration.

UCU estimates that under UUK’s new

proposal to conduct changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) , a typical lecturer would lose around £10,000 a year in retirement. Fears have been raised by academics and students alike that this will lead to lecturers leaving academia due to the lack of guaranteed pensions.

The proposed changes by UUK would see the end of defined-benefit element of the USS which guarantees UCU members a guaranteed level of pension income in retirement. Under UUK’s proposal to adopt a ‘defined contribution’ model, the return for members would be dependent upon the performance of the USS in the stock market.

In this scheme, a member can decide how

to invest the joint contributions and can purchase a pension (annuity), access a cash sum or both on retirement. The potential instability of this model was central in motivating UCU members to undertake strike action.

Following the first five days of strike action, on February 28 UCU announced that it had reached an agreement with UUK to conduct “further talks to try and end the disruptive strike action currently affecting 61 universities”. These talks will begin on Monday, March 5 and be mediated by ACAS, a conciliation service.

UCU General Secretary Sally Hunt expressed optimism regarding these talks.

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Contents

Letter from the editor

News School accused of ‘misallocation’ of Excellence Bursaries

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SU Elections: Jess, Hau-Yu, Sophie and Youssra elected as your new Co-Presidents

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Cyril Ramaphosa Sworn In As South Africa’s President

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Features Your rituals and you

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UCU strike: Interviews with those who stand on the pickets and those who cross

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An Ode to The “Other”

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‘I can, I will, and I shall stay alone’

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Reviews p21

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Ali Mitib · Managing Editor · 611359@soas.ac.uk Ashutosh Nagda · Co-Editor-in-Chief · 656310@soas.ac.uk Arooj Sultan · Co-Editor-in-Chief · 611281@soas.ac.uk Ahmad Jamal Wattoo · News Editor · 625576@soas.ac.uk Hannah Somerville · News Editor · 266256@soas.ac.uk Zain Hussain · News Editor · 594404@soas.ac.uk Marta Perez Fernandez · Features Editor · 628547@soas.ac.uk Amelia Storey · Features Editor · 636016@soas.ac.uk Uswa Ahmed · Comments Editor · 638268@soas.ac.uk Holly Sampson · Sports Editor 638061@soas.ac.uk Abigail Joanna Moselle · Reviews Editor · 630182@soas.ac.uk Peter Smith · Senior Layout Editor · 629625@soas.ac.uk Khadija Kothia · Junior Layout Editor · 637933@soas.ac.uk Sudha Palepu · Junior Layout Editor · 656024@soas.ac.uk Uswa Ahmed · Junior Layout Editor · 638268@soas.ac.uk

Sport Varsity 2018: Review

Ali Mitib Managing Editor, The SOAS Spirit

Your SOAS Spirit Team

Comment

Book Review: Eat Up! By Ruby Tandoh

Dear readers, Welcome to the fourth edition of the SOAS Spirit! We are happy to bring you another edition jam packed full of informative, interesting and entertaining articles.

We at the Spirit aim to hold those in positions of power accountable and produce content which students will find informative, thought provoking and entertaining.

One of our goals at the Spirit is to expand our online presence. To achieve this, we have re-launched our website. Check https://soasspirit.co.uk for the latest news on SOAS and the wider world in addition to the latest reviews, submitted poetry and updates on our sports teams.

In our fourth edition, we cover the activities of far-right group Generation-Identity on the SOAS campus. We also cover the accusations of ‘misallocation of excellence bursaries at SOAS’. Following this we discuss the results of the Students’ Union elections.

Elsewhere we examine the resignation of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam

Desalegn, the Trump-Russia enquiry and the Egyptian Elections.

Our Features section includes a feature comprising of testimonies of those who stood on the UCU picket on strike days and those who crossed it – each member stating the reasons and motivations for their actions. Following this is a feature centering on the experiences of a veteran male nurse and his views regarding men’s mental health. This section also includes a selection of poetry and a feature on SOAS alum Paul Robeson and his inspirational and eventful life. The section is rounded off with Lonely Spirits – a section composed of students sending in the contents of their heart and soul to share the love and raise spirits.

Mary Beard’s comments on the Oxfam sex scandal, loneliness in London and the allocation of bursaries in SOAS are amongst the issues discussed in our Comments section.

Our Reviews section includes a book review of ‘Eat Up’ by Ruby Tandoh, a concert review of Seun Kuti, Andrew Ashong’s Valentines Day performance at Hackney and reviews for critically acclaimed films ‘The Shape of Water’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’.

In our Sports section, we enclose a review of Varsity 2018 and a feature on the Clapton Ultras, a fan base who are explicitly anti-fascist and who vocally challenge the homophobia, racism and sexism present in the football world.

Tom Matsuda · Online Editor · 652408@soas.ac.uk

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Sumayyah Lane · Social Co-ordinator · 637349@soas.ac.uk

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14 MARCH 2018 She said: “We are pleased the employers have agreed to more talks. UCU tabled proposals which provide the basis for settling this damaging dispute. We have listened not just to our members, but also to the many university leaders who have contributed ideas.”

She added: “UCU has been impressed by the ideas of many vice-chancellors who have intervened in the dispute.

Our proposals for long-term reform reflect an attempt to reach a consensus around the challenges we face.”

UCU has stated that despite this agreement, the strike action will continue. Speaking from the picket line, Carrie Benjamin, SOAS UCU Fractional Rep, said: “It would be detrimental to call off strike action before we have an agreement that this shift to a defined contribution scheme is no longer on the table.”

On Monday 5th March, the SOAS SU, Unison and UCU released a joint statement regarding the on-going strike.

“While we are pleased that Universities UK are due to commence negotiations with UCU, through the mediation of ACAS, today Monday 5th March, there can be no doubt that even this would not have been achieved without the pressure brought by the solidity of the strike action thus far. We emphasise that any weakening of the industrial action before an acceptable settlement is reached can only result in such a settlement becoming far less likely.”

While all parties would like to end the strike, it is clear that UCU will not call it off until they are satisfied with the proposals put forward by UUK. At the time of going to print, it is confirmed that strike action will continue from the 12th to 16th March.

Corrections and clarifications The Spirit would like to clarify information with regards to our article titled 'Charities Commission conducting Prevent inquiries into two student societies SOAS'.

Palestine Society and the Islamic Society were the subject of an inquiry by the Charity Commission and not an official investigation on behalf of Prevent. It is commonly held belief by members of the UK university community that the Charity Commissions conduct these investigations unofficially on behalf of Prevent.

SOAS accused of ‘misallocation’ of Excellence Bursaries Alice McMahon MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies Evidence has emerged that ‘hundreds’ of students may have missed out on up to £7,500 of bursaries, according to officers in the Student Union.

In its Access Agreement for 2016–17, SOAS boasts of offering 152 Excellence Bursaries of £2,500 a year for up to three years, “targeted at care-leavers, students from low-participation neighbourhoods, first generation HE participants and household incomes up to £24,999”.

However, Laviniya Stennett, one of the Officers for Working Class Students, and Comfort Enloch-Moye, the People of Colour Officer, have accused SOAS of failing to allocate bursaries to 97 students who fell into this category in the year 2016–17.

Stennett said: “Hundreds of students have missed out on the bursary because it is automatically allocated. You cannot apply for the bursary. It uses means-tested information from the Student Finance Portal from incoming students (UK only) and ‘automatically allocates’ them. That means that anyone who has not applied for student finance and international students are excluded.”

According to Stennett, this also means that the individual circumstances of each student are not sufficiently considered.

Although household income is assessed, students do not have the chance to declare other factors, such as whether they have been in care, are carers themselves, or have disabilities.

Furthermore, the SOAS website at the time did not make it clear that falling into the target group did not guarantee any financial support. The impact on the students who missed out, Stennett says, has been huge. They have heard from up to fifty students affected, some of whom have ‘failed their degree, dropped out [and] suffer from mental health issues’, as a result of not receiving the financial help that they needed.

SOAS management has responded by strongly rebutting the claims and questioning the use of the term ‘misallocation’.

Deborah Johnston, Pro-Director for Learning and Teaching, said: “The £1.1million of SOAS funding for Excellence Bursaries in 2016–17 was fully allocated and paid to students in accordance with our published Access Agreement for 2016–17 which was developed and agreed with the Students’ Union in 2015.”

The School argues there is no question that the bursary money was ‘misallocated’–the entire bursary fund was spent, on bursaries. However, for Stennett and Enoch-Moye, the focus on the semantics of the argument misses the point: what is important is that students did not get the financial support they needed from SOAS, and which SOAS implied would be there for them. For Stennett, this is just one part of a wider campaign to stand up for working-class students who are disadvantaged in and outside SOAS. This involves taking on discriminatory issues such as library fines, which unfairly penalise poorer students, and the system of applying for hardship grants, which consists of an interrogative process that has made some students feel uncomfortable.

This sentiment has been echoed by the Student Union, which this week issued a statement of support for Stennett and Enoch-Moye’s position and the use of the term ‘misallocation’. The SU also stressed the wider context of the dispute, something which is also important to Stennett and EnochMoye. In a statement, the SU said: “The struggle for the reallocation of bursaries must be read within the context of SOAS’s colonial legacy. The university continues to replicate and reinforce structural inequality, as exemplified by the racial attainment gap and racial and gendered hierarchies within the workplace… The school is all too eager to adopt decolonizing when it suits them as a marketing tool, but is unwilling to redress the financial inequality that continues to disproportionately affect black and working class students.”

In order to move forward, SOAS management and the SU have announced a series of meetings to consider the possibility of additional bursary funds or fee waivers, potentially funded by strike deduction funds. In addition, Stennett and Enoch-Moye have declared that they will be putting together an Access Report representing the experiences of disadvantaged students, highlighting the importance of financial aid.

Students who wish to contribute can contact workingclass@ soas.ac.uk.

That said, against a background of rising fees and increased concerns about the marketization of universities, as evidenced by the ongoing strikes, it is unlikely that the issues fuelling this row are going to go away any time soon.

SU Elections: Jess, Hau-Yu, Sophie and Youssra elected as your new Co-Presidents Hannah Somerville, MA Arabic Literature

Results for the Student Union elections were announced on the 3rd March. Sixteen of the 17 contested posts have now been filled after a week of intense campaigning and strident efforts on the part of the SU to encourage students to use their vote. A perfect storm of arctic conditions and industrial action has have resulted in a low turnout at this year’s elections.

Despite this, just 1,207 people – less than a quarter of those eligible to vote – had taken part by the time the polls closed on Saturday, March 3. In a statement accompanying the official results, the SU conceded that the figure was down on previous years. But it added: “Due to the disruption caused by the strikes and the weather we were forecasting an even lower turnout.

“We would like to congratulate all the candidates, winners and losers, for their hard work campaigning and being a vital part of Union democracy.”

Among the successful candidates was Rachel Hau-Yu Tam, a part-time MA Law student and current Postgraduate Taught Officer who had emailed postgraduates urging them to vote

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on Saturday. At the time, just 150 out of a possible 2,500 had done so.

Speaking at a Hustings the previous weekend, she said: “PGT students make up 50 per cent of the student body and there is this self-perpetuating myth that they’re not interested in politics because they’re here for one year and they’re just going to leave… What my thing is is to try to burst these bubbles and stop these myths from self-perpetuating.”

The new Co-President Equality and Liberation is Youssra Omer Farouk Elmagboul, who said she would “create a space in the Union that is for everyone” and work towards reforming the bursaries system at SOAS. Jess Kumwongpin-Barnes, who successfully contested the position of Co-President Welfare and Campaigns, said that while in many ways SOAS was an “active, engaged, political university” students had been “fed this PR dream” by a School offering students decreased levels of support, adding: “All of the best parts of this university have come from us.”

Following allegations of overspending, Mohammed Juned Khan a candidate for the role of Co-President Activities and Events was disqualified. This disqualification was upheld following a NUS investigation. Sophie Benett was elected to the role of Co-President Activities and Events.

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Student Union Election Results Full results (winners in bold): Co-President Democracy & Education Dhruv Shreyas Ramnath 51 Hamish Anderson 301 307 Rachel Hau-Yu Tam 289 299 Christian Douglas Dixon 182 R.O.N. 10

Mature Students’ Officer M Kabeer Majeed 128 Tania Raquel Assuncao Martins 298 R.O.N. 16

347 349 199

LGBTQIA+ Officer Peadar Davey 254 R.O.N. 33

Co-President Welfare & Campaigns Dinah Yaqub 280 Jess Kumwongpin-Barnes 395 R.O.N. 22 Co-President Equality & Liberation Youssra Omer Farouk Elmagboul Nima Mudey 270 322 Katouche Goll 214 R.O.N. 13

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Accommodation Officer Jonny Morrison 481 R.O.N. 52

Women’s Officer Catherine Emmanuella Koroma Whitfield 61 Cindy Tan & Josefine Brons 85 93 109 Jennifer Brough 44 Marta Perez Fernandez and Nadine Al-Manqour 56 R.O.N. 3

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Entertainments Officer Yijia Tu 487 R.O.N. 34

Anti-racism Officer Krish Sanjiv Aurora 492 R.O.N. 70 Campaigns Officer Saly Toure & Vanessa Berhe R.O.N. 76

Sports Officer Inigo Carro 295 Matthew Mee & Holly Sampson 253 R.O.N. 43

People of Colour Officer Sabrina Shah and Hafsah Janjua 78 Talya Scott-Mason 25 R.O.N. 6

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Disabled Students & Carers Officer Beulah Samuel-Ogbu & India Rose Fuller Ayling 508 R.O.N. 16 Environment Officer Bareera Ahmed 152 Jamila Alexandra Versi 419 R.O.N. 10 International Officer Ahmed Imtiaz 334 Antonio Fronteddu and Siun Frances Post R.O.N. 7

Trans* and Gender Identity Officer Freya Eva Matthews 9 Sonja Shah 17 R.O.N. 0 Co-President Activities & Events Sophie Bennett 471 Jethro Jenkins 280 R.O.N. 31

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The four newly-elected Co-Presidents: Rachel Hau-Yu Tam, Youssra Omer Farouk Elmagboul, Jess Kumwongpin-Barnes and Sophie Bennett. (Credit: SOAS Spirit)

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Far-right group attempts to make its presence felt at SOAS By a SOAS Spirit Contributor The proto-fascist group Generation Identity has been attempting to make its presence felt at SOAS. Generation Identity is a self-described “Pan European Identitarian Movement sweeping Europe, now in the UK and Ireland”. It uses the language of identity politics to argue for white nationalism.

The movement sends its members to military-style training camps in Europe to learn to fight with weapons, while claiming to take part in “peaceful activism” to “promote the values of homeland, freedom and tradition”, according to its own website.

Generation Identity stickers found on the SOAS campus last month (Credit: SOAS Spirit)

The organisation also places emphasis on patriotism and preservation of “cultural heritage” and “ethno-cultural identity”. The Generation Identity website lists combatting “globalization”, stopping “the Islamisation of Europe”, and stopping and reversing the “Great Replacement” (the perceived takeover of Europe by mass immigration from “Third

World” countries to replace “indigenous Europeans’, which is a common conspiracy theory believed by the far right) as its aims.

At SOAS the group has been putting up stickers and leafleting. Photographs of GI stickers at SOAS have been posted triumphantly on its Facebook page.

Some of these stickers were found in the Undergraduate Computer Room on the lower ground floor of the Main Building, which requires a student ID to enter. This suggests that GI members are studying at SOAS, or someone gave them access to the area.

The leader of GI UK and Ireland, Damhnait McKenna, last year said that the organisation’s focus on “ethno-cultural identity” and callsing for all illegal immigrants to be repatriated were not extreme.

It has been present at various University of London campuses hoping to recruit students, such as UCL. Introducing the idea of “racial purity” to higher education institutions in the UK would allow Generation Identity and its ideology to gain greater influence.

In response, students at SOAS held a demonstration to state re-iterate that groups such as Generation Identity are not welcome at SOAS. One of the speakers at the rally claimed that the growing prominence of fascist movements was symptomatic of wider socio-economic problems.

The SOAS Antifascists group has also written an open letter to Generation Identity, reiterating that the group is not welcome at SOAS. It states: “We have written to you to express condemnation of your politics and your recent attempts to intimidate students and recruit members to your fascist organisation from various UoL universities. Your well-branded, obviously well-funded attempt to give fascism a pretty face in the UK has not gone unnoticed.

“Students at SOAS, and at other universities which you have targeted, refuse to be intimidated by your propaganda.

Propaganda directly targeting certain groups in our beautifully diverse and multicultural institutions, based on the colour of their skin and a gross misunderstanding of their beliefs. We are not afraid, not of you or of any other fascist

opportunists who seek to divide us.”

Founded in France and influential in Germany and Austria, Generation Identity plans to spread to the UK and officially opened its UK branch in October 2017, although it had already been operating beforehand and had set up a Facebook page in July. A banner was dropped on Westminster Bridge which read “Defend London – Stop Islamisation” to mark its arrival in the UK. Leaders in Europe see this is the start of a campaign to reach people and build networks across the English-speaking world.

More of the stickers promoting Generation Identity can be seen around Central London, with a great number since covered up with anti-fascist stickers.

The leader of GI UK and Ireland, Damhnait McKenna, last year said that the organisation’s focus on “ethno-cultural identity” and callsing for all illegal immigrants to be repatriated were not extreme.

She told the Independent: “We want to bring a revival to our culture and our way of life. Our biggest concern of course is becoming a minority in our own country.”

On its website, GI UK lists Guillaume Faye’s Why We Fight as a recommended reading. In this publication, Fayre (a French journalist) argues ‘Identity’s basis is biological; without it the realms of culture … are unsustainable”.

It also advocates ‘ethnopluralism’, which in practice means racial segregation. Scottish Dawn, a now-banned group which was a branch of neo-Nazi terrorist organisation National Action, claimed to share Generation Identity’s ideals, called itself an “identitarian social movement” and adopted the same colour scheme.

Despite all of this, Generation Identity insists it does not provide a platform for national socialism or fascism. Unusually it also appeals to largely middle class, urban youth, and many of its members are women. The group has gained support after capitalising on terrorist attacks claimed by ISIS and on anti-immigrant sentiment by crowdfunding a boat to stop rescues of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. The group is also well-funded and internet-savvy, looking to attract young people to its cause.

If you see any GI stickers and plan on taking them down, the safest option is to use a pen or a similar object. Groups like GI sometimes place razors under their stickers.

Generation Identity is holding a conference in London on April 14. A demonstration is planned in opposition to the group at 10am and at 5pm the following day.

SOAS announces its new ‘Fossil Fuels Free University’ status Ines Rodier BA Politics and Development Studies SOAS has announced that fossil fuels are no longer being used the institutuion. This achievement is the result of a commitment made three years ago by the administration to divest totally from fossil fuels.

Between 2008 and 2015, SOAS had already halved its carbon emissions from buildings, a reduction of 55 per cent. The institution was ranked third over 126 other UK universities in the 2015/ 2016 University Carbon Progress Report. This big step was followed by the decision in June 2014 to stop investing in fossil fuels, as then -Director Paul Webley declared, “while continuing to

ensure that the School’s investments deliver a financial return”.

This came after an 18-month long campaign, during which students and staff called on the School to join the “global fossil fuel divestment movement”. SOAS then became the first university in London and the third in the UK–after Glasgow and Bedfordshire universities–to commit to pulling its investments out of fossil fuel.

Today, the school no longer has investments within the oil and gas producers subsector or any companies that derive more than 10 per cent of their revenues from coal mining. Even more promisingly, SOAS does not use energies such as gas and oil anymore.

Some have said that this is proof of the commitment of the students and staff to be

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Solar panels on the roof of the Old Building at SOAS (Credit: Creative Commons)

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SOAS’s example demonstrates that divesting from fossil fuels can only bring benefits.

In fact, reduction in utility consumption has enabled the School to save approximately

14 MARCH 2018 £1.2m between 2008 and 2015. Moreover, the ban of the fossil fuels does not mean that the university will struggle logistically; the use of energy in the campus is on the contrary more intensive. At the same time, recycling facilities have increased in number but also been improved so that a greater range of materials can be recycled. A solar panel initiative has

Justice for Workers continue their fight to be brought in-house Arooj Sultan, BA Economics & Politics After a hard-fought campaign taking place over a period of 11 years, in August 2017 SOAS management announced that it meet the demands of the Justice for Workers (J4W) campaign and bring all outsourced staff in-house by September 2018.

Following this historic announcement, workers were promised that all current staff would directly be employed by the university, putting them on equal footing with existing SOAS employees in terms of pay, benefits and working conditions.

In the first meeting called to discuss the in-house process, on the 26th of January 2018, the primary agenda of the working groups designed to assist in the process was that of examining operational details such as uniforms, as opposed to more salient issues like how to achieve contractual parity.

When asked about future terms and working conditions by the worker’s representatives present there, the response from management was that contractual matters would be Credit: J4W campaign

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discussed in a separate working group.

However, at that time, it was found that particular working group was not to contain any workers or union representatives. In response, the workers resolved not to participate in any of the aforementioned working groups until their concerns were addressed more fully and transparently. The workers demanded a cohesive timeline for the process, and reiterated their demand for guarantees that they will be brought into SOAS under the same conditions as existing staff.

J4W has put forward a list of demands that they want SOAS management to satisfy. Different categories of outsourced workers, such as security and cleaning, have each produced their specific concerns which have been incorporated into the larger list. The demands range from allocating overtime hours into permanent contracts, to targeted training for handling harassment and IT issues. A list of key demands can be found in the first issue of the SOAS Workers Bulletin.

also been brought to fruition by Solar SOAS, a group comprised of SOAS students and alumni, to install community-owned solar panels on campus. There are now 114 solar panels on the roof of the SOAS Old Building, producing 29.6 Kilowatts of electricity.

All these initiatives go hand in hand with the legitimacy of the school to teach and

support essential global causes. As Andrew Taylor, manager of People & Planet, has noted: “Universities that continue to say no to divestment are eroding their legitimacy to teach about sustainability”.

SOAS Management commits to rejoining the TEF Arooj Sultan, BA Economics & Politics SOAS is among the higher education institutions that is set to re-enter the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) – a system in which teaching excellence is rewarded financially according to ranking – over the course of this year.

Last year, SOAS received a bronze ranking under the TEF. The bronze ranking is the lowest that can be awarded. But this was received after a successful boycott of the National Student Survey (NSS) by the SOAS student body. This was because the TEF largely uses the results of the NSS to rank universities, and the boycott meant that SOAS was omitted from the NSS results.

In a recent Union General Meeting (UGM) the SOAS Student Union resolved to once again boycott the NSS. For the boycott to be successful no more than 50% of all third year undergraduate students can take the survey.

The SU is implementing this boycott as part of its commitment towards resisting the marketisation of higher education.

Through successful boycotts at SOAS and other institutions such as Oxford, UCL and

Kings’, the government’s proposal to link the NSS results, and through that the TEF, to university fees was shut down in the House of Lords.

However, fees and the NSS survey results have only been decoupled until 2021. Therefore, there is a danger that the plan could be revived if the NSS is able to gather data deemed necessary for the aforementioned plan to be implemented.

The current government’s plan had been to use the data from the NSS to rank universities under the TEF, and then link the rankings with funding by applying differential fees either by course or university —the TEF rankings would then serve to encourage competition between universities.

As per the SU’s statement from the February UGM, SOAS is not benefitting from the TEF. Since the inception of the TEF the school has become focused on projects to improve its ranking, at the expense of ignoring more pressing problems at the school.

At the same time, SOAS has its own internal module feedback surveys and the Decolonise SOAS campaign as forms of alternative assessment. The TEF metric is therefore not needed to rate our university.

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Launch of May’s review of higher education fees Sumayyah Daisy Lane, BA History On Monday, February 19, Prime Minister Theresa May set out the details of the Tory government’s delayed long-year review of the UK’s higher education fees. During the speech, May admitted to the UK being home to “one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world”, with current tuition fees for undergraduate university courses reaching a whopping £9,250 per year.

Prime Minister Theresa May (Credit: Creative Commons)

To this end, it has been decided that an independent body will conduct the review to investigate university funding, high tuition fees and ways to reduce costs, and bring back maintenance grants for disadvantaged students.

Tuition fees will not be scrapped. However, the student loan repayment threshold is also set to increase from £21,000 to £25,000 in April 2018. May has promised to freeze current fees for the duration of the review and hinted at potentially implementing lower fees for humanities and social science degrees – a proposal that has been heavily criticised on the basis that it may deter students from studying STEM subjects.

Furthermore, the proposal deprecates the value universities that offer mainly humanity subjects, such as SOAS. Many have expressed concerns about this idea as it may result in an ‘education hierarchy’. Labour’s pledge to both reintroduce maintenance grants and scrap tuition fees altogether in the run-up to last year’s election proved popular amongst young voters. But the Tories claim such drastic measures would both cause a rise in taxes and cost the government far too much; university fees bring in a total of £11bn a year.

The review’s launch comes at the same time as the UCU strike against changes to pensions, as well as the news that the salaries of vice-chancellors at UK universities have increased by more than 50 per cent. It has also been revealed that 95 per cent of vice-chancellors attend the committee meetings that regulate their own pay.

According to SOAS’ last Annual Equality and Diversity report in 2016, BME students make up 55% of SOAS students and BME staff has risen to 39.2%, both of whom stand to lose the most in the face of rising fees and pension cuts.The higher education sector is currently in crisis, with the president of Universities UK saying the system should be “better understood and feel fairer to students”. There are numerous expectations from this review, with the findings set to be released in 2019.

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Ethiopia on the brink

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn Resigns Emma Ruiters, MSc Development Economics On February 15 this year, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) resigned, igniting the greatest political crisis to rock the country since the end of communist rule in 1991.

Desalegn had risen to power in 2012 following the death of long-term leader Meles Zenawi, of whom he was a close ally. He has since been praised for invigorating Ethiopia’s economy, but remains tarnished by accusations of human rights violations and lack of democracy.

In recent years Ethiopia has turned into an economic powerhouse with an average growth rate of 10.5% for over a decade, making it the fastest growing economy in the region.

However, its per capita income is still low at $660, with the second largest population in Africa at a staggering population of 102.5 million.

Desalegn’s resignation has left Ethiopia in turmoil until a new leader is selected. Ethiopia’s complex political landscape runs along ethnic lines, with ethnically-based states ruled by a coalition of four parties. The Tigrayan minority dominates this coalition. The cause of the uncertainty is an issue of succession: from which ethnic group will Desalegn’s successor come?

The coalition government declared a state of emergency to assure stability in the transition, which was later ratified after a vote. However, the opposition party has cast doubt on the validity of this vote, after parliamentary video footage showed the parliamentary speaker announcing a lower number of votes than was officially stated. The government

has thus been accused of rigging in favour of the ratification of the state of emergency.

Commentators such as Hirut Zemene, a senior foreign ministry official, have said that the state of emergency is necessary for political and democratic reform. The government has cracked down on the media, controlling access to the internet and mobile networks. This is with the intent to maintain law and order.

Unrest in Ethiopia, with its large military and strong economy, may destabilize a region already beset by strife in South Sudan and Somalia. Domestically, widespread protests and the government repression have resulted in the death of hundreds, and thousands more arrests. This has been particularly notable in the Oromia region of Ethiopia where there has been discontent over land seizures, unemployment and reform. Youths who call themselves “Qeerroo”, meaning “Youth”, have been protesting for a more equal spread of economic gains. It is these disaffected youths who pose a threat to the current regime, with some fearing that even the military may not be able to quash the resistance.

Bekele Gerba, a prominent critic of the government, was released from prison along with other dissidents after Desalegn’s resignation. An admirer of Martin Luther King Jr, he has been meeting with the Qeeroo to inspire them to pursue politics and governance rather than just protesting, saying: “The idea is to bring the Qeerroo to power, the good Qeerroo, the educated Qeerroo. This old generation [of politicians] must go.”

Ethiopia must resolve the inequalities caused by its rapid economic growth in order to achieve political stability. It remains to be seen how Desalegn’s resignation will impact the country going forward.

Trump-Russia inquiry:

What does the long-awaited Democrat memo mean?

Amina Tasnim, BA History The Trump-Russia inquiry has seen a significant development with the release of the long-awaited Democratic memo

by The House Intelligence Committee on February 24thth.

Alex van der Zwaan, 33, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his relations with Rick Gates, who was a part of the Trump campaign. Van der Zwaan failed to inform prosecutors of emails sent and disclosing names of certain people who have also been a part of this investigation. This marked a significant turn of events, further suggesting that there was a joint scheme between the Trump electoral campaign and Russia.

Representative Adam Schiff released the ten-page memo alongside a tweet, which read: “Some time ago, Republicans on our committee released a declassified memo that omitted and distorted key facts in order to mislead the public and impugn the integrity of the FBI.”

This document is a rebuttal to the four-page Nunes memo which was released earlier this month, entailing details of the FBI and their use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the presidential elections of 2016.

Former M16 Agent Christopher Steele put together a dossier, known as the Trump-Russia dossier, containing major details of Trump-Russian connections. The Nunes memo highlighted was that Steeles’s investigative research was part funded by Democrats, specifically the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, but this fact was not made known to the court. For this reason, Steele’s work was considered be biased and improper.

The Democrat memo, however, says FBI’s investigation into the Trump-Russian links have “been based on troubling law enforcement and intelligence information unrelated to the dossier”.

The contents of this newly-released memo by the House Intelligence Committee were made public in order to counter allegations made by Republicans. The memo itself reads

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NEWS that the “FBI and DOJ officials did not “abuse” the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign”.

It memo aimed to counter the narrative created by Republicans who have argued that the FBI and the Department of Justice conspired against Trump in the investigation of his connections with Russia. The memo seems to defend the actions of the FBI and the DOJ by stating, “In fact, the DOJ and the FBI would have been remiss in their duty to protect the country had they not sought a FISA warrant and repeated renewals to conduct temporary surveillance of Carter page”.

Carter Page, who was suspected of being a Russian agent, is the reason a FISA warrant was initially requested by the

14 MARCH 2018 FBI in 2016. Page worked closely with Trump during his campaign in 2016. Both the FBI and the DOJ (Department of Justice) had reason to believe Page was in contact with the Kremlin thus, proceeded to investigate him.

Trump has been persistent in his claim that there was no such collusion between his side and the Russians. Trump vented his feelings concerning the memo on Twitter, claiming: “The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!”.

The Democrat memo has marked a significant change in this case, but we still await answers on the Trump-Russia connections and possible collusion during the 2016 presidential elections.

Boycott casts long shadow ahead of Egypt’s sham elections A SOAS Spirit Contributor Opposition leaders in Egypt have called for a boycott as the country grinds towards an ‘election’ that can be described with little to no stretch of the imagination as a farce.

The current schedule will see Egyptians inside the country go to the polls from Monday, March 26 to Wednesday, March 28, facing a stark choice between the military-backed incumbent President Abdel Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Fattah al-Sisi and Moussa Mostafa Moussa, (Credit: Creative Commons) leader of the centrist Ghad Party.

Last month a coalition comprised of eight Egyptian opposition parties and 150 public figure issued an open letter calling for a boycott of the “absurd” poll, urging voters to “stay at home”. Speaking after the campaign launch, opposition figure Abdel-Geleel Mustafa told journalists: “It is not right for us to surrender to what has become an absurdity bordering on madness.”

In the run-up to the candidate registration period in January, a string of would-be challengers were all arrested, prosecuted or intimidated out of the race. They included Khaled Ali, a left-wing lawyer with a strong support base among young Egyptians who took part in the 2011 revolution, who withdrew citing corruption while still appealing against his own “politically motivated” three-month prison sentence.

This came just days after former army chief of staff Sami Anan was arrested by the military on declaring his intention to run, accused of not seeking permission to run and forging documents. Colonel Ahmad Konsawa was also convicted of violating military regulations and jailed for six years.Former Prime Minister Ahmad Shafik was also deported from the UAE, where he had fled in 2012 after losing the general election to Sisi, and arrested on arrival in Egypt.There is also concern that Moussa, a prominent supporter of Sisi who submitted his papers just 15 minutes before the deadline, may be little more than a ‘puppet’ in the upcoming vote.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Prof Sahar Aziz of Rutgers Law School said: “I don’t think that Moussa is a legitimate candidate. He was previously a supporter of Sisi as a candidate, he lobbied and advocated for him, and for him to then announce himself as the opposition… shows that someone called him and said ‘I need you to be a placeholder so it is not so apparent Sisi is destined to win the election’.”

In the circumstances, Egypt’s upcoming election is arguably little more than a democratic veneer legitimising an increasingly tyrannical authoritarian regime – one, lest we forget, that began with the sentencing some 720 men to death after the ousting of former President Mohammed Morsi. Just last week, the President declared defamation of Egypt’s armed forces an act of ‘high treason’.

The possibility of a low turnout and embarrassingly low number of votes cast is now an object of speculation as the countdown begins to the vote, which for expatriates begins on Friday, March 16. Ruminating on the issue in the Saudi-owned Arab News, politician Mohamed Nosseir said: “The political conditions surrounding the 2018 election have basically skimmed off any fat that could have encouraged citizens to go through the hassle of confidential voting.

“The entire world already knows who will win the election, which discourages even the followers of the anticipated winner from participating.

“Unknowingly, the state is pushing its citizens to become more engaged in the underground politics from which Egypt has suffered most in recent decades. It is a sad path for our nation, but one that is apparently our political destiny, and certainly not our choice.”

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Donald Trump, President of USA (Credit: Creative Commons)

Cyril Ramaphosa Sworn in as South Africa’s President Emma Ruiters, MSc Development Economics After his election as president of the African National Congress (ANC) on December 18, 2017, Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as president of the Republic of South Africa on February 15 this year. Ramaphosa succeeds Jacob Zuma after the latter’s nine years in the presidency. His election has renewed hope and optimism amongst South Africans, who have suffered under an ailing economy, increasing unemployment and rising poverty levels with many criticising Zuma’s poor leadership.

Cyril Ramaphosa, the newly-sworn President of South Africa (Credit: Creative Commons)

The transition, however, was hampered by Zuma’s reluctance to step down as leader of South Africa. Zuma’s five year second term had been due to terminate in 2019, after South Africa’s general elections. However, public sentiment, declining popularity, a presidency plagued by scandal and accusations of corruption urged his party to speed up his departure.

In the face of open calls for his resignation, the threat of a vote of no confidence in Parliament, widespread criticism, and extensive negotiation, Zuma stepped down on February 14. He said he had done so while disagreeing with the ANC’s decision, adding: “I have come to the

decision to resign as president of the Republic with immediate effect, even though I disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organization, I have always been a disciplined member of the ANC.” Zuma’s recall paved the way for his deputy president Ramaphosa to become acting president until the general election in 2019. This marks the second time in recent history that a sitting president has been recalled by the ANC. Former president Thabo Mbeki was recalled in 2008.

On February 16, Ramaphosa gave his maiden State of the Nation address. Ranging from issues of job creation to tackling corruption and land redistribution, the speech called for renewal and unity.

Addressing South Africans, Ramaphosa said: “Together we are going to make history. We have done it before and we will do it again – bonded by our common love for our country, resolute in our determination to overcome the challenges that lie ahead and convinced that by working together we will build the fair and just and decent society to which Nelson Mandela dedicated his life.”

Additionally, Ramaphosa invoked the recently deceased Hugh Masekela, South Africa’s ‘Father of Jazz’ who sang ‘Thuma Mina (Send Me)’, a song that anticipates a new South Africa untroubled by poverty, AIDS, and other challenges.

For the first time in years, the state of the nation address proceeded uninterrupted by opposition parties. The speech was well received from all quarters. However, the topic of land redistribution without compensation has caused some discussion. Affected groups have argued that it is unconstitutional. Moreover, Ramaphosa was anticipated to carry out a cabinet reshuffle to root out corrupt and ineffective ministers. The new cabinet was revealed this week with such significant appointments as: David Mabuza as deputy president, Nhlanhla Nene as returning minister of finance and Pravin Gordhan as minister of public enterprises. South Africa is hungry for change after years of economic decline. Ramaphosa is expected to exhibit strong leadership to deliver on his campaign promises.

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14 MARCH 2018

PASS at SOAS: Enhancing Education at University Naima Zannat, (PASS Intern)

to us with questions where they didn’t have much time to ask their professors.

PASS (Peer Assisted Study Support) involves sessions led by higher year students (called PASS leaders) who support the learning of lower year peers in a group learning environment.

These sessions supplement existing learning in lectures and tutorials in a more informal environment led by students.

Here at SOAS, the scheme is currently targeted at students studying Arabic, Mandarin or Persian as part of their degree.

Here are a few words from PASS leaders about their experiences on the scheme: Fatima Al-Habib (second year BA Arabic and Development Studies) and Amelia Storey (second year BA Arabic and History).

Fatima: Also, it doesn’t have to be about grammar, it can be tips about strategies of learning vocabulary. For example, recommending useful resources such as apps. Even if it is just general advice like exam preparation, students can turn up and we’ll see what we can help them with. We guide students.

What is PASS in your own words?

Why should first-year students consider going to PASS sessions?

Fatima: They are basically weekly sessions and are held for one hour a week where first year students can ask questions about Arabic to PASS leaders (who are students usually in the years above). As PASS leaders, we try to help students get to the answer. We’ll go over chapters and example sentences in the book. We help students solve problems independently.

They can come to us with any questions with Arabic such as grammar and speaking.

What does a typical PASS session include?

Amelia: A typical PASS session varies depending on the PASS leaders. So myself and the other PASS leaders approach them with an open mind. We don’t necessarily go in with a fixed structure and we normally have an idea of what activities we can do. But we prioritise whatever students are finding particularly difficult in any given week. So, they will come

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Amelia: So myself and the other PASS leader also meet up with the academic coordinator of Arabic – Mr Said and we will discuss with him what we think students are finding particularly difficult. He can also go through that again when he has time with them.

Amelia: PASS sessions are a space to breathe and continue to learn in a relaxed environment where people are understanding and empathetic and also have the ability to support and help you in your understanding of your own subjects.

When I was in my first year I thought that I could do it all by myself and that I wasn’t going to personally get anything out of speaking to other students. I think a lot of other people have that attitude especially when they’re learning languages because they think you can only really get by with hard work which is mainly sitting in the dark dim library by yourself and burying your head in books- and yes to an extent that is true. However, I think that in my first year, PASS would’ve benefitted me from getting out of the library, going to a nice airy classroom and speaking to somebody who knows exactly what I was going through or could at least empathise very much.

Fatima: I mean it is open to anyone and not only targeted at people who are struggling with Arabic, anyone could come – that’s the whole point. It’s a very non-judgemental environment where students can come and ask whatever they want.

It’s also a place where students can meet new people and help each other out to get to the answer of a problem. It’s a nice session for everyone.

Getting to know someone who was in your position not that long ago is invaluable. We are a source of friendly advice- we’ve done it before and we’ve done things wrong. 40 minutes/50 minutes a week is not a huge amount of time – if students attend they’ll spend it well. It is also more active, students can get involved more, and it really helps with practicing the language. In lectures, maybe students might sit and listen. In PASS, everyone will be doing something.

Any advice for people interested in becoming PASS leaders?

Fatima: Go for it – you have nothing to lose. It is a cool experience to have- there’s not much pressure, it’s not like a tutor where you are directing people on what to do. You meet really funny people and it is a nice environment. It is not that demanding.

Amelia: I think I would say to someone who wants to be a PASS leader that you have to understand why PASS is a great thing and stand by it. I think everyone can get something out of it. It is an opportunity for me to revisit things that I covered last year but don’t necessarily have time to revise this year. It’s a good reminder as well of how far Arabic students do come from the first year to the second year. It’s nice and reassuring.

For more information about PASS, please contact Learning and Teaching Development at ltd@soas.ac.uk

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14 MARCH 2018

https://soasspirit.co.uk/category/features/ Features Editors: Amelia Storey, Marta Perez Fernandez

Your Rituals and You Featuring my one-to-one with Mother Ayawaska

By Emrys Lucca One dim Sunday evening this winter, I stepped out into the city gulping the polluted air with greater relief than ever before.

Leaving a building I’d met eight hours ago, I wrapped myself in mother-made garments, feeling a warmth of gratitude all over my skin. I attempted a watery smile at the friend who’d come to escort me home, mocking normality with my uncontrollably widened eyes. By God was I happy to be in that moment.

Minutes before, I was consciously stop-

ping myself from running outside in escape.

Having finally exchanged my white clothes for my normal attire, I hurriedly shook a couple of hands and might have managed a smile or two at folks who must have gone on equally mind-warping voyages–but were unnervingly calm. They’d just consumed quite a lot of Ayawaska periodically, a brew containing the same psychedelic ingredients as magic mushrooms, sourced from South American plants. Unlike me, most of the individuals in this bare-footed, mismatched congregation were regulars. In line with the Santo Daime tradition, they had sung in Spanish, danced, and stood segregated

Rituals (Credit: Creative Commons)

Parting thoughts Anonymous Born the eldest grandchild in the family, I was showered with love and praise my whole childhood. That, among other things, eventually shaped me into a man who constantly craved the validation of others. Facebook and Instagram likes only made things worse. Fast-forward several years and I now find myself in my third year at SOAS, University of London. I am President of a society, editor of the university’s monthly newspaper and a student representative of my course.

Yet, I cannot help but think that I am living my life merely to please others. There are times where I remember one person’s remarks being sufficient to ruin my whole day, prompting me to rethink the entire way I interacted with friends, family and strangers. But if SOAS has taught me anything in these past three years, it’s that you can break your own back trying to be the kindest, most helpful and

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Features

according to gender. This was not their first time eagerly chugging down that bitter poison, illegal in most countries across the world.

Contrary to popular bias surrounding ‘drug-use’, the majority of this group were not jobless, hopeless, and certainly not dangerous. They were not distant and desperate, and in fact I felt aware of a normality which I was disturbingly separate from.

For these individuals, Daime had become a ritual just like any other in our lives. The image of rituals may be burdened by associations with questionable cults, or misunderstood compulsive behaviour, but rituals are recurring habits we’d be lost without.

Either consciously or unconsciously, we define our days by routine and habit, sometimes for the purpose of comfort and reassurance, sometimes for the purpose of intentional growth. Like smoking, drinking, or meditating, the return to this ceremony had become an essential in the lives of these people: an act of grounding, a saving ritual.

But this was not a concept which I could, at that point, process. I’d only just crawled out, barely whole, from my all-too-real ‘journey’. I had lain on an unfamiliar floor with pallid skin and convulsing limbs whilst my mind was a distant traveller in a world of vibrant colour, sound and memory. Like a cruel puppeteer Mother Ayawaska opened curtain after curtain, giving glimpses of scenes that both warmed and stung me. But before long the puppet shows with their bright characters ended. The curtains had closed but the trapdoor had opened beneath me, and I tumbled relentlessly through infinite time loops and layers of discordant realities. A shift in my consciousness occurred–one strived for in this era of ‘Wokeness’; that is, temporary absolution from the Ego. But it wasn’t half as redeem-

amicable being on the planet but the world will still find reasons to despise you. Being true to oneself in a world as fake as the one we are living in today is no longer an attitude of choice. It has become necessary. And so, I start off this article with a simple message for anyone who bothered to pick up this last issue of the SOAS Spirit or read it online: don’t let others decide how you should live your life or how you should present yourself in a public setting.

Set your own goals and strive to achieve them. It might seem intimidating at first but as soon as you learn to not become dependent on the validation of others, your life will improve exponentially. I promise.

Now, let’s move on to a topic that is very close to my heart.

SOAS, unbeknownst to me 3 years ago, would be the place I would miss the most when it would be time for me to leave.

It’s still only the beginning of March and it feels like all SOAS faculty and friends are becoming a distant memory. We are in the middle of UCU strikes and a very snowy week in London as a storm dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’ strikes the country, delaying spring until further notice. Students have stopped coming to university and the lecture theatres, corridors and classrooms seem empty and devoid of life. This wasn’t the send-off I was expecting as a final year student but

ing as I’d thought. As well as being tossed carelessly between planes of reality, I became stripped of my whole sense of self and corresponding memories. I was scared sh*tless. This new nameless consciousness certainly had a level of beauty surrounding it – but it was a level of freedom and detachment that was itself a dreadful entrapment.

I scrambled for a semblance of consistency until I was somewhat returned to this ‘true’ reality.

Impatiently awaiting the end of the ceremony, I found myself gazing around at the other children of Mother Ayawaska that Sunday. One bald man who didn’t speak much English was evidently still tripping as we chanted closing prayers around the makeshift altar, his eyes rolling in his head and his body rocking on his feet like a man on a precipice. This had been a ritual of grounding through escapism. Like many of us, I rely on my habits and rituals for continual grounding. And like many of us, my health depends upon this. Mother Ayawaska put me on a cloud far away from the ground – for me, this level of escapism didn’t feel safe, at least not at this time in my life. Nevertheless, I can appreciate the ritual as one which, like all habits, can be useful, reassuring and addictive. So whilst I’m sticking to smoking raspberry leaf, meditating and drinking seven cups of tea a day, I recognise that, for our bald friend, Daime may be a point of touchdown; whether that’s for better or worse is not for me to say.

This is not an endorsement of drug use, smoking, alcohol, or drinking seven cups of tea a day. It is a request that we acknowledge the unique relationships individuals have with ritualistic activities, and a call to harness our own rituals for the sake of our continual and unlimited self-growth.

I guess I can’t complain, considering how lively the previous two years have been.

The elections, the protests, the UGMs and the oh-so-beautiful JCR are what makes SOAS so unique and special. I’ll miss the adrenaline rush I would get before delivering a big speech at Hustings or before a Society event. I’ll miss the feeling of euphoria after finishing an assignment at the very last minute. I’ll miss the smell of delicious Hare Krishna food emanating from the stall next to the Main Building. I’ll miss many more things about SOAS but most of all, I’ll miss the people who made SOAS feel like home. They accepted me despite my shortcomings, my (at times) childish behaviour, my stubborn-ness and vanity. I wish them all the best that life can offer and hope that I can see them again sometime in the future.

This looks unlikely for the time being, considering that I’ll be thousands of miles away in a country with not the best reputation in terms of security, law and order. But things are getting better gradually and SOASians are brave people in general so I should still keep my hopes up. As I now leave SOAS behind for what appears to be the last time and step into the real world, I fear nothing. I have all that I need… except for a job.

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“Yet I’ll Speak”: The Life of Paul Robeson Marta Perez-Fernandez BA Economics and Development Studies 1898, a cool spring day in New Jersey. He was born, to a mother and father.

1901, it’s about his father, and whispered conversations while he is sleeping. Them at Princeton, they want him to stop preaching.

The very air in the house seems to change; soon the house itself will have to go. He’s learning about his lifelong battle already, as he sleeps.

1904, his mother dies. She was already blind, there was a house fire. He was only six, but he remembers her when he sings.

1912, high school, his canvas to explore.

He sings (he always sings), but he knows more secrets about words and how they sound together; he knows about Othello and Julius Caesar, about standing and crouching and letting your world be cut up on a stage.

He knows about the field; about holding breaths, and running, letting your body become an extension of thought. He excels; they all say it. He gets the university scholarship. He will be the only black person there.

1915 smells bitter; the looks he gets from debate team members and the guys at the Glee Club. It smells like the iodine he uses when the Scarlet Knights football team takes his brilliance too personally; like the twisting smile from the football coach announcing that he has, of course, made the team. He fights on the most important front still: it’s World War One, black people are dying for America and their names are nowhere to be seen. It’s Rutgers; excitement, indignance, a diploma and a head held high, and whispers still carrying his name.

1921, he’s at Columbia Law, singing in Harlem, hearing his voice meet and mingle with others. He meets her, Essie; she brings shine to his doubts, his mistrusts. Thanks to her, he experiences the wildest happiness: his theatrical debut. Thanks to her, he experiences the wildest happiness: a chapel, vows he memorizes, she dressed in white. He’s still playing football, for the NFL; that stops, and he graduates once more.

1923, he will not be a lawyer: he’s seen the way they look at him, he knows his calling is elsewhere. His acting is a thing that defies;

Paul Robeson (Credit: SOAS Alumni Series)

he speaks truths with his body, with his voice. Success becomes a sharp thing, a thing that elevates. There are tours. She will soon become pregnant. He will soon have a son, named after him. It will redefine success.

1928, in London. The Theatre Royal opens its doors to him: he will star in its most profitable show for 80 years. His “Ol’ Man River” becomes the basis for all future performances for generations to come. He performs at Buckingham Palace, surrounded by ivories and gold. The excitable MPs want him to know their names. They buy a home in London. When they go out, he is sometimes refused seating.

1930 is Othello, and the highest grace.

Do Not Read Writer: A friend you don’t know you have I need to get something off my chest.

Phew. Here we go.

Wow. This really is harder than it seems. All right.

You may or may not (hopeful emphasis on the may not) have heard of Ayn Rand, and what she’s written. She’s widely regarded as immensely problematic; her writing has championed, and even been the cornerstone of, neoliberal thinking. She has written novels such as Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, and they’re novels of ideas, specifically engineered to help her prove her point. I’ve heard her

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He is the first Black actor to play the lead since Ira Aldridge. He meets her there; she is beautiful and talented, perhaps a genius; and when Essie finds out, it stands out as a scar, it haunts; it never again leaves him.

1934, he is in London, at a School of Oriental and African Studies. He studies African dialects and writes an essay among many, “I Want To Be African”. He becomes an international movie star. He becomes even more sharply aware of the political meaning of his roles. He visits Nazi Germany, and hates it.

He visits the Soviet Union, and loves it.

1938, he knows that whatever role he plays on stage will come second to his role of activist. He aids the Republicans in the

disparaged, slandered, hated. I’ve kept my mouth shut.

So, here goes: Ayn Rand saved my life.

I know, getting personal! So fast! I feel so close to you, it’s like you’ve known me my whole life.

How did this seemingly cold, neoliberal mastermind save my life? With a clever speech that Howard Roark makes in The Fountainhead.

I’ve still got it memorized, five years after I first read it.

The messages I’ve learnt from it have shaped me and freed me; allowed me to become well-rounded and critical; have taught me curiosity and, most importantly, that elusive art that is self-love. Let me take you on a journey. Set aside, if you can, those preconceptions I’ve just thrown at you. Let me walk you through the speech’s finer points.

Freedom comes from realizing your strength as an individual. Of course, relating to people and communities

fight against fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He is taught the Chinese song “Arise” by a progressive activist; he knows it in Mandarin.

It becomes the Chinese National Anthem after 1949, owing to the reputation he gives it. Grace, the highest, in a different form.

1946, he meets with U.S. President Truman. Four black men have just been lynched. He founds the American Crusade Against Lynching, and is deemed violent for it. He is willing to risk his life for them; he will do it time and time again.

1950, blacklist. Stop-at-all-ports. He is no longer allowed to travel outside the United States. He presents a petition to the United Nations, that lynching is genocide. The President and State Department spread falsehoods about him in Africa. They believe they can stop him. They are why he fights.

1957, still wading through Cold War America like concrete. He says his political ideology ought not be at odds with his constitutional rights; those inherited with his being an American. His passport is revoked.

In London, St Pancras Town Hall, 1,000 tickets have sold out in an hour to hear him sing.

He does it over the telephone.

1958, he is allowed to travel free. They are still spreading lies about him; his singing breaks records as it always did. He is the first black man to sing at a service in St Paul’s Cathedral. He plays Othello again, at Stratford-upon-Avon.

1961, he becomes disjointed. They’ve been after him all this time. He tried to kill himself because they were going to do it anyway. It was the CIA, MI5. His recovery is a lengthy, mistrustful, and fragile thing. It’s their hands he doesn’t trust.

1963, he is back in the United States. He cannot assume a place in the mainstream civil rights movement: he watches instead as it unfolds. He thinks of his voice all these years, how it spelled hope.

1976, he dies. He lives, still, in every stubbornness and every truth, in wrongs and rights. He is remembered in dreams and realities, for making magic with his voice, his body, his hands. For letting little black boys dream. He lives, still, in that stubborn little school that helped him find his truth; he is our footsteps.

is human: most importantly, the way in which you relate to them is your choice. Nobody has the right to claim any part of you, your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, that you do not allow them to take. It is simply not theirs to claim. You are always allowed to say no. If you create, you are allowed to create for you: your mind, when you attempt to please, is being restricted. Let your kindness, your gentleness, your sweetness, come genuinely, without being compelled by any person. Sacrifice, in my opinion, is a noble and beautiful thing. No one is allowed to force you into it. Choice is gold, above all.

That is how Ayn Rand’s ideas changed my life. Always to be taken with a pinch of salt, like all ideologies. I read her and I found someone ready to champion my right to exist by my own rules. Now yours, too. Thanks for listening.

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UCU strike: a controversial matter?

Testimonies from those on the picket line and those who chose to cross it Ilaria Grasso Macola, BA International Relations

Crossers

Ellis Warren, BA Japanese and Economics: “I support the strike, I’m fully behind it.

At the same time, I really value my classes and my Japanese teacher has been very kind in going ahead with the classes despite the strike, so I feel inclined to go to class”.

Student: “I fully support the strike and the cause behind it, but I had to enter because I have an exam tomorrow. Other than that I wouldn’t have come in”.

Student: “Me and my friend just crossed the picket line, because we support the strike but we should be allowed to use the facilities” Student: “I understand why they do it but [...] I still need to access the building, because I don’t have a place to study” Student: “The emails that the lecturers sent out, saying that the topics they’re not going to cover are to be covered by the students themselves...it’s absurd, because they still are going to examine us”.

George, a final year Law student, said that he supports the strike with a few caveats. His main problem with it was that there should have been a uniform approach to making students aware of how it would impact them.

Moreover, he linked the strike with a broader economic transition, where the value of university will go down as a result of student debts, and alternatives for higher education will pop up.

Credit: Milhouse Storey

A Masters student: “This is part of me striking within the strike because I don’t think SOAS administration deserve for me to pay the full tuition. Three weeks of classes that are cancelled should be taken out of our tuition fees. […] I am an international self-funded student so why would I give my money to SOAS if I am not getting the services [that I’m paying for]? Those are my savings from work and my family are refugees so I need the money more than SOAS does”.

Student: “It’s a pity that the SU did not have a voting for it. They just made the decision and to some extent, the SU doesn’t stand for us [students]”.

Student: “I boycotted classes the first two strike days in solidarity, and many if not all of my lectures are cancelled for the next three weeks. I support the aims of the strike and the demands of the lecturers.

However, the conduct on the picket line today [26th Feb] in front of the main building was aggressive and in-your-face. The library is not striking, so there is no reason for students not to use it. Yet I was accosted demanding to know if I knew there was a strike (how could I not know?) and my way was blocked. I had to ask the person to move out of my way.

It made me absolutely furious to be challenged by someone who knows nothing about me and who is not supposed to be blocking the way. A fellow student of mine was called “selfish” to her face.

This is not the right way to build support for the strike or the requests of the lecturers.”

Credit: Ali Mitib

Picketeers

of education in this neoliberal system and understand that what is going on right now, it all fits into the privatisation of education”

Nisha, Co-president ‘Democracy and Education’: “We have been trying to engage the students in different ways, including the Open Forum we had and the student meeting to discuss the future of higher education. We did try to take it to a Union General Meeting (UGM) on the 17 of January as an emergency motion. […] that UGM did not make quorum, due to turn-up and so the emergency motion was no longer valid when the UGM was rescheduled for the 22 of January”. th

nd

Dimitri, Co-president ‘Welfare and Campaigns’: “I would invite students to take more thoughts in terms of how they can use the power they actually hold in this institution, because they both hold a lot of power over the institution and also over their own SU, and that has always been information that we tried to make as clear as possible.” The Co-president also called for re-directing the frustration and anger towards “those who are actually threatening our education and our working conditions, as opposed to directing it at each other”.

Blanca, BA International Relations and Geography, said that she supports the strike not only as a student but also as Academic officer. “It is our duty as students to support our lecturers in their strike, because without them having dignifying working conditions, we can’t have the education that we deserve”.

“We need to contextualise the strike into the wider context of the commodification

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An international student: “The change in the lecturers’ pension scheme is unjust and it’s the symptom of a gradual privatisation of a good, education, that should be seen as a first necessity good. Not recognising the lecturers’ right to a decent pension is unacceptable.”

Ciro, BA Politics and World Philosophies, while he was handing out flyers supporting the strike. “It’s a totally necessary and legitimate action that we’re taking and we have to make sure that, event though we’re supposed to be powerless and we’re supposed to be viewed as consumers only, we’re the ones that have to take responsibility.”

International students are also demonstrating because they are worried about a spillover effect in their home countries.

“I’m from India and I know that there have a lot of strikes about the privatisation and divestment from public education’s structure and schemes in India. The problem here is that if we don’t make some noise about this right now, this a disastrous policy that is going to end up being copied and implemented in India and pushed onto an academic system that’s already in shambles.”

The reasons for either crossing or standing outside the picket line are numerous, but overall there is a communal idea of support for those striking. Whether this is problematic, it will be up to the reader to decide.

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FEATURES

14 MARCH 2018

What are men suffering in silence from?

Stephen Stratton, MA Medical Anthropology, Marta Perez Fernandez, BA Economics and Development Studies I am a nurse. I first trained as a psychiatric nurse 35 years ago, in a nursing school at a Victorian asylum (with all its connotations) in Essex. I’m still unsure why I chose this profession: I can only, after all these years, recognize that it was either 30 years of therapy or 30 years of nursing.

Over the years, I have witnessed a steady increase in positive attitudes towards mental health. When I trained, the Mental Health Act hadn’t been reviewed since the 50s.

Unregulated control and restraint, the regimented routine of custodial care, the miles and miles of criss crossing corridors and redbrick walls, are no more. Yet, mental illness still has to struggle to get the recognition it deserves, despite high profile attention.

In 2012 I became a full time Carer for my

son, who has suffered with mental illness for the past fifteen years. We’ve realized men’s mental illness gets even less recognition.

It’s not often appreciated that men disproportionately suffer more from psychosis. For example, early onset schizophrenia between the ages of 18 and 30 affects young men more than women. The issue doesn’t appear to be recognition of symptoms–rather the impulse to seek help. The gendered assumption of men as invulnerable and strong disempowers them: despite any invalidation based on assumptions, a societal perception of women as ‘vulnerable’ leads to better care and a less final diagnosis.

There is also the issue of dual diagnosis.

Oftentimes schizophrenia is paired with alcohol or substance abuse, which arguably

should be treated like a mental illness in itself. In this case, they can be seen as symptomatic relief of a more serious problem.

However, there is a discrepancy in treatment here also: in my experience, a woman with alcohol or substance abuse problems is more likely to be victimized and perceived as vulnerable to the influence of some male figure. Men, however, are given agency when they abuse substances. This difference in perception obviously impacts the treatment and care, as well as perceptions from family members and wider society.

There are many charities and organisations that offer men-specific advice and support and some offer helplines, like CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) but here societal perceptions hit harder than ever. It’s not that I don’t know where to go to help- I just can’t bring myself to admit that I occasionally need that help. Throughout these mental illnesses we have often been left struggling for no other reason than being men. The tremendous feelings of guilt and being a failure, should I simply wish to talk to someone about how difficult some days, are not uncommon amongst men in stressful situations. This invincibility is hardwired into our mind-sets from such an early agethe fact that suicide is the single biggest killer

in men under 45 in the U.K and that 75% of all U.K suicides are male is no coincidence.

There are glaringly obvious disparities in other areas of health, for example screening for male cancers, such as testicular and prostate. Spending and research is overwhelmingly in favour of cancers affecting women.

This inclination comes from the assumption men don’t need NHS help, that they can look after themselves.

There’s a wider point here.

Over the preceding years as a male nurse I occasionally experienced levels of unwanted female attention. It’s brushed off as “you know what she’s like, loves a bit of a flirt” and other complacencies. If men were empowered to consider these undesired advances as assault, we might be willing to concede our vulnerabilities. What are men suffering in silence from?

35 years ago as an 18 year old student psychiatric nurse I was at a clinical ward review, the only man in the room. Part way through the review a social worker had suggested that some of the female patients may benefit from a ‘Women Only’ group. Eager to please, I suggested the very same for the men on the ward.

Within minutes I was asked to leave the room.

I should hope that, if that were to happen today, my request would be considered.

SPOTLIGHT: Young Leaders Driving Change Kusai Rahal, the founder of Young Leaders Driving Change (YLDC), is determined to inspire his generation to change their local communities.

Hailing from North West London, Kusai has a desire to improve his surrounding environment but he was discouraged by the impact austerity had on the ability of the youth to influence their local communities. As a response, in August 2017 Kusai founded YLDC, a youth-led organisation with the aim to motivate, empower, engage and inspire young people around the country to be the change that they want to see in their world. While the organisation originated in North West London it has now spread to other cities and universities, such as the University of Coventry. The organisation recently launched on the 5th February in the Houses of Parliament.

“We – the young people – need to be the drivers of social change in our worlds” says Kusai.

“I came to realise that we can’t rely on the government to bring about change. It has to come from the bottom up, the grassroots–it has to come from us.”

To help young activists change their environment, YLDC runs regular workshops in throughout London covering four main aspects: social entrepreneurialism, public speaking, social issues and personal development. YLDC also aims to create a realm of politics that moves beyond “me” and operates in the “we” and plant the social entrepreneurial seeds in today’s youth so they can be leaders for tomorrow.

YLDC is determined to empower youth activists through participation in workshops to develop the skills necessary to be the catalyst for change in their communities and be an inspiration for disengaged youths in an era marked by austerity and apathy.

YLDC has a plethora of opportunities to get involved, such as presenting, blogging, creative projects and volunteering.

To get involved contact the team at: https://www.yldc.co.uk/contact @_YLDC_ (Instagram and Twitter) Young Leaders Driving Change – YLDC (Facebook).

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LONELY SPIRITS To the sprightly Spirit Editor, Seeing you on Floor B brightens my day – you’re the warmest spirit in the Spirit!

Anon My Favourite Hobbit, Your external nonchalance sends a breeze of fresh air

through my whole existence whenever I pass you in the corridor.

From M. To a special reader of War + Peace: Unceremoniously quasi taking you under my wing last year was equally the

blessing I needed. I’m so glad to have you as my friend and queue buddy, and look forward to many more shared laughs, dances, and Persian food.

Anon To a little ray of sunshine: Spending time with my

perfect humour match cheers me up on even the worst of days, and hearing your impish laugh will never grow old. I’m surprised to have gotten so close with such a total nerd but I’m very glad I did.

Anon

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FEATURES

Silence

14 MARCH 2018

Poetry Is Peng

He took his time, he waited years That night, they put the kids to bed And he watched her gentle eyes reflecting dying fire embers And when the embers were almost out, he said, “Sweetie, I have a secret.

A secret I’ve never told a soul.”

And her eyes were fearful, curious.

My inability to get hurt Like dead flesh It doesn’t hurt like a fresh rose When stomped Dead flesh sees future Of being hung After cut for steaks.. It doesn’t complain or Can it complain after being dead? Feathers ceded by birds in flight Are like me. They don’t get hurt For they are not butterflies squashed by Children in play..

Rutuja

He contorted inside The truth was, he’d waited for the flames to die out Not just to stall But to make sure they wouldn’t hurt him If she pushed him in.

She, oh she would never, could never But he’d told before and nobody Least of all himself Had understood, or even been Sympathetic.

Closed doors and blood from fingernail scratches Broken nose, tired eyes Dark circles in pretty purple smudges Ugly.

He finds himself back in this familiar living room His house, his wife, his rules.

And he must tell because it hurts like broken glass to keep it inside.

“And, darling, when I was in prison, I didn’t kill a man.

I didn’t murder, I didn’t steal I committed a capital offense, unforgivable, And for it I still burn in the hell of my own skin In self-captivity.

I didn’t kill a man, I loved one.”

She knew, then, what they’d tried to do With slow torture; as if his soul was not tortured enough already As if he would not have committed another capital sin If he had the chance.

Sparks, spasms, liquid cruelty Screams and tears of acid pouring down his face and in his veins, Silence.

Silence.

“But that is not my secret”, I whispered, my voice splinters, my voice the ashes of the fire gone.

“My secret is, it didn’t work.”

Anon

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M’avvolgeran ancor le nubi, Frattanto che tu, Manchi.

Clothe me shall the mist, anew, So long as you’re, Amiss.

i no longer need to explain myself my experiences have allowed me to push out my emotions whether good or bad – it is my personal coping mechanism when approached with an opportunity to talk i question “what is this going to change” yes, talking is good for the soul but, recapping all that has broken you isn’t ideal either. i don’t want to remember anymore, and as harsh as it sounds – you can’t help. so save your generic responses they don’t plant any seeds for me to bloom let me grow at my own pace accept me for choosing this path because, if my pain has brought me this far you can’t blame me for adjusting to the effects of it. new beginnings -raheema_ek

Anon

My Mistress is Agony For Mental Health Day What? Wait. No, please wait my dear, I’m not ready for this, I’ve just barely healed, I’m begging you please, oh ma cher, These words echo in my mind as I see agony approaching, Her eyes are filled with hatred & devotion, Her temptuous lips glittering with abusive admonition, Her soft hands are so cold, so dead, yet fair, Her hypnotizing scent would will any man with despair, Her flawless skin makes me tremble with fear, And with a kiss from her lips, soon death shall be here.

Zeeshan Malik

Gods Port Our neighbours refused, we welcomed–ale in arm, Two ships; Sihab-I Bahri and Miraty Zafar.

Four hundred and sixty Ottomans, a six-and-ahalf-month moor is why Gosport’s been named Turk Town since 1854.

Sea and dust combined, twenty-six sailors died, cholera and tuberculosis to mention the least.

From Haslar they were sent, to an eternity of rest, in the cemetery besides Clayhall street.

Still across the creek it flies, Turkish flag in pride, Abdallah and Hayrunnisa are handed flowers.

Beyond the prison we gaze, as the poppies are placed over the bodies this town once towered.

Yet, as in Ocean Breeze we feast, this history is uncomplete besides, Orhan’s is a teenager’s dream.

And as long haired we stand, outside Ramze’s red door, I gladly name Gosport Turk Town today and since 1854.

Amy Thomson

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14 MARCH 2018 Comment Editor: Uswa Ahmed https://soasspirit.co.uk/category/comment/

Comment

The ‘Civilised’ weigh in: Mary Beard’s Crocodile tears

Credit: Creative Commons

Uswa Ahmed, BA Word Philosophies The famed Cambridge historian Mary Beard attempted to rationalise the alleged behaviour of Oxfam aid workers in Haiti after reports surfaced accusing Aid workers of sexual exploitation of women and children.

Beard took to Twitter to explain that the alleged behaviour could not be ‘condoned’ but wondered ‘how hard it must be to sustain ‘civilised’ values in a disaster zone’. Her comments were slammed by critics and fellow Cambridge academics alike including Priyamvada Gopal who wrote that ‘Obviously it’s not a great idea to randomly get your d**k out, rape people etc.’ Beard went on to defend her comments, writing: ‘I find it hard to imagine that anyone out there could possibly think that I am wanting to turn a blind eye to the abuse of women and children’ and that ‘while we deplore what has happened and expect better, it is worth thinking of the context in which it took place. After receiving a further onslaught of criticism, Beard proceeded to share pictures of herself crying.

Feminist writer, Flavia Dzodan was ‘amazed by the extent of sentimentality people will go through, debasing themselves if necessary to sustain their ignorance, bigotry or both.’ Kelechi Okafor also weighed in accusing Beard of ‘failing to see the humanity

in Blackness’ and questioning, ‘if it had been a country of white children and women who were sexually violated for the sake of ‘charity’ you wouldn’t be opening your long neck to spew this nonsense’.

Whilst some referred to Beard’s remarks as outright racist, others took the time to critique her choice of vocabulary. Either way, there is a lot to unpack here. I will begin by firstly declaring how utterly unbelievable it is that Beard, an academic who teaches at one of the most distinguished institution in the world, thought that she would weigh into a sensitive issue laced with complicated implications. Her reference to an ‘alleged’ miscarriage of justice, is nothing short of victim-blaming. These comments arise from the shadows present in the depths of a tainted colonial past where the ‘civilised’ attempt to rationalise the uncomfortable discourse of colonialism. The impact of colonialism is very much alive and the burden of proof is the stains that have permeated every cell of the skeleton of our world be it in in the media or in Beard’s tweet. Nevertheless, the abuse of vulnerable women and children is not a new phenomenon. At the height of the British Empire, European men in the name of civilising the savage, would visit new worlds stealing their resources, enslaving their people, and raping their women and children. Whilst most regard the end of the British Empire as marking the

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end of European imperialism, like racism, it is weaved into the very fabric of modern societies across the world. It exists beneath the facade of apparent equality and in the shadows an unrepresentative political arena.

These binaries segregate the coloniser and the colonised, and position the white man as bringing the light to the savage. It is how colonialism was, and still is, vindicated and excused. Taken out of context, Beard’s tweet can be considered the contemplative thought process of how colonialism destroys the soul of the European coloniser such as in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Like Conrad’s narrator, Beard considers of how we would react if we were the colonisers.

Beard choses to use the word ‘us’ as though we the reader, are on her side and are hence the Enlightened Europeans. It is this ‘themand-us’ attitude that continues to perpetuate the binaries of colonialism.

As Beard’s fellow Cambridge academic Priyamvada Gopal also replied that if she were to post a ‘picture of myself crying … every time I was made miserable by abuse or by the genteel liberal racism that is the very lifeblood of Cambridge social intercourse, I would have a [twitter] feed full of misery’.

Though Beard is ‘not a nasty colonist’, she treads on a tradition of white feminism which diminishes, forgets and errantly ignores the experiences of women of colour.

It looks at womanhood through a beige,

middle-class lens and turns a blind eye to the issues that affect the most unrepresented individuals in society. This has the dangerous effect of pushing white women to the foreground in conversations about gender, sexual violence and workplace harassment leading to the marginalisation of the experiences of women of colour.

But these racial blind spots have the greater effect of harming people of colour in more concrete and systemic ways for the reality is that white, straight, middle-class individuals will never face the consequences of certain political decisions in the same way as their counterparts of colour. But these problems aren’t a contemporary phenomenon. When the suffragettes fought hard against a male dominated society, they literally said that a woman could live with slavery if she had to.

This brings the conversation to the recent March for Women. When I first saw posters around university I felt a certain uneasiness in my stomach. Despite the protests being described as inclusive, I knew deep down what kind of inclusivity it referred to. Whilst there may be no exclusionary or malicious intent, women of colour voicing their frustration with marches or Beard’s tweet are not us trying to sabotage but simply asking that our voices not be drowned out for we do not have the privilege of retreating into exclusive social grottos.

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COMMENT

THE CAVE: No Company, No Confusion, Just Creation Milhouse Storey BA Arabic and History Since the dawn of humanity, great artists, thinkers and even prophets have undertaken periods of isolation, retreating to the Cave for contemplation and creation. The concept has not completely been abandoned, with writers or musicians of today purportedly disappearing into some luxury log cabin or remote lakeside villa, like Jamie in Love Actually. It’s not hard to imagine why:

14 MARCH 2018 the Cave is sought out for its shelter from distraction, its solitude and its proximity to nature. We know that these aspects are key to a lifestyle which would promote creativity and productivity. But we, going about our daily business, presume such dramatic measures are reserved for those folk who have impassioned purposes already planted within them, as well as the means to go out there and sit in a cabin alone for an extensive period (with a Portuguese maid). They’re already in a position to justify such a retreat, with a track record of successful creation and a need of space for said creation, and they clearly don’t have all the responsibilities stopping us from doing the same.

But this mind-set (I cry out despairingly, tearing at the chains constraining you, my comrades) is symptomatic of a tragic state of modern affairs. I know, I know, that might be a complaint of any aging person throughout history, showing that nothing really changes.

But seriously, it has changed this time.

What’s occurred over the last 100 years or so has been a poisoning of the brain, a capitalist contagion of production. From industry this has seeped into our homes, our relationships with ourselves, our work, and our acquaintances. And no, I am not a member of the Marxist Society.

Increasingly, we are overcome with a pressure to perform mechanically, measuring success quantifiably, chained to a relentless Multitasking Machine. It is a natural function of ‘consciousness’ to ricochet in the brain between thoughts. It is not, however, natural to force our brains to react to multiple stimuli constantly. Yet we’re convinced that this is necessary in order to fulfill the demanding expectations of our lives, or rather, we’ve been indoctrinated to

Credit: Milhouse Storey

feel it’s necessary. Yet oftentimes now, we’re not even multitasking for the optimum level of productivity. We’ve inherited this weighty guilt pushing us to take on task after task, but instead of getting product after product, we’re dilly-dallying under the pressure and persistent guilt. We’re still multitasking, but more often than not, it’s a mask over the smirking face of Procrastination – that friend we joke about ten times a day whilst he stabs us in the back twenty times a day.

Not only are we imprisoned in the external wheels of production, but we’ve become lost within our own. What’s become an unceasing addiction to multitasking (i.e. multidistraction methods) has led us into a maze of split intentions and diverted attention.

Few of us are close to ourselves, our truths and our unpolluted intentions, running around headless in a directionless, paradoxical world.

Yet we’re terrified of the Cave. Not only are we increasingly socially dependent, and consequently programmed to think ourselves an essential cog in this destructive pandemic reality, but many of us are either dangerously addicted to interaction, or worse, dangerously scared of sacrificing interaction only to fail. The state which we would have to arrive in for the purpose of (nigh on spiritual) Single-Tasking just sounds too drastic, too risky and too far away. But we have more power and control over the direction of our lives than we think. If we stopped multitasking even for a short period each day, allowing our brains and bodies to breathe, we would begin to peel ourselves away from this sticky modern trap. The more we practice this, even if not a full-on escape to the country, the closer we would become to realising and enacting our passions and dreams.

An Ode to The “Other” Khadija Kothia, BA History “You don’t sound like an American” “That’s because I’ve read” …

Recently, following an appearance on WGN Chicago, an American youngster by the name of Hoda Katebi hit the headlines. In what initially was meant to be an interview regarding her fashion vlog Joojoo Azad (which by the way is awesome!), the discussion quickly took a dark, yet unsurprising turn. Iranian by descent, Katebi was prompted: “Let’s talk about nuclear weapons” Social media was quick to react, as posts criticised the approach and the hosts were made to apologise. She did, on reflection, apparently ‘sound like an American’. Sighs of relief. All was settled.

However, as identity politics again hits the headlines amidst growing talks of Mexican walls and travel bans, time is up on being made to settle. Politics of apathy is no longer enough to suppress a polarising society. We must speak up, and in response to this, Hoda Katebi must be thoroughly applauded.

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Too often we fall into victimhood. ‘How dare two white, American presenters capitalise on the achievements of a young woman as a political opportunity!’

‘How dare a largely innocent, law-abiding group be made to condemn the acts of its deviant few!’ ‘How dare Katebi be told, “you don’t sound like an American”!’

And yes, how dare they. How dare they!

But how daring are we?

We live in a society where simple narratives are our punch lines, 280 characters limit our platforms, where pictures are forced to speak a thousand words. But like all teasers, trailers, and that small apricot-topped slice of the larger fruit-rimmed cake, there is a greater story to tell. A truth.

And this is why Hoda Katebi, an IranianAmerican, a hijabi, a fashion vlogger, a regular girl from town must be celebrated.

Amidst the intimidation of anti-Muslim, xenophobic, racial and the long list of unfortunate minority-faced bigotry, her answer was simple, “That’s because I’ve read”.

It is that simple. History provides the key truths, of torturous slave ships sailing across the Atlantic, of brave individuals standing

Credit: Creative Commons

up to repression, of the context to the simple narrative. It has the power to differentiate us between the complicit, and the powerful, the victim and the liberated. In a divisive narrative that looks to separate the white from the black, the alien from the ‘native’, the West from the ‘Orient’. History has our answers. History is our silencer. History is our liberator.

But it’s a history that itself needs to be freed. A history that must be unleashed from its ‘victors’ that so slyly twist us into victimhood, into headlines and corporations that profit in perpetuating the narrow stereotypes as the “Other”. The old saying, “history is written by its victors” must remain exactly that, old, and in moving towards a future of

increasing globalisation, we must decolonise a past so heavily colonized and distorted.

Confucius must be taught alongside Kant, war in the Middle East must be looked at in context with US intervention, just as white and black, Muslim and Jew, refugee and resident live must unavoidably alongside one another. Because in deconstructing the myth of the “victor”, we too, will be able to answer our own questions, our own misconceptions, and in doing so, strengthen our own identities.

Hoda Katebi’s brilliant interview is available to watch and take inspiration from here: http://www.joojooazad.com/2018/02/youdo-not-sound-american-live.html

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COMMENT

14 MARCH 2018

‘I Can, I Will and I Shall Stay Alone’ Ashutosh Sunil Nagda, MSc Asian Politcs ‘I can, I will, and I shall stay alone’.

These were my exact thoughts for last five years. London changed it all.

To give a bit of my background, I am freshly turned 22-year-old who has never stayed away from his family before moving to London. The idea of moving out of the family is not very common in India, the country I come from. Though a lot of Indians I have met here have moved out from their home cities in lieu of better education, I, luckily or rather unluckily, found good education opportunities in my home city.

16th September 2017 is when I first moved out, all alone.

The mind was all blank, there were no thoughts. The only thing I was happy about was not crying. I was afraid that I would break down a bit while bidding adieu to my family and few friends. Luckily that didn’t happen. I have always loathed crying. It makes me vulnerable and makes my already average looking face look even worse. I took the flight, reached London, got into the cab, saw clear skies, disciplined people, and I was in love with London. For the next week, my love for London just grew. I went to shopping centres, just a couple of shops here had more varieties of clothes for my ill-fitted body type than all the shops combined back home.

I went to a Pizza Hut, they gave me more veggies on my single pan pizza than all Pizza Huts had ever given me back home. My happiness reached its limits when I took a tube, and found no sweaty arms thrust upon my nose unlike the local trains back home. I wish I could shed few tears of joy, alas, my vulnerability inched ahead of my happiness. But London, pheww…what can I say, London became love and love became London.

But then, I cried.

I moved to my student hall. I unpacked all my belongings. Everything just felt scattered and confused just like my brain. That’s when I got the first bout of loneliness. How

Credit: Creative Commons

the heck was I supposed to arrange things? How the heck was I supposed to set my room? “Can anyone help me?,” I shouted within myself because I found no point in wasting words loudly when there was no one around, when I was lonely. I could see tiny cracks creeping up in my love story with London.

The fall had begun.

The bouts of loneliness became frequent. Every night, a dimly lit silent room welcomed me. I had my food staring at the wall as there was no human to stare at. Slowly, I started talking to the wall. I shared everything with the blank stained creamy wall of my kitchen; my course, my modules, my readings, my essays, my London crushes, my first London love,

my ideas on democracy, my ideas on authoritarianism, my reasons on why I found some goodness in Trump. Everything. The wall heard, but it never spoke. All I wanted was someone to speak to me. London was being selfish, it wasn’t sharing its friends with me.

Then came the worst week. I fell ill. For the first time, there was no one around when I was ill. Loneliness overtook my body temperature. I lay on the bed staring at the weirdly designed ceiling of my room. I couldn’t even manage to walk to my kitchen and cook something to eat. That’s when I wished the wall was humane. I felt trapped. I felt lie lying still inside a box. I felt closest to death. I wanted this to stop.

I wanted this feeling of loneliness to go away. “How do I do this?” I asked the ceiling up there. I got my omen. I felt my cheeks go wet. I felt my eyes slowly turning watery. I slowly started crying. This time, I let it all go. I let the vulnerability take over and allowed my face to look shit. I let it all go.

For the last two weeks I have been trying to figure out the reason for this loneliness, this loneliness in London. At the first go, I blamed the city. I thought the city I started loving, did not reciprocate the same love. I thought London was full of herself. London was always running to be somewhere, she never paused and passed some time with me. As they say in life, walk, stop and smell the roses. What London did was walk and pass the roses. But was this solely London’s fault?

No, I too was at fault. My thoughts were at fault. The exact opening thought was at fault. For five years I have constantly fed myself with that thought. I will live alone. I do not need anyone. I do not need family. I do not need friends. I do not need Love. Friendship is bullshit. Love is bullshit. All such thoughts were bullshit. It wasn’t London, it was me. It was me who would walk and pass the roses. I did not stop. I had no sense of smell.

Now, I am going to stop. I am going to develop the sensation of smell. I am going to break this bubble of living alone.

I will try and make some friends. I will try and fall in love. I will cry more frequently. I will try and not be lonely.

Oh, and I still love you London, and will always do.

Working Class Students Deserve Financial Suppourt Zain Hussain, MSc International Politics Those of us who were at SOAS on the 2nd February 2018 may remember Valerie Amos being heckled at by students.

This was done in response to an email sent to the student body by Deborah Johnson, addressing concerns that many working class students were not being given the bursaries and hardship funds they were due. The email made it clear that those deserving of the funds were indeed receiving them.

As I’m sure it did many other people, the email offended me greatly!

Not only did it fail to address the real grievances of the students, It also made it crystal clear to those of us who are working class students that the university cares little for our financial needs and does not take into account everyone from financially unstable backgrounds. Anyone who reads the email on allocation of excellence bursaries sent by Deborah Johnson will see that each year bursaries are allocated for a set number of students. This means that many students who deserve bursaries are not getting them. There was supposedly a change to the policy in 2017-2018 which meant that more students could be allocated bursaries, but this meant lessening the amount of money each student received. This is absolute nonsense!

Of course, there are those of you reading this piece who may be disagreeing with my position. Maybe you think

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bursaries for people from low income backgrounds is not a right. Maybe you think we already have enough going for us, that we really don’t need the money with all of our student loans.

The truth is that, even for many of us living at home, we need to contribute to domestic costs and rent. Living at home does not necessarily mean saving money. It is also important to understand just how much people in management earn from our own pockets. Valerie Amos has a yearly salary of around £200,000 pounds. If any cuts are to be made, why are they being made on the costs for running our university, and why are some units no longer being funded? And why are some departments lagging behind due to lack of funds, while we went ahead and built Senate House, for no particularly dire reason?

These seemingly nonsensical financial decisions are being taken by a management that believes ever more strongly in the marketisation of education, or is at least complacent with it. Senate House was built in order to give SOAS a more corporate image and to overshadow its previously niche and unique image. The management are only interested in making more money. Language units are suffering due to lack of proper financial support to departments. Languages cannot be taught without a sufficient number of teachers, and it seems that management is just not willing to make those costs. It would rather focus on more marketisation, more corporatisation and more fuller reserves.

This is a reason why many workers at SOAS have also been outsourced. SOAS saves money when workers are outsourced, but it also means their rights are not ensured and SOAS can act innocent in many cases when something goes wrong.

Why am I mentioning marketisation and outsourcing in an article about allocating money to working class students?

Because it is part of a much bigger problem. It is not that SOAS is negligent. It is not that its managers are racist. This is an issue of marketisation and cutting costs wherever possible, unless any damage would be done to the management’s salaries, or to the forces of marketisation of education. It is because of this that the university will never really cave in to demands for better financial support to working class students. It may widen the scope of bursaries, but no serious attempt will be made to help those from working class backgrounds financially, unless they make it into the quota.

This is deeply offensive. I am not asking for a privilege when I ask for financial support as a working class student. I am demanding my rights. And that is how we working class students, BME working class students, financially challenged people, should see it–a right. And we have to fight for it, because they aren’t going to give it to us without one.

If any cuts should be made, it should be to the management’s 6 figure salaries. And if we are fighting for our right to bursaries and financial support as working class students, then we are also fighting against this system of marketisation.

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COMMENT

14 MARCH 2018

The Oxfam sex scandal shows that charity workers are people just like us Anonymous When I joined Oxfam in 2016, I was certain that the several hundred people working at Oxfam’s HQ would all be walking saints – people who had made it their life’s work to selflessly serve others. So it came as somewhat of a shock when half-way through my first week, I opened the staff fridge to find my brand-new carton of milk from that morning open and half-gone. Surely, I thought, aid workers don’t steal milk from the fridge?

The longer I stayed in Oxfam, the more I realised that they were people just like me.

And my motives for joining Oxfam certainly weren’t entirely altruistic. Of course, I strongly empathised with Oxfam’s mission, and I still do. But there were also a number of other, much more prosaic reasons that I joined. When I had applied for the job, my thinking went: 1) right experience–tick 2) looks interesting–tick 3) it’s within walk-

ing distance–tick 4) more money than my current role – tick. Plus, maybe I would be able to travel. In other words, being passionate about Oxfam’s mission was just part of the reason I ended up working there. And the truth is, no matter how dedicated you are to a cause, on a day-to-day level it can be easy to lose sight of it as you deal with the mundane realities of work: whether it’s yet another meeting, annoying colleagues, or dealing with an ever-increasing inbox.

I suspect this is also somewhat true of the people in international charities who go on to work in the field. The word ‘aid worker’ evokes the image of someone handing out food parcels to starving children. And there are people who do this job, of course (although it is often local staff rather than expats who are employed in this role). But many more expats working in the field in the aid sector are software engineers, administrators, IT officers, HR personnel, or logisticians. Their day-to-day roles may not be

hugely different to roles they might have had in the private sector prior to joining the aid sector. Many of them will also have joined for a variety of reasons – the opportunity to travel and use their skills to help others being some of them. Clearly, this isn’t the slightest excuse for abusing anybody, which is a despicable act by anyone’s standards.

But it’s merely to make the point that the work in the aid industry might not always look or feel very different to work done in other organisations, even if it is arguably for a higher cause. And if expats working for other organisations take advantage of the great power disparities which often exist in these environments to commit abusive acts, (as they often sadly do) is it right to assume NGO workers would be any less prone?

My own (albeit limited) experience of working for NGOs abroad in Senegal and Sierra Leone was that NGOs workers were simply regular people, in that the great majority were decent, hard-working profes-

sionals who wanted to do a good job. Yet In some sections of society, it seems that, not content with this, we want our aid workers to be heroes. We project our dreams of saving the world on to them, and turn them into symbols of bravery or selflessness. Yet seeing aid workers as angels doesn’t help anybody.

It prevents putting safeguards in place, because we assume that an aid worker would never do anything like that. Furthermore, it prevents us looking critically at the power structures that they are enmeshed in and the potential for abuse that it entails. Finally, it means that the level of betrayal we feel when some don’t live up to those standards creates a backlash that jeopardises the whole aid industry and puts the lives of those reliant on aid at risk.

Many people on the right will try to demonise aid workers. But let’s not turn them into saints, either.

Credit: Creative Commons

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14 MARCH 2018 Review Editors: Abigail Moselle https://soasspirit.co.uk/category/reviews-features/

Film Review

The Shape of Water Sumayyah Daisy Lane, BA History Guillermo del Toro’s new release, The Shape of Water, occupies the space between the classic fairy tale and fantasy in this deeply immersive masterpiece.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the film follows a mute cleaner working in a high security research centre in Baltimore, Elisa (Sally Hawkins), who embarks on a strange love affair with a CIA-owned halfman half-amphibian (Doug Jones). Characterised by their extremely limited communication and their shared history of torture, the pair’s relationship breaks all norms and poses a threat to both the CIA and Russian communist spies.

The movie is full of water related metaphors, all contributing to the fantastical elements of this adult take on Beauty and the Beast. Early on we notice the marks on Elisa’s neck which suggest the source of her muteness. The story of Elisa’s torture comes full circle when she meets her lover who too is without a voice, and her scars

Reviews

WINNER of four 2018 Oscar awards, including BEST PICTURE

become gills in the final scene. Of course, such a happy ending would scarcely be possible without the help of her friends, and Elisa’s circle is comprised of her friends who are similarly considered outsiders: a gay neighbour, a black woman and a conflicted communist spy. Fighting against the evil forces of the CIA together, the film’s characters work to champion difference, perhaps needed when considering today’s political climate.

Guillermo del Toro’s new release, The Shape of Water, occupies the space between the classic fairy tale and fantasy in this deeply immersive masterpiece.

As ridiculous and as far from reality as it may sound, the film is anchored by the brilliant acting of the entire cast including the

Film Review

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Sumayyah Daisy Lane, BA History

(Credit: Creative Commons)

likes of Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg. Most notable though is the acting of Hawkins, who although plays a mute character, easily portrays Elisa, lending to a wholly believable

plot and a magical experience for the audience. The Shape of Water easily deserves its incredible 13 Oscar nominations, and is well worth the watch.

WINNER of 2018 Oscars BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Laughter, love and loss come together in Martin McDonagh’s latest heart-wrencher, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Grieving mother Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) fights for justice after her daughter was raped and murdered and hears nothing from the local police for seven months. The title makes the plot fairly obvious, however what the audience does not expect is to see the three billboards which Mildred rents that taunt police chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) put up in the first few minutes. The movie then follows the reactions it receives from the town – “anger only begets more anger”.

Packed with numerous powerful scenes and performances alike, Three Billboards is a humour meets heartbreak, rendering it one of the best films to have been released so far this year

(Credits: Creative Commons)

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Equal parts a lesson and laugh, the opening scene of Three Billboards prompts us to believe that we have the main characters all figured out, but this is far from the truth. Our minds are forced to change as we witness the journey each embarks on, either to redemption or ruin. The seeming enemy that is called out in the billboards that read “Raped while dying”, “Still no arrests”, “How come, Chief Willoughby?” is later revealed to be the hero who shows compassion of some variation to all those around him. In this way, the film is not restricted to telling Mildred’s painful story. On the contrary, it follows the journey of a community who are given the chance to prove that they are more than the sum of their sins, most especially the dim, racist Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell).

Packed with numerous powerful scenes and performances alike, Three Billboards is a humour meets heartbreak, rendering it one of the best films to have been released so far this year that is sure to stay with you – so much so that in recent news, Grenfell activists adopted the concept of pitching up three billboards around central London to highlight a similar lack of development in the case of the fire’s victims, thus serving to emphasise both the film’s brilliant casting and plotline.

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REVIEWS

14 MARCH 2018

Book Review

Lullaby by Leila Slimani translated by Sam Taylor Alice McMahon MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies – a modern parent’s worst nightmare “The baby is dead. It only took a few seconds.”

Leila Slimani’s Lullaby begins with these chilling words, gripping the reader from the very beginning as she tells the story of how the perfect nanny goes from “a second mother” to cold-blooded murderer.

Lullaby is an incisive portrait of the fraught, uneasy relationship that exists between Myriam and Paul, a bourgeois Parisian couple, and Louise, their nanny.

Not just an employee but not a friend either: almost part of the family and yet, do they really know her? At times, Paul and Myriam are filled with overwhelming gratitude toward the woman who makes their careers possible. At other times, this

gratitude mutates into guilt and anger as the two parents reproach themselves at the perceived distance the nanny causes in their relationship with their children, and when Louise is perceived to have overstepped personal boundaries. Louise, too, struggles to maintain a professional distance as the loneliness in her own life

Compulsively readable and shockingly memorable: put it on your reading list now. compels her to build a nest at the heart of the family she cares for, driving home the complexities enmeshed in the marketization of emotional labour.

As well as a deftly written psychological portrait of the nanny-parent relationship, Lullaby is also a social novel. It is a portrait of the underworld of material

and emotional poverty that Louise (who lives alone in a decrepit studio flat burdened by her dead husband’s debts) inhabits.

This is captured perfectly in Slimani’s sparse and limpid prose, neatly translated by Sam Taylor.

Slimani’s ‘book-of-themoment’ probes many of the anxieties of modern working parents as well as issues of class, gender and race, yet despite this, it never feels heavy. It is compulsively readable (I read it in one sitting) and shockingly memorable: put it on your reading list now.

The international bestseller, Lullaby (Credit: Creative Commons)

Film Review

Padmaavat: Bollywood’s empty tale of beauty & divide Khadija Kothia, BA History You walk into the low-lit cinema, sit down, and your world is transformed. Worn armchairs grow into thrones of gold. The grey winter skies outside turn a warm-tinge of permanent sunset orange. The room, a palace court. You, in silken robes.

This is fourteenth century Chittor, North-West India. Rajput territory. The director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has bought his epic to you.

Dressed with Kohl-rimmed eyes, bloodied fists and hanging weaponry, Ranveer Singh plays the film’s antagonist, Sultan Alauddin Khilji. He is a fierce presence, hateful and presented to be hated. It works, and in doing so, the audience is made to despise him and all that he represents. He is not just Alauddin Khilji, the tyrant. More importantly, he is a Muslim, the invader, the barbarian polluting not only the luxury that Bhansali conjures up for his audience, but the purity of the Rajput name.

And thus, as Padmaavat becomes Bollywood’s most expensive Hindu film to date, its pro-Hindu sentiments are ever-looming. What Jayasi essentially created as a spiritual epic celebrating multiculturalism, Bhansali mutates into a Hindu propagandist piece that, underneath its lavish exterior, becomes one among many Bollywood productions that, in envisioning a Hindu past of purity, simultaneously perpetuates stereotypes of the ‘Other’.

This is fourteenth century Chittor, North-West India. Rajput territory.

The director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has bought his epic to you.

Like Bajirao Mastani and many of his previous productions, Bhansali has created a visible masterpiece. Paired with the work of sixteenth century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi, Bhansali retells the epic tale of the legendary Queen Rani Padamavati – a Queen so beautiful that upon hearing of her heavenly description, the treacherous Alauddin Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, is driven by his lust to kill, seize power, and even risk his empire’s fall. It is somewhat Macbeth-like. A Macbeth in love…and in silken shalwar.

Not dissimilar to the classic Bollywood happily neverafter, the film’s release hasn’t been the smoothest. A rumoured dream scene between the Muslim King and Hindu Queen brought the enacted religious divide to the very streets of India. The rumours were false. What remains true, however, is the film’s reflection on an already fracturing society.

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Queen Padmavati (centre), her husband Maharajal Ratan Sen (left) and the film’s antagonist Alauddin Khilji (right) (Credit: Creative Commons)

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REVIEWS

14 MARCH 2018 Book Review

Eat Up!

by Ruby Tandoh Julia Everett BA International Relations and Development Studies Eat Up! is not a regular cook book. It will not tell you what or how to eat. This book subverts what we think we know about food, and how we think it should be written about. As a society we are so used to fashionable discourse surrounding food, with buzz words like ‘clean eating’ and ‘superfoods’ and trends boasting avocados and chia seeds that fade as soon as they arrive. Tandoh turns this on its head and suggests that our relationship with food requires a radical revamp. Her idea: we should eat what we want, and enjoy it, too.

The author Ruby Tandoh, of Great British Bake-Off fame, uses her experiences to reflect upon the complicated world of food whilst weaving in wider political and historical narratives. She writes of the influence her Ghanaian and British

Tandoh explores the world of food, sexuality, gender, and power politics in a refreshing and witty style heritage has on her unique palate while also discussing what the idea of ‘authentic’ cuisine really means. Tandoh explores the world of food, sexuality, gender, and power politics in a refreshing and witty style, discussing important issues across without taking herself too seriously. The book is strewn with pop culture references and anecdotes, from When Harry Met Sally to the Black Panther Party, making it a light and easy read.

More than anything, the charm of Eat Up! is that it will teach you how to fall in love with food. As students, what we eat can seem dull and boring due to lack of time and funds.

Tandoh shows that the even cheapest fast food can bring us pure joy, and that cooking the most budget student meal is

Concert Review

something to be relished. Food snobbery is not something to be found in Tandoh’s writing.

Eat Up! provides a new and refreshing take on the world of food and cooking, in a way that is easy to swallow and leaves a pleasant aftertaste.

Eat Up! provides a new and refreshing take on the world of food and cooking (Credit: Creative Commons)

Concert Review

Seun Kuti @ Electric Brixton Andrew Ashong @ Oslo The danger with a gig like this, espeTom Matsuda cially one that clocked in at over an hour and a half, is of sending the audience to BA International Relations and Japanese sleep. Thankfully towards the end of the Any gig taking place on Valentine’s Day gig Ashong’s musical vocabulary expanded brings with it certain expectations. Tickfrom silky and subdued to a sound that ets are booked for a significant other for a sizzled with inflections of soul and funk. romantic night out, a foray away from the This crowd-pleasing move was hampered, traditional wine perhaps unwittingly, by and dine experience Ashong’s musical vocabulary his decision to sit down toward something during some of the more expanded from silky and a bit different. So energetic moments of perhaps it was not his set. subdued to a sound that the best decision Even so, as the gig sizzled with inflections of for Andrew Ashong went past its 22:30 soul and funk to declare himself curfew, there was not “anti-Valentines” much that could be done before launching into his set. However, you to dampen the jubilant mood. Aside from might say this helped make the singletons Ashong’s own material, other highlights in the audience feel more comfortable and, came at the point when his band showcased as Ashong’s voice floated out over the hum their impressive talent through their solos. of acoustic guitars, the significance of the It was at this point that Valentines Day date was forgotten and the music took cenreared its head, with Ashong’s girlfriend tre stage. invited up on the stage. In the end, this Although best known for a brand of added to the joyful and celebratory mood soul that takes its productions cues from as the audience danced to the music until electronic music, much of Ashong’s set closing time. list was chilled out, smooth and stripped back. Taking us through a tour of his back catalogue, Ashong guided us as he swerved from the hazily ethereal ‘Special’ to melodies that relied on the nuances of sultry jazz and psych-soul.

The effect of this was to fill the room with a spacedout ambience, interspersed with Ashong’s witty audience repartee.

(Credit: Creative Commons)

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Hackney, 14th February

Linda Arowolo BA Anthropology

Andrew Ashong, Soul and R&B singer-songwriter (Credit: Creative Commons)

When children of legendary musicians take up the same profession, there is always a feeling that they will never completely emerge out from under their shadow. Now Seun Kuti definitely put on a performance. From the beginning there was a rhythmic vibrancy that permeated the atmosphere and allowed ‘faaji’ to commence. Adorned in ankara, the back-up singers’ dance steps had the audience engaged. Seun’s songs were filled with political rhetoric ranging from acknowledging African ancestors who paved the way for the so-called “self-made African” to the African dream which spoke of the potential Africans will

achieve. His free movement and free thoughts, coupled with Seun enjoying himself in the midst of his organised noise, was something to watch.

However, it didn’t feel like Seun Kuti’s performance, more so an imitation of Fela Kuti. Right down to his movement and “arrogance”, Seun’s composure reeked of a mimic of Fela. Even the over-use of the word “motherfucker” seemed to be a copy of Fela’s mannerism.

Further, the authenticity of his performance was further compromised with his diatribe of the film ‘Black Panther’. He made some valid points regarding the fact that that people were ready to support a fictional African nation and not a real one.

Also, he didn’t need a fictional film to validate his identity and the reason why it was so successful was because Black Panther was produced in a white approved space. He further mentioned that the adults who dressed up in cultural African attire, belonged in the playground and when the white approved opening week was over, the African garb was tossed aside.

My issues with his commentary was his audience was mostly white. A white space where his performance

was white approved. I found this to be highly hypocritical.

A white audience who was agreeing and cheering with him but had no understanding of the symbolic imagery that Black Panther represented.

Superstructures such as media and entertainment represent social actions and actors. Fiction is a projection of our reality and vice versa. For far too long the only representation of black people in these spaces have been negative stereotypes that have contributed to the marginalisation and antiblackness of black people globally. Thus, a film that has a completely different narrative and whose focal point is not slavery, colonialism, apartheid and other appalling events is not only necessary, but should become the norm.

Finally, Seun forgot his performance was in a white approved space and his speech pandering to a mostly white audience, perpetuated ignorance which fed into ‘what’s the big deal’ over Black Panther position. An attitude that ignores what the film represents and the actual themes in the film ranging from immigration, displaced people to the psyche and relationships between Africans and black Americans.

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14 MARCH 2018

Sport Editor: Holly Sampson https://soasspirit.co.uk/category/sport/

Varsity 2018: Review

By Holly Sampson, BA Arabic

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

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Last week saw SOAS go head to head against London Met in the 2018 North London Varsity. For those who don't know about varsity, it is an annual sports tournament between two competitive universities and involves a whole range of sporting endeavours. The competition spans over three days and was back, bigger and better, this year with SOAS being keen to win the title of Varsity champions off last year's winners, London Met. In order to win this title, SOAS needed to score more points than London Met, with each activity or sport being worth one point per win.

The first day kicked off with Men's Futsal, which is a version of 5-aside football, and resulted in a point for SOAS as they secured the win. This was followed by Women's Futsal and a very narrow 7-6 loss. By the time 8pm came around the crowd in the Science Centre was ready to go and Netball 1s did not disappoint. SOAS Warriors 1st team gave it their all against London Met in the most tense match in all of varsity. Despite over half of our supporters not having a clue about the game or it’s rules they kept the SOAS spirit (pardon the pun) high as they clung to the edge of the benches. With a 28-28 draw at full time the match was taken to extra time where unfortunately pressure peaked and London Met were able to score 3 goals leaving the final score 31-28 to London Met. With a brilliant ending to the first day, SOAS were ready to go for the second day of Varsity that was due to include: Rugby, the Quiz, ESports and Mixed Volleyball. However, due to the weather the rugby pitches were frozen and so both the men's and

Sport

women's matches have been postponed! The quiz and ESports were another brilliant win for SOAS. Mixed Volleyball quickly became a highlight of the day with lots of students coming along to show their support. Despite putting on a brilliant show, SOAS narrowly lost.

The final day of Varsity was met with even more mayhem as the weather took a turn for the worse and London was confronted with the Beast from the East. With the snow in mind, Cricket and Football were both postponed. However, the indoor sports continued at full speed with wins for both the tennis and badminton teams. Then came the Netball 2s who blew London Met out of the water with an incredible 33-12 win. "Cheered on by the supporters who were brave enough to make it through the Beast from the East" Holly Sommers, captain for this match, described the Netball 2s as playing with "a confidence that comfortably secured the precious Varsity point". This set the stage nicely for the final events of the day, Men's and Women's Basketball. With London Met putting on fantastic half time entertainment, the evening was enjoyable for all. The basketball teams put on great performances, despite their losses, and Varsity closed with a 7-6 lead to London Met. However, SOAS can still win it back! With so many matches being cancelled due to bad weather, it has been decided that Varsity shall carry on! Keep your eyes out for the new dates for Men's and Women's rugby, Men's and Women's football and Cricket! With 6 matches left to be played in Varsity 2018, the win is still very much within SOAS's reach, and all support would be highly appreciated at these upcoming fixtures!

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

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SPORT

14 MARCH 2018

Scaffold Brigada: “They are the best supporters in the Essex Senior League” Edward Pickthall, BA Politics and International Relations “Clapton in the morning, and last thing at night. Singing in the Scaffold, you know it feels right, it feels right, it feels riiight!” – Tyskie in hand, this song is often belted out by the Clapton Ultras. However, there has been no singing in the Scaffold this season.

Challenging the stereotypes around football fandom, the Clapton Ultras are proudly and vocally anti-fascist, displaying many banners at games showing solidarity with refugees, migrants and victims of fascism throughout the world. The racism, homophobia and sexism which has shamefully plagued football are not tolerated by the Clapton Ultras.

The Ultras are also active in campaigning, collecting donations for foodbanks and fundraising for local charities.

Lola’s Homeless, a charity that helps rough-sleepers in the Stratford Centre, is a recent cause for the Ultras.

But, the Clapton Ultras, who also refer to themselves as the Scaffold Brigada, are currently boycotting their beloved Scaffold. The Scaffold, a make-shift stand covered in an eclectic range of anti-fascist stickers, is usually a hive of activity – singing, flag-waving and tifos – when Clapton are playing at home. But, this season it has been left deserted. When

at home the Ultras have preferred to support their team from an alley outside the historic Old Spotted Dog Ground, located in Forest Gate, East London. They are dedicated fans, and they still follow their team away as far as Stansted and Southend.

The racism, homophobia and sexism which has shamefully plagued football are not tolerated by the Clapton Ultras.

Despite playing in the Essex Senior League, the ninth tier of English football, far from the glitz and glamour of the Premier league, Clapton FC receive phenomenal support.

From the first whistle to the last, there is scarcely a moment without song. Last season the Tons had by far the highest average attendance in the league, four times greater than the next best supported team. In spite of this support, the Chief Executive of Clapton FC, Vince McBean has claimed that the Ultras bring nothing to the club.

The cracks began forming between the Clapton Ultras and Clapton FC last season following an unannounced midseason price hike. Having already been priced out of league

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

(Credit: SOAS Students’ Union)

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football, the Ultras saw the rising ticket prices as a slippery slope and decided to take a stand by boycotting home matches. The Ultras eventually managed to negotiate a lower price rise and concessions for the unemployed and refugees.

However, this season a new boycott has been announced.

McBean, the Chairman of Newham Community Leisure Trust, revealed that the NCLT, the charity which holds the lease on the Old Spotted Dog, was going into liquidation with a debt of £200,000,. This action threatened the future of both the Old Spotted Dog and the club. The Ultras, attempting to save their ground and the future of the club, decided they didn’t wish to support McBean’s activity. They feared that the money paid on the gate would fund McBean’s legal costs and jeopardises the future of the historic ground and their club.

Until the allegations of mismanagement levelled at the NCLT, currently under investigation by the Charity Commission, are resolved the Ultras have vowed to continue the boycott.

If you wish to support the Ultras, show solidarity against fascism and have a good time then join the Scaffold Brigada in the alley or follow the Tons away. What else are you going to do on a Saturday afternoon?

Forza Clapton!

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