White Privilege: The Serious Stuff

• It’s hard to see racism when you're white, but it exists all around us. I am white, I try not to be racist, but I still benefit from a system of institutionalised racism and discrimination. This is more commonly known as white  privilege.
• 
  
• In it’s simplest form, white privilege is the fact that ‘skin coloured’ is a white persons skin. It is the fact that snapchat has emojis of three generations of a white family with only two POCs (people of colour) to be found. It is the fact that I am about 78% more likely to be admitted to university than a POC.
  
  
  Admitting you’re privileged is a hard thing to do, and a lot of people struggle with it. Ultimately, however, it is obvious. Society views us on different standards, it’s so ingrained in our day to day lives that we don’t even notice it.
  
  
  Some of you may have heard about the shooting of Michael Brown in summer of last year. An infamous case that has been the source of many protests, both peaceful and violent. 
  
  
  On the 9th of August, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by 28-year-old Darren Wilson, a police officer. Brown was shot in the chest and shoulder, with Wilson firing a total of twelve bullets. Brown was on the ground with his hands above his head when he was shot, he was unarmed. Michael Brown was black. Darren Wilson was white. Darren Wilson did not face any criminal charges.
  
  
  So why has this sparked so much controversy? 
  
  
  On the 26th of December around 4pm, Julia Shields, 45, drove around a neighbourhood in Tennesse dressed in full body armour shooting randomly into other vehicles. She was apprehended by police in a car park, which lead to a car chase around town where she pointed to other cars with her weapon and at the police. She was taken into custody without incident or injury. Julia Shields was white.
  
  
  White privilege is the fact that, simply due to the colour of their skin, a white woman threatening the lives of others is in prison, and a black unarmed teenager shouting ‘don’t shoot!’ is dead.
  
  
  Unfortunately, white privilege is something white people are born into, wether we want it or not. It’s deeply ingrained within us, rooted deeper everyday by the media and other societal conventions. It is so easy to form stereotypes and prejudices, even the youngest minds are effected. 
  
  
  To see the effect of prejudice and discrimination, I suggest you watch the videos below about an experiment done in 1968 by Jane Elliott, showing how easily children are affected by authority figures and how quickly they form stereotypes and discriminate.
  
  
  
  
  So, we're privileged, what can we do about it?  
  
  
  Listen to POC and their problems, listen to their experiences of everyday racism and see what we can change about ourselves to fix that. The main thing to understand is that we are the problem, as a race. You might not be racist, but by ignoring the problem, you are contributing to it.
  
  
  Educate other people. Someone talking about the difficulties of immigration and how it means they are less likely to get a job with all these POC taking them? You shut that down immediately by explaining that they are not entitled to any job, and that therefore no one can ‘take’ it from them. Part of our privilege is that people are more likely to listen to us, lets use that.
  
  
  Don't expect POC to put up with your privilege, or take pity on your ignorance. They have to deal with it every day, from birth to the day they die, they have no sympathy for you. Let them call you out. Don’t be angry when they point out your ignorance, learn from it instead.
  
  
  White people are privileged. Understand it, accept it, and then help change it.
• 
  
• Further Education:
• Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
• Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
• White Like Me by Tim Wise
• How The Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
• killing rage by bell hooks
• "Roots" TV miniseries
• Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
• A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
• STFU Confederates
• Whiteness Studies
• Lies My Teacher Told Me
• Resist Racism
• 
  
• Sources:
• http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014083.pdf
• http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/30/1354762/--White-Woman-Goes-on-Shooting-Spree-yet-somehow-isn-t-automatically-Killed-By-Police#
• http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html
• http://thisiswhiteprivilege.tumblr.com/tagged/privilege 
• http://www.vanityfair.com/news/daily-news/2014/11/ferguson-grand-jury-verdict-darren-wilson
• http://wtfwhiteprivilege.tumblr.com/wellintentioned 

This Weeks Best Celeb Moments!

This week has been full of so many wonderful, wild and amazing celebrity moments and I wanted to do a post this week giving a small round up of these events to keep you all updated in the world of celebs.

Starting off with Justin Timberlake who celebrated his 34^th birthday on Saturday and shared with the world on Instagram that he and wife Jessica Biel were expecting their first child together. He posted a heart-warming picture and wrote: ‘Thank you EVERYONE for the Bday wishes! This year, I'm getting the GREATEST GIFT EVER. CAN'T WAIT.#BoyOrGirl #YouNeverKnow #WeDontEvenKnow#WeAreTakingBets’. I cannot wait for Timberlake to become a dad!

Leading onto another Justin who has been at the centre of attention throughout 2014 and all for the wrong reasons. Yes, it is the one and only Justin Bieber. The pop sensation seems to have matured and has made a public apology for his arrogant and bad behaviour and he actually seems to be ashamed of his mistakes. Ellen spoke about his apology with him on her show and this can be watched here.

Justin Timberlake is not the only celeb to have celebrated a birthday this week. Harry Styles who turned 21 on February 1^st threw a massive birthday bash in LA. He spent much of the evening with rumoured girlfriend Nadine Leopold by his side and other fabulous people such as Kendall Jenner, Alexa Chung, David Beckham and Cara Delevingne were part of the party fun.

Moving on to another event that is happening on the 8^th February. It is going to be filled with hundreds of talented celebrities and of course it is the 2015 Grammys. It is set to be a very exciting night and I am particularly excited for the world debut of the song ‘FourFiveSeconds’ which will be performed by Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West. The video for this song was released this week and apart from Kanye’s weird movements, I quite like it! 

As a fan of Paul McCartney, I am so happy he is releasing new music with these artists as he is still just so talented and he is set to also collab with Lady Gaga so I cannot wait for that! We can also look forward to the BAFTAs on the 8^th February as well.

Lastly I thought I would end this on some random news just to inform you all about Miley’s new tattoo. It is a tattoo of her pet pufferfish as she mourns its passing. It’s a bit odd but I guess it’s nice thought and I wouldn’t expect anything less from Miley…  

Doughnuts: Baking

Doughnuts!

 

I'm actually surprised that these came out the way I hoped the would! It was so much fun decorating these doughnuts, and they were surprisingly simple to make (except from the kneading of the dough which was a workout in itself!) So if you like doughnuts (why wouldn't you?) then stay tuned.

 

 

Ingredient's you will need:

• 2 packets of dried active baking yeast 
• 60ml of warm water (from the tap)
• 355ml milk
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 70g melted butter
• 625g plain flour

Method:

First of all, add all of the dry ingredients (half the flour, sugar and yeast) into a bowl and gently mix. Then add all of the wet ingredients and combine together, then add the rest of the flour to make it into a ball of dough.

You will then need to knead the dough for about 15 minutes ( I know, I know, sounds like a lot of effort, but it helps make the doughnuts nice and fluffy)

  To knead the dough, you should push the dough away from you (like you're stretching it) and the fold it back on itself. If you're confused on what to do then click here to help you get a visual on what to do.



 

Then, turn your oven on to 35 C. This most probably will not be marked on your oven so just do what I did and guess! Or, you could find a warm spot in your house for example by a radiator or in the airing cupboard. This is to prove your dough and make it rise. Put your dough in a bowl and cover with cling film and leave to prove for 45 minutes.

 

Once the 45 minutes is up, take the dough out and roll it out until it is the width of your thumb. Then take the desired shape/size and cut out your doughnuts.

Then place them on a baking tray and leave to prove for another 25 minutes. When they have 10 minutes left to prove, heat 700ml of oil in a deep frying pan.

 

Then carefully drop your doughnuts into the oil and cook until brown on both sides. This will only take a few minutes.

If you would like yours sugar-coated then dip in sugar straight after cooking.

I also decorated mine with melted chocolate and sprinkles, but you can decorate yours however!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this blog, feel free to comment any questions!

Dealing With Change: Life, Advice and Rants

Change is a natural part of life, and everyone faces it at one time or another. Some may feel excited about change that involves a gain however, others may worry about a change that involves a loss. Some may find it much easier to make gradual adjustments than to face a sudden upheaval in everyday life. We all reacted differently to change, some embrace it whereas others can't deal with it. 

As human beings, we're wired to stick with what's comfortable and change can bring about a lot of stress because we feel as though it interrupts our everyday lives. I'm here to help you understand change is usually for the better and that there are ways of dealing with it. I have some tips for dealing with upcoming stressful change in your life:

- Be prepared
When expecting change ask yourself "what's the worse that could happen?" This question will force you to look a the worst case scenario then work back from there. It's forcing yourself to look at what could go wrong and finding strategies to do your best to prevent this.

- Accept the changes
Life is full of unexpected surprises; don't let this be a lesson you refuse to learn. Change will be a part of your life, no matter how much you may try to shelter or protect yourself from it. The major key to coping with change is to begin by accepting the reality of change and its inevitability

- Keep a open mind
Try not to jump to conclusions about the change you’re facing. Just because you haven’t done something before doesn't mean you won’t like it. 

- Take care of your health
Physical and emotional health can take a toll when dealing with any change. Just take
extra care to eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. This will help relieve stress of change and help you be fighting fit to deal with it.

- Face your feelings
Think about this thoroughly, especially when the change is imposed and beyond your control. Get past "Why me?" "But I don't want to!" and "It isn't fair!" Figure out what your fears or worries are and that takes work but you don't have to be a victim, even when you are not in control of the change.

Progress in life is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.We can't just go back and start a new beginning but we can accept the changes today and start to make a new ending. 

Ebay & Amazon Beauty Bargains: Beauty

A bit of an easy post this week because of no reason other than life. After the first paycheck of 2015 which felt lovely, I may have spent quite a bit on ebay and amazon bargains that I found so you don't have to! I am genuinely impressed with all of these products and hope you are too.

Flower Makeup Bags - 99p | 4 Kabuki Brushes - £4.86 | 4 Blending Sponges - £3.05 | Acrylic Lipstick Holder - £2.14 | 4 Eye Makeup Brushes - £1.52 | Rimmel Apocalips - £2.99 | 8 Eye Makeup Brushes - £1.78

All of the above products are brilliant but I definitely love number 2, 4 and 5 for value. Both types of brush are incredible for such a small price and in my opinion comparable to real techniques. The lipstick holder is also great and I currently have one space left. Eeek.

If you liked this post let me know and I'll do another one soon.

The Beauty of Ruffles: Textiles

The Beauty of Ruffles

As you've probably inferred this post is going to be about the magnificence of ruffles. Ruffles are the easiest and most effect piece of embellishment that you can add to almost anything. Of course patience is a must like any textile or art piece, I would know as I am the least patient person you'll come across, but done the right way they can be fast and effective in transforming an old garment.

The key components of ruffle making are of course the obvious, stiff fabrics will create the most volume and hold its shape. the worst part of making a ruffle is when you use a silky fabric so when you gather the material the texture just slips out leaving the ruffle uneven.However if you are careful and are in a position to take your time light weight fabric can create a beautiful, elegant look. 

Secondly, layers, layers layers! I cant stress enough that the more layers you have the more volume, texture and dramatic effect you will make. You've just got to be careful when pulling you ruffle together that you don't snap it from the extra tension from the added layers.

Examples of extravagant ruffle use in Dior and the Alexander Mcqueen 2006 catwalk

On to the ruffle making! Obviously not on such an elite scale.

You'll need to gather your fabrics depending on the effects you are after. Also either a sewing machine set to the longest stitch length or you can use a needle and thread and do it the longer way.

This is an image of a ruffle all layered up and ready to sew for my final textile piece. As you can see I have used three fabrics. a synthetic  fabric which I burnt round the edges to stop annoying fraying and two natural cotton fabrics which contrast in texture. the natural fabric will help create body to the ruffle and the synthetic to reflect the light making it stand out more.

From here you'll want to do a simple running stitch with the longest stitch available on your machine. If you're doing it by hand, make each running stitch about 1 cm or just under.

  <running stitch

After you've made your stitch don't tie off the thread and leave yourself quite a bit of excess. Take hold of either the top or bottom thread or if you've done it by hand just one thread from the end with the most excess. Then gently pull the thread to gather the fabric, at the same time pushing the fabric down the thread you are holding. do this gently as you don't want to snap the thread as you'll have to do this all over again!

 Your ruffle should look similar to this (not my picture by the way). you spread the ruffle out to suit your tastes and of the density of the ruffle, then pin it down and sew it onto your garment, bag etc. By sewing your running stitch in different positions you can create a different effect. Example:

 (not my own picture)

This will make a more flared ruffle when gathered.

Here is an image of the sleeve of my final piece when I was adding ruffles as an example of ruffle use.

And here are a few images of the final look.

I hope this post has given some inspiration!

The Round Up: 70 year Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

"We survivors do not want our past to be our children's future"

Auschwitz survivor Roman Kent touching words from the Auchwitz memorial event this week. 70

years ago on Tuesday marked the liberation of Auchwitz, the concentration camp were some 1.1 million people were executed between 1940-1945. Today, only 300 survivors live to tell what the human imagination still struggles to comprehend of the Nazi genocide that took place there. Prayers for the dead were said before candles were lit at the Birkenau monument to the victims, small points of light where Europe remembers a time of darkness.

It was emotional to hear the words of those who survived Auschwitz having lived through one of the 20th Century's worst acts of hatred and imnumanity, survivor Halina Birenbaum said her greatest duty was to "tell others how much people in the camps had wanted to live".

Even after 70 years, it is important to remember the horrors experienced by those who suffered within the barbed wire fences of Auschwitz. We need to remind ourself of humanity's lowest point, were incomprehensible evil was conducted by humans to humans. It is feared that by the next pinnacle anniversary of the Holocaust, there will be no more survivors left to recall the horrific events which is vital for us to always remember. To remember the loss of life caused by one mans obsession with power. To remember those who bravely survived. To remember the unthinkable. 

 No amount of documentaries or ceremonies can put into perspective the terror of Auschwitz, however we continue to recollect in order to prevent such abominations to happen again. Those survivors shouldn't fear that their past will be their children's future, we as humanity should step up to prevent this from ever happening again, to understand the value of human life over anything else.

 As Cathy Ashley, chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust added: "By hearing, seeing and sharing these powerful stories and memories, we are challenged to confront all forms of hatred and discrimination wherever we see them."