By pegahsmileyWith everything going on in the world, you might find yourself overwhelmed and even jaded, especially when you think you can’t do anything to help. Well, if you’re reading this, it’s very likely that you have at least a dollar to donate to a cause you’re passionate about! Here’s a list of my favorite places…
By pegahsmileyEditor’s note: Pegah Smiley gives an anecdotal account of why she believes that the United States’ mistreatment of minorities means the United States has never been truly great. In August of this year, I finally made my decision to move back to Canada, where I was born. I had lived in the U.S. for four…
By pegahsmileyI remember the feeling of excitement, but uncertainty, as I was walking towards the classroom I was about to spend two weeks in, to learn some coding. It was my first foray into “Kode With Klossy,” and although I had enrolled myself in this class to learn a new skill, I didn’t truly know what…
By pegahsmileyLet’s not sugar coat things. Privilege is out there, and it sucks. It sucks if you don’t have it, because you are systematically denied the advantages and opportunities that people with privilege have. And as a result, you have problems that people with that privilege would never have, and most frustratingly, often don’t even have the…
By pegahsmileyDear Jennifer Lopez, Congratulations on making tons of money at every single one of your dazzling shows, especially the one in Israel. I see you being happy and having fun, and I’m really happy for you! But I’m sure you already know how much benefit your shows have for the countries you perform in. And…
By pegahsmileyThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be hosting a huge, internationally-accessible concert on July 18th, called the “Jeddah World Fest.” The list of performers included Nicki Minaj, former One Direction member Liam Payne, and Steve Aoki, a DJ-producer. The Human Rights Foundation requested these artists to pull out of the show in support of the…
By pegahsmileyOn March 27th, 2019, Nusrat Jahan Rafi reported her headmaster for sexual harassment. She wasn’t taken seriously by the police. They recorded her even though she was trying to hide her face. Then the video was leaked. Five days later, she was burned death. Her last words were, “The teacher touched me, I will fight…
By pegahsmileyTowards the end of last month, Facebook announced its new policy on banning white nationalism and separatism, a policy that will also apply to Instagram. After a long time of conversations and arguments from experts and civil rights advocates, and following the multitude of hate-derived tragedies such as the mosque shooting in New Zealand, Facebook…
