An exploration of the state of many refugees residing in Lebanon, how the deadly Beirut explosion has affected them, and what is being done to help.

“Natural is a charged term. The hatred women face as a result of natural hair, a bare face, the shape of our bodies comes from the fact that femininity is a performance in a way that masculinity never will be. When we are natural, we are warned to touch up and get back on stage. Yet, at the same time, our performance of femininity is used as an excuse to treat us as inferiors.”

“These poems are raw enough to connect us to our most base fears and desires. Things that, as humans, we should have the right to explore more.”

“When it comes to music, listen to everything. You might not like it at first, but it’ll grow on you. There’s always something you can get from any kind of music, you know?”

“Those last three minutes in the film are the most memorable to me but not for the reason you might think. Not because of the iconic aesthetic, but rather the image of a young man realizing at his fireplace that he has been used.”

“The concept of this editorial shoot zooms in on the intelligent and complex demographic taking back the empowerment they have been denied. Who you may ask? THE MELANATED WOMEN!”

“Intersectionality isn’t just the best way forward for the environmental justice movement - it is the only way forward.”

“In the past couple of years, I’ve realized that it does me no good to question the validity of my ethnic identity. Instead of getting caught up on what I can’t control, I approach the world with confidence knowing that my unique background allows me to see past outward appearances and understand cultural differences. I’ve decided to focus on truly embracing and accepting that being Chinese-American is what defines my unique cultural experience.”

“It is easy to think from our position in the UK that we have somehow overcome such structural racism. We do not experience the same rates of mass incarceration, but this is because history played out differently – although still far from innocently - in the UK after the abolition of slavery, and racist structures endure in different forms.”

“There’s a lot of shit to be mad at. It’s the representation of the opposition to societal norms. A lot of punks see societal norms as a surrounding evil. Punk shit to me, not only is it cool, not only is it fun, but it’s important. “

These individuals have fought against toxic masculinity, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and other types of discrimination. They are now proud of who they are and what they represent.

“Beauty cannot exist without ugliness the same way white people did not exist before black people did, the same way nothing makes a man apart from him being not a woman. In The Power, Naomi Alderman writes that ‘Gender is a shell game. What is a man? Whatever a woman isn’t. What is a woman? Whatever a man is not. Tap on it and it’s hollow, Look under the shells: it’s not there.’”

“It’s my job to learn what those missing pieces are. That is the only way I can fight them. As white people, we need to overcome the defense mechanism that makes the phrase “I’m not racist” jump to our throats. The one that encourages us to feel good about being “not racist” even though “not racist” requires no real action, it’s inherently an absence of action. The one that allows us to take a seat without first taking on the system.”

A celebration of the Black LGBTQ+ community.

“While I identify as Chinese-American, and that’s the only experience I can speak to because Asian Americans are not a monolith, one relatively uniform aspect of all this has been a vocal part of our community’s backlash to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.”

“[I] really listen to people and figure out what needs to be said in the world, and how I can put that through my music and help the scene through that. I feel like the world is inspiring me a lot because you see so much bravery and resilience, like so many powerful things...It's more important to listen and grow from that. So I feel like that's me.”

“For most disabled people, their disability is not a constant thought. Truth be told, I’m only ever made conscious of my disability when someone explicitly points it out to me when they ask why my eyes are shaking, why I can’t drive, or why I can’t see something they’re trying to point out.”

“After roller skating more, diving head first into it, I’ve seen the bullshit women and femmes have to go through, but fuck! People want to talk shit.”

Gen Z is birthing change on the digital landscape faster than a Snapchat story disappears—which is fitting, because a lot of the time it feels like social media birthed us.