All Lives Do Matter

In 1966, Dr Martin Luther King Jr., faced a problem during the Civil Rights Movements' 'March Against Fear' campaign. In the city park of Greenwood, Mississippi, a mass rally of support was held, during which Stokely Charmichael, a representative of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC), proclaimed: "what we need is black power". The Black …

Egalitarian is Not a Dirty Word

I have recently seen posts in social media suggesting that 'egalitarian' and 'egalitarianism' are ineffective responses to the Black Lives Matter campaign. One post in particular that has been doing the rounds states that no one mentioned egalitarian until feminism was talked about. Personally, I think that this particular post is intended to be inflammatory …

There is No Benefit to Being Disabled

“Before my diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, I knew what ‘the disabled’ looked like and I'm sure I had the right instincts towards ‘them’. But I had no understanding of what it was like to be ‘disabled’ and no understanding of the myriad obstacles — born out of discrimination or disinclination, bureaucracy or bullying, ineptitude or ignorance, …

Prejudice Without Pride

Prejudice is alive and well and living right here amongst us. I am sure that for many that is not an earth-shattering revelation, if we are honest we all know it is still practiced, what often annoys me is the fact that there are people who simply refuse to accept that this is true. People …

Tod Browning’s ‘Freaks’, Have Times Changed?

When I first became interested in the horror movie genre, many years ago now, I read a reference to Tod Browning’s film ‘Freaks’ that fascinated me. It was not so much the lurid portrayal of ‘real freaks’ that attracted my attention, I only had to look in the mirror to see some deformed limbs. The …