Black History Month is about not only reflecting on the past, but also about celebrating the achievements of black visionaries and role models. This Black History Month, why not check out some amazing works by queer black authors? These storytellers and artists explore the intersection of sexuality, race and gender through prose, poetry and fiction.…
In Honor of Black History Month, here are some black artists that have made an impact on our world as a whole. 1. Augusta Savage Augusta Savage was an American sculptor and educator contributing to the fight of racism, and to modern feminism. She was born in Florida, 1892. She started sculpting just with the…
As a part of Black History Month, I wanted to dedicate my blog post to African American women and their contributions to art and literature, and share some of their literature with you. Maya Angelou Maya Angelou (Marguerite Annie Johnson, also referred to as Dr. Maya Angelou) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights…
February is Black History Month, so in honor of that I wanted to share some of the most powerful photos from Black Lives Matters protests around the world. Germany Covid did not stop people from protesting for the Black Lives Matter movement. This picture was taken in May of 2020 in front of the embassy…
Creative expression has always been an essential part of human nature. As you may have already noticed, a lot of pop culture and mainstream art, in terms of music, writing, and painting, has been heavily influenced by black culture. Therefore, I think Black History Month is a great time to highlight and appreciate these artists…
For this February, here are two novel recommendations, each with its own distinctive qualities and characters, each compelling in its own way. First is a twentieth-century classic: Invisible Man Set roughly in the 1930s, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man follows an unnamed African-American narrator as he recounts his early years—from growing up in the American South…
As February is Black History Month, here is a list of 5 nonfiction/fiction books, (in no particular order) that are essential to read, before the month ends (or anytime during the year!). White Fragility – Robin DiAngelo This book is one of many books that I will constantly recommend to others. In it, the author…
In order to see where we are going, we not only must remember where we have been, but we must understand where we have been. The above quote is by Ella Baker, an African-American human rights activist. As we cover Black History Month here at YAA, this quote embodies our mindset towards the value of…
In the month of January, I picked up a novel by Nicola Yoon called Instructions for Dancing. After reading and thoroughly enjoying both of her previous novels (Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also A Star), I had nothing but high expectations for this one. Now, I have to say, this is one of the…
To the person I will be tomorrow: You inherit these memories of mine and every fibre of my physical self. You are like me. I too have inherited the persona and body of my predecessors, and my experiences will become your experiences in a mere few hours. Yet you—and subsequent you’s—will have experiences I—and preceding…
As defined by Healthline, Pilates is a challenging low impact exercise method that balances strength with mobility, aligns the body, fine-tunes movement patterns, and strengthens the deeper muscles of the core. It works the deep muscle layers, creating long and lean muscles. Because it is also low impact, pilates is suitable for those with injuries…
We do art in our everyday lives whether it is journaling, painting, drawing or any other fun medium. Sometimes we like to do art as a hobby, or other times it becomes our passion and profession. But, what we don’t know is that it has a deeper implication. Art has the power to spark creativity,…
The twinkling starry night was obscured by numerous grey cotton balls from above. Crystal water droplets gently separated themselves from the crying clouds as it tapped the ocean water lightly. Each droplet cascaded from the dark sky as thousands of crystal liquids reflected the majestic ocean. The sun rose from the horizon once again, pouring…
The gym is a great place to try new things and challenge yourself, but that can be difficult if you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. The fear of being stared at and judged is hard to overcome, but it will get better once you realize that people are usually too busy focusing…
Art has always been an essential aspect of our lives as it has the ability to describe the human condition and connect with our emotions that at times cannot be verbally expressed. But, throughout time, art has also been subjected to a series of changes and evolutions. One of my favourite art movements is impressionism,…