@anisesloper
I'm Anise, just a tired 15-year-old girl, desperately trying to finish high school; I'm a skilled procrastinator and I have a talent for getting overly involved in things that I really don't have the time for. I'm very big on working hard and taking every opportunity that you can, which doesn't always end well for me; however, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Recently at my high school in London, some racist opinions were being expressed in my year. In response to this, our headteacher told us that we had to stop 'excluding' the racists and to start showing them respect; otherwise, we would be punished. Our school has a long history of racism, and we'd had enough.
So, we held a protest.
The whole thing was pulled together in just two days; I never could have organized it without the help of the entire year group. I'll never forget the feeling: standing up there looking at the 800-strong crowd. Seeing all of us standing up for what we believe in was so overwhelming; the atmosphere was something I cannot describe with words. You can read about it on @anisesloper and on "This is Local London"
As a result, the school is working extremely hard to bring about real change; all because of something that we did. Using your voice is so powerful; you really can make a difference.
Activism has always been something I'm passionate about; to me, it seems like it's something everyone should be passionate about. I started working for @dearasianyouthlondon a few months ago, and it has been an amazing privilege to help spread awareness about such important issues. All the work they do is wonderful; I would highly recommend you go check them out.
My other passion in life is the arts. My obsession with movies has manifested itself through my blog, aniseoveranalyses.com, where I can ramble on about movies for as long as I want. I hope to go into costume design for film or theatre in the future, where I can help to tell the stories that need to be told.
There is an intersection between activism and arts, which all creatives have a responsibility to uphold. The world needs educating, and the news isn't the way to do it. Reading the news is so draining - it is desensitizing to just read facts and statistics about the tragedies that torment this world. They’re stripped of all emotion, and reading about difficult issues in an article leaves many people with anxiety and a general feeling of helplessness.
The arts give us a different way to get a message across, promote activism, and start conversations that we desperately need to be having. It gives people hope, and a way to cope with the world at the moment, which can be overwhelmingly heavy sometimes.
Movies enable people to empathize more. It's much easier to understand the pain and trauma people have gone through if you're watching it, rather than reading about it in an article.
There are so many amazing movies, shows, plays- even songs- that are trying to do this at the moment - if there's a particular topic you would love to learn more about, I really would recommend looking into movies surrounding it; chances are, you'd learn a lot more. If you're hoping to get into, or are currently working in the creative industry, I beg you. Use your voice for something worthwhile. People are listening.
Please, go follow me @anisesloper (IG) @itssanise (Twitter)
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