Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic has started, there has been a spike of hate crimes towards the Asian community. These hate crimes have been affecting individuals of all ages, ranging from being shouted at on the street to being physically attacked.
On Tuesday evening in Atlanta, Georgia, 8 innocent men and women (6 of them being Asian) were shot and killed by a 21 year old, white male. The shooter told the authorities that he had a “sex addiction,” and apparently lashed out at what he saw as "sources of temptation". The police department of that area has also failed to class it as a hate crime, instead said that the individual was just "having a bad day".
Its in situations like this where we all need to come together and spread awareness about these issues. Just like we are doing for the Black Lives movement, we need to stand united, protect, spread awareness, and get rid of the hate towards the Asian community.
#SAYTHEIRNAMES - Delaina Ashley Yuan, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Julie Park, Park Hyeon Jeong. 

Being in this pandemic has brought about the new way of studying and work being completely online (in most cases). The main thing that I feel is an issue, is how do we switch up our daily routines in a time where we can't go out that much. Especially with studies, I think I am lucky in the fact that the university library is still open, because if not, I would go mad staying in the house, more specifically my room, 24/7. Even switching from room to room, after a while loses its effect and we end up being back in our rooms for most of the day. And so, this tiresome routine of getting up, going to our desks to be in school or university etc for however many hours a day, and then work and dinner repeats itself yet again.
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So how do we change this?

Some things that I have started to do that may help you/ give you ideas are;
- Meet up (in a socially distanced manner) with a friend every week for either a walk or to do work in the library
- Try take myself on walks
- Reading books on my days off to take my mind off of work
- Doodle or draw/sketch in the evenings when I have finished to relax
Also this one I think is most important...
- Don't work after 5/6pm at night. That way you can relax and properly rest and gain energy to be ready for the next day.

I hope this has given you some idea of how you can spice up your day-to-day life while in lockdown.
Until my next post, I hope you all stay safe and healthy iA !!

Salaams/Hi everyone,
This post is going to be on a much lighter topic that hopefully you can relate to in some way.
The travel blues... something I have/ am experiencing quite a lot thanks to COVID. Which is heavily ironic due to being in a global pandemic currently. One of the ways I have stopped myself from going completely crazy when stuck in my house (mainly in my room or the kitchen), is by planning trips for the distant future in faraway countries, that, due to me having a phobia of planes and hating long-haul flights, most of them may not happen ~ I plan on tackling this issue so that some of these trips can come true InshaAllah (if God wills). But it makes feel better living vicariously through google images and google trips (not sponsored) for a few hours. In my mind, I have fully scheduled trips around the world, one of them being a road trip anywhere with my closest friend.
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On a less extravagant note, this pandemic has also made me miss the little road trips to a different city that last a few days or a couple hours that I used to go on with my family or with my siblings. It also made me appreciate the fact that i got to experience these trips and makes me look forward to the days on the other side of this pandemic, where I can get up and go on trips with my family, siblings or my best friend InshaAllah.

Am I the only one that's doing this? Or are you reading this with a tab open that has your first post-COVID planned out? InshaAllah this will be over soon and all the trips we want to go on will come into being. I hope this has given you some sort of comfort or an idea of something to do when at home (trust me it is a good past time, plus when the time comes, it will only be a matter of booking the tickets).

Until my next post, stay safe and healthy x
 

Allow their names to be said
Allow their stories to be told
Let justice be served
To those who did them wrong
Allow our voices to be heard
For the reason to be found
Let change begin
To a system of old
Let the cycle be broken
Allow the living to be free
Not be criminalised by their skin
Or to be killed endlessly
For this is a fight for justice for the dead and making sure this doesn’t happen again
But also, to make a change and stop the hate crimes by civilians and those in power against black people
Because when your skin colour is seen as a weapon, you will never be seen as unarmed.
So, if you are not a person of colour please acknowledge the white privilege that society has given you and use it to spread the message to platforms where the voices of others are heard but not listened to. This is a time in which we must all unite against a society – seen around the world – where people are categorised and treated in either a good or bad way based on the colour of their skin. We must unite and protest, speak up, do something, until we see a change in the treatment of people, until the world realises we are all part of the human race. Being treated based on skin colour should never be acceptable! And if you decide to turn your head the other way and ignore what is happening in America, in the UK and in many countries, just know that you are part of the problem. Being silent at a time like this is being complicit in the injustice. Simply saying you aren’t racist isn’t enough. You need to be ACTIVELY ANTI-RACIST for a change to occur.
#BLACKLIVESMATTERALWAYS #SAYTHEIRNAMES #JUSTICEFORGEORGEFLOYD

​Assalamualaikum/Hello world.
So, a little information about me - I am a Muslim girl with a mixed racial background, currently studying psychology in university. As a lot of you know, the current (and not so current) events that have taken place in the US and UK regarding racism and general discrimination has been a major influence in me starting a blog. This is because I see the injustice and just general ignorance of some people - due to not knowing/understanding what is happening or some other reason - and it got me thinking. If I have the opportunity to create a platform that helps educate, inspire or just give people an insight into what it's like being on the receiving end of a racist comment etc and maybe spark a change, surely I should? And being in lock-down (due to COVID) seems like the ideal time to spread the word and hopefully get some change.
Don't worry, I plan on writing about some light topics too InshaAllah (if God wills). This world needs some positivity too right?
That's all for now...