white poppies for remembrance day every year in britain hundreds of paper red poppies are sold in aid of the royal british legion and associated charities. instead of that, this year I urge you to consider spending just 50p* on a white poppy. why? the money from the white poppies goes to support the peace pledge union, working in the memory of all those lives affected by war past, present and future; and to secure a more peaceful path looking forwards. the white poppy symbolises all those affected by war: the children left fatherless, the women abused and raped by british soldiers, the young and old men drafted to fight against their morals -- every person affected by war, no matter religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, ability or age. the white poppy is a movement to de-glorify war. to stop militarisation in schools. to stop kids at london comic-con buying merch where offensive weaponry has been sold to overseas powers just months before...
my little brother, in a video my by older brother my experience ever since i was a kid, my brothers have skated. my little brother was one and a half when he learned, he could hardly form sentences, but would come with our mum to pick us up from school on a tiny skateboard -- rolling speedy up the hill to the school buildings. i always wanted to do it, in some ways i have skated all my life: but for some reason i have always been scared to do as much as i wanted. i think growing up as a girl with an older sister in the 2000s -- where gendered marketing was at it's peak -- i never recognised my uncomfortable sense of not feeling quite right in the "girly" norms; i was just a tomboy, fitting in. when i was around eleven or twelve penny boards were all around, so of course i had one (or, stole my brother's sweet yellow one periodically), but still it wasn't really what i wanted -- i was just conforming. i remember days where we could skate in the garden...