Weekly Race Review: Beanies vs Hijabs, stolen art, and VisaBae

This week, viral outbursts of rage took aim at two vloggers, one in need of help and one dishing it out. Meanwhile the V&A comes under fire and Denmark honours an anti-colonial hero

Vlogger who advised women to wear beanies rather than hijabs on ‘Punish a Muslim’ day criticised

Tensions ran high on 3 April, dubbed “Punish a Muslim” day by an anonymous group. As reported by gal-dem on in late March, residents in London, Bradford, Leicester, Cardiff, and Sheffield reportedly received letters advocating a day of anti-Muslim violence.

Lifestyle YouTuber, Dina Tokio, reacted to the threats of violence by advising Muslim women make themselves less visible to stay safe. In a tweet, she wrote: “Tomorrow is April 3rd guys … all Muslims be extra cautious. To my hijabi sisters, if you’re out and about tomorrow maybe think about swapping your scarf for a beanie or something. We have to be extra careful. Remind your friends and family. Stay safe.”

A number of followers were disappointed at her comments. “After seeing Dina Tokio write ‘wear a beanie as an alternative’ already shows the direction modernists are going in order to abandon their fardh and compromise under pressure,” one user wrote.

A beanie is not hijab. And sister, you are not qualified as a scholar to give fatwa to sisters to compromise on their religion because of some idiotic hoax letter.If a person feels genuine fear & it isn’t necessary to go out, it would be better to stay in than to uncover!

— Fatima Barkatulla (@FatimaBarkatula) April 2, 2018

The letters detailed a list of attacks ranging from verbal abuse to nuking Mecca. Each action earned the perpetrator a different score. Pulling a hijab was listed as 25 points, throwing acid as 50 and bombing a mosque would be worth 1000 points.

V&A to loan artefacts Brits stole from Ethiopia back to Ethiopia

There’s a scene in Black Panther where the cinema erupted with applause. When Killmonger stages a heist to retrieve some Wakandan artefacts, he shouts at the white museum guide saying that white people had taken it “like they took everything else”.

Since 2007, Ethiopia has been trying to reclaim some of its most revered items that were stolen by the UK 150 years ago. The Victoria and Albert Museum is about to open an Ethiopian-themed exhibit and as a compromise the museum’s director, Tristram Hunt told The Guardian: “The speediest way, if Ethiopia wanted to have these items on display, is a long-term loan … that would be the easiest way to manage it.”

Although there has been a positive response from some containers, many have pointed out how unfair it is to reach any agreement that means that Ethiopia will not regain ownership of its own sacred items.

ICYMI

Denmark’s new “Rebel Queen” statue is the first public statue of a black woman. The sculpture is an homage to Mary Thomas, a woman leader who led a ferocious uprising against Danish colonisers in 1878. One of the artists behind the work said in a statement: “This project is about challenging Denmark’s collective memory and changing it.”
Photographer duo Kahran and Regis Bethencourt, who have made a career from sharing images of black women’s hair online, have signed a six figure book deal. The book will celebrate the beauty of natural hair.

Why we are leaving @radarradioldn 1/3

A post shared by Pxssy Palace (@pxssypalace) on Apr 5, 2018 at 9:22am PDT

Pxssy Palace have quit their Radar Radio show citing a difference in “core values”. In a three-part statement on Instagram, the self-titled “organically grown girl gang” wrote: “We feel that they have tokenised women, feminism, queer and trans culture, and black and other people of colour for capitalist purpose, whilst making little to no effort to practice intersectionality within their own organisation”.
Instagram it-girl, RutendoTichiwangani, went viral this week under the moniker #VisaBae when she took to YouTube to ask her followers to help her stay in the UK. The 22-year-old asked viewers to help her raise £2,300 for a visa. She cried on camera talking about how she was not financially stable. Many Twitter users pointed to her extravagant lifestyle on Instagram as evidence of a scam. Tichiwangani said: “You can’t always believe what you see on social media.” Her crowdfund amassed over £4,000.