"In diversity, there is beauty and there is strength." — Maya Angelou

I hereby warmly welcome all the readers to another edition of THE DEAD MAG. I hope you've had a great couple of weeks (or months, but let's be honest, who even knows in this time), and here's to the constant positive slope of all of our betterment, be it mental or physical! 

Diving right in, let me just say that even though it may seem like we purposely select only "controversial" topics as our themes, there's a lot of thought and effort put into every issue. I hope the content writers who've worked so hard to give the theme its vibrance are rewarded with the applause they deserve. :)

Alright, let's talk cultures. We've all heard of the word, read it over and over again on the internet, most probably on all sorts of social media, but what does it really entail? Is it just the specific "ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society" as described by Google? Or is it more?

In a world like today, culture has more meaning that it ever did before. I think it stems from the need to preserve the dying cultures of so many communities because there are just so many hindrances in the way. One of the most prominent issues that's destroying the authenticity of cultures, so to speak, is the term cultural appropriation. I'm pretty sure most of us, if not all, have heard of that too. Or experienced it. 

To discuss cultural appropriation would be a bit off-topic, but since it seems necessary, let's do that for a second. From all the information I've gathered over the years of my existence, the term is used to describe instances where people belonging to other communities try to thieve (and are mostly, pretty successful in doing so) the cultural aspects of other communities and make financial profit off of it. Not inserting any opinions here, but it does seem like a super non-classy thing to do, doesn't it? It's completely okay to be inspired by a culture, but to completely duplicate what is essentially, not a part your original roots, definitely seems like an unnecessary, excessive enterprise.

Of course, a lot of questions arise on the aspect of cultural appropriation. Is it so wrong to want to show your appreciation for other cultures? What is so wrong with wanting to be a part of something, to feel like you belong, for once? These questions, and more of the sort, are very much expected and should definitely be asked, but as we keep progressing into a more, well, concept-based society, I feel like there is no correct answer to them. I believe in world citizenship, instead of promoting rivalry between countries. We're all people, after all. We all smile the same language. I do believe in wanting to make your country or your people proud, but that by no means gives any of us any right to discriminate against any other soul, on whatever grounds.

In the words of Audre Lorde, "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to accept, recognise and celebrate them." So what I really mean to convey is, that even though we're all of different ethnicities (which is just a fancy way to say different corners of the world), we're all very much the same. And we all deserve a chance to prove our worth, to prove that we are more that the stereotypes that govern us. Nothing is more discouraging than believing that you weren't born to succeed. Everyone is born to create a name for themselves in this world, regardless of what qualms people may have about the place you come from. We hold the power to change people's minds in our hands. We just have to know how to wield it.

The September issue definitely encloses a whole lot of surprises on a theme which you may have figured out by now, if my message wasn't too cryptic, that's for sure. There's a sense of belonging in knowing that we're all so different yet so similar. We've never gone as diverse as this before, so I hope all of you enjoy what we have in store for this month! :)

I'll take your leave here. 

Yours truly,
DoveMalfoy19