KKK, RUDENESS AND CELEBRATE

The End of Summer

Wow, August is over. Truly shook. This summer has lasted forever but gone so quickly, so many things I wanted to do that I didn’t but here we are, at the end. I had my last day at work today! But the thing I've enjoyed most about the job (expect seeing Emma everyday) was when I sent letter's to people, when it was couples I always did Mrs and Mr Surname, oh it's the little things in life isn't it? Me single-handedly ending everyday sexism. When I say last day of work, I am talking about my last day at my summer job as I move into my house in Surrey on Monday and go back to my job at uni before starting my course on the following Monday. It's nonstop, and I've said it before here at No1HQ and I'll say it again, busy is good. But I do low-key (high-key) regret not resting for 5 minutes, my tutors are expecting us to go back well-rested and energised, and although I didn't think it was possible I will be returning even more tired than when I left. Now to this month's post, all the monthly feature's are back, but this month's No1 Unpopular Opinion has a twist. And this month’s No1GuestBlogger is one of the people who inspired me to start a blog, it’s the one and only Jamie! Dorchester's (London's our next stop) two gay icons together on one post, what a treat, now grab a lemon and sit back and enjoy!

Highlights

A list of fab things that happened this month which I just have to mention.

- At the beginning of this month I saw Yerma starring Billie Piper, which is the best show I have ever seen. It was unbelievable. I want to be Billie Piper. I also met her after the show which as a big Doctor Who fan was incredible. If anyone has seen it, please message me I want to fangirl about it again with someone hahah!!

- I saw my mother Kate Nash live three times which as ever was incredible, I'm not just saying this because she's my mum but if you ever get the chance to see her live you HAVE to go. In June's post I talked about GLOW the series Kate was in and this month a second series was confirmed, so we have that to look forward as well as her fourth album! Yas Kate, keep slaying it.

- Brighton Pride and Dorchester Love Parade. Both at either end of the month which was beautiful, I love pride so so so much and it's so important. Bourenmouth and London were also amazing this year and I hope everyone had a brilliant pride, I cannot wait for next year! But remember everyone to keep up the love and keep fighting the fight. All four seasons.

- Notting Hill Carnival! I am still um-ing and er-ing to post a vlog about this, I did get some 'footage' but not quite enough. But the main things to say is, Lily Allen performed her new song, Who featuring Lady Chann which will hopefully be released soon, ya know it will be all over my socials when it is. It sounded amazing, I am so excited!!! Literally about to burst. And she saw me in the crowd and smiled and pointed and shouted 'Big Up Hazzus', love ya long time Shezzus. The low of the carnival was someone THROWING UP on MY leg, yes my No1's it happened. I would like to not talk about that anymore, it happened and I came out a stronger person. Finally it's important to remember we are celebrating diversity, especially the culture and heritage of the British West Indian community. Because the media is a white wash. There was also a minute silences for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. I dunno what you saw in the media but it was probably very exaggerated, I saw no violence or arrests. Of course there were some bad people there, there are bad people everywhere, including in The White House and Number 10 (I really think it's time No1 (me) was prime minister) But the majority of the people there showed love and peace and wanted to celebrate different cultures and diversity because we are all beautiful.

- Lastly you have to watch P!nk's acceptance speech from the VMA's. Her six year old daughter said to her that she was the ugliest girl in the world, which is what P!nk's speech is about, it's so so beautiful. Watch it here

Now over to my No1GuestBlogger!

August's No1GuestBlogger – Jamie

Jamie Windust here, and all you need to know about me is that I adore Yellow, I am a huge advocate and pursuer for LGBTQIA+ rights across in all parts of the world, and am myself a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community as a non-binary queer individual. I’m half of 40, live just outside London and study Fashion Management and Marketing at the University for the Creative Arts. I enjoy writing bits and bobs for my website, leopardprintelephant.com, and discussing politics, society, culture and especially trans lives and all their glory.

No1 Food: Darling it’s going to have to be the lemon. Now call this a coincidence but anything lemon flavoured and I am yours. God i’m a cheap date.

No1 Quote: Now I’m not a huge fan of quotes, purely because I find the majority of them far too simplistic and incredibly exclusionary of most actual real people, however a good one from mother Ru here. ’Anybody who can step out of the house with a pair of heels and some lipstick on their lips is my hero’ - RuPaul. Just for the record, people who are not adorned with lipstick and heels are also able to be heroes. Sometimes.

What annoys you the most: I’m not going to focus on one person because realistically people don’t annoy me that much, however people who say that the world is ‘too PC’ irritate me. If I meet you and that is one of the first things you say to me, then I know that you clearly do not have an empathetic bone in your body. The world isn’t too PC John, you’re just uneducated and narrow minded. Language is the quickest and easiest way for able bodied people to be able to let you know what they’re thinking, so don’t just dismiss language as futile. Language has power, and people who don’t realise this are very annoying.

What would your 15 minutes of fame be for: So there would definitely be a scandal that I was HRH Princess Diana’s secret love child, but then in a plot twist to beat all plot twists, it would turn out that I was Annie Lennox and Clare Balding’s love child. I know, I’m shocked too.

No1 Song of All Time: RuPaul Sissy That Walk - obvs.

No1 Song at the moment/this month/right now: Now I’m not a huge Taylor Swift fan and she does frustrate me with her incredibly laborious extensions of her celebrity feuds, however her clear piss take of the media’s perception of her in her new song Look What You Made Me Do is something I can definitely get on board with.

Social Media Usernames: LEOPARDPRINTELEPHANT DUH LADIES.

No1 moment of this month;

My number one moment this month was when I wrote about the EXPERIENCES OF JULY (Yes I’m cheating however August has been a fairly un satisfactory month, so lets throw it back to JULY AND PRIDE). Can we just take a moment that as someone who actually writes about LGBTQIA+ life and culture, this year was the first year that I’d been to pride? After volunteering with Stonewall, the UKs Leading LGBTQIA+ charity, in May, I have been helping out their digital and social team, and was kindly asked to join them at PRIDE IN LONDON. It was honestly a magical, overwhelmingly emotional day, and I don’t think I’ll ever experience anything like it. Being surrounded my so many LGBTQIA+ people of all shapes, sizes, colours, bodies, abilities, and personalities, it was just such an enriching space to be in. Coming from a small town can be isolating and can make you think you’re never going to actually be able to live in a world where you’ll be surrounded by people who accept, live and embody your gender identity, and being in London, strutting down Oxford street and through Picacdilly Circus, definitely is a great reminder that life exists out there for people like me. People like us.

Something I HAVE to talk about;

I recently wrote a piece online for XXY Magazine, a website for millennial culture, politics and society. The focus of the piece was about how my gender isn’t your trend, and its not the first time that I’ve explored this, and I was glad to have a platform to be able to express my thoughts on this. After being more involved in modelling over the past 12 months, it’s been incredibly eye opening to see the ways in which gender is fetishised and used to shock and create a ‘click-bait’ affect for media publications. Being at the start of my career and wanting to express myself in the best and most explosive ways as possible, I’m willing to do things for free, do things with large audiences, and do things that can ensure that the message I stand for, gets out there, however this can come at a cost for trans people. My look is exploited for views, and exploited for money, and although I am aware of this, it can be difficult to ensure that they know what it’s like from the other side. Don’t use trans people for your publications if you’re not willing to educate yourself on their gender identity, their lives and their world. Don’t misgender them. Don’t ignore their requests. Remember that 8/10 young trans people have thought about self harm, and 45% have attempted suicide. That’s nearly 1/2. Be aware, inform your opinions, ask informed questions, and just be an amazing ally.

Thanks for reading, back over to Harry!

No1 Unpopular Opinion of the Month

The KKK are trash. Now you think in 2017 this would be a popular opinion. But after the events in America I have to talk about this. How anyone can hate a whole group of people because of something that they are born with has always been completely beyond me. How can you hate someone because of the complexion in their pigment!? HOW? It makes me so angry. I don’t like football but I can understand why people do, I don’t like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift but I can understand why people do, I hate racism and I completely cannot understand why people are? I DON’T GET IT! At its peak in the 1920s, there was over 4 million Klan members, which is crazy and disgusting, but today there is an estimated 3,000 Klan members. All though that’s an amazing decrease, 3,000 is too many, 1 is too many. I found this really interesting article about Daryl Davis which is definitely worth a read. Daryl is a black man who convinced 200 KKK members to quit – amazing. Give him a google for more.

Now this is the time for the good to come together to fight against the bad. Because President Fart, you were wrong, there isn’t bad on both sides, it’s all pure, peace, love and goodness on our side, how dare you blame what happened in Charlottesville on both sides. I wish so bad I was there standing side by side with my siblings in Charlottesville showing those racists what’s good. So maybe it’s scary that the KKK are alive and well, but I’m here to show it’s a No1 POPULAR opinion that the KKK are trash, or I also like to say kunts.

No1GuestBlogger Jamie’s opinion on my opinion;

White silence = White Violence. Hearing so many people recently ‘not all white people’ ‘ing the situation in Charlottesville is not only not ok, but is regressive and doesn’t help anyone. This month darling I am absolutely agreeing with your NO1UO. The decrease in numbers of the KKK to 3000 is still disgusting, however people displaying that fact that the KKK are disgusting is just like saying fire is hot and yellow is gorgeous. That’s a fact, and we know that, and you repeating that and sharing a link to a buzzed article on Facebook isn’t actually going to change anything. You need to change your language, change your attitudes, call out racism. Speak to POC and learn about the struggles that they go through in day to day instances, and use your privilege to ensure that their lives are better. This isn’t patronising, and its informing your own opinion on something that you don’t think of. If you’re a white person reading this, think of the last time that you didn’t achieve something. Was your first thought that you didn’t achieve it because you’re white? Of course it wasn’t, because you can’t be racist to white people. Race is based on privilege and systems of oppression. By all means you can be prejudice based on race, however racism itself is based on systems of oppression and the levels of hierarchy that occur in society. White people hold the power in society, and this is something that is known and will not change. Therefore, they hold the monopoly of power. This isn’t something that POC made up, its something that is literally a fact. White people need to realise the micro aggressions that occur because of being a POC, and how to prevent these from happening. Not calling out racism is just as bad as being racist. Know that, own it, don’t dwell on it, and change it.

No1 Lesson of the Month

Being rude is so not cool. Make someone's day, don't break it. I debated whether to use this as this month's No1 lesson, because it seems so basic and obvious and yes of course before this month I knew being rude wasn't cool but this month I was reminded how important it is. Us as human beings have choices everyday and we doing things everyday, and it's the way we do things. And yes we all have bad moods and whatever but when you do something to someone it could literally make or break their day. Making someones day is one of the best feelings ever and it can be done by being polite. Rudeness is so unnecessary, and the majority of things can be done without being rude, you can still get your point across and achieve what you want without being rude. Go and make someone's day, don't break it.

I’ll wake you up when September ends

I am so emotional that it is September tomorrow. I feel when you are in education September is basically January, it’s like a new year. So all that nostalgia you get at the end of December I always also get it now. So Happy New Educational Year for anyone in education, especially those moving up to a new school/college/university. And those not in education, also treat it as a new year, we should treat every day as a new year really but it’s too tiring and unrealistic. But now it is a new year, so Happy New Year and set yourself some small goals for the next few weeks and give September everything you’ve got. Also a massive thank you to Jamie for being this month's No1GuestBlogger, I'll be back at the end of September with another one of my No1's. But now go off and be number one, not no one xo

NO1SOTP

P!nk - What About Us

CupcakKe - Scraps

Miley Cyrus - Younger Now

The Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love?

Micheal Jackson - Man In The Mirror

Kate Nash - Merry Happy

Listen to all the No1 Songs on the 2017 Playlist here