Month: November 2020

By Kelly Yue Mateen Zafer joined Colorado College in August 2019 as the Coordinator of Mentorship and Diversity Initiatives at the Butler Center. He advises the Quest Scholars Network and the Enclave Living Learning Community.  How has working from home been for you? Has it affected your interaction with students? I am privileged to be able to work largely from home, knowing that many other CC staff and millions of folx across the country do not have this same luxury. I have spent more time with my partner this year than our 5+ years together combined. We continue to navigate together through this pandemic and we have deepened our bonds in ways I wouldn’t have imagined. I am eternally grateful for her partnership and presence in my life. Knowing how real Zoom fatigue i...

By Kelly Yue Is Inner Mongolia part of China? What is its history?  Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China established in 1947, bordering the country of Mongolia. In the 1940s, Mongol leaders allied with Mao Zedong’s Communist Party as they were convinced that the communist system would give them true autonomy. Soon, large numbers of Han Chinese settlers moved into the region, rapidly outnumbering the Mongols. During the Cultural Revolution, Han Chinese officials accused Mongols of separatism — and more than 20,000 Mongols were ultimately killed, according to official numbers, in a purge against a “secret party” that the Chinese government later acknowledged did not exist. Nowadays, the Mongols only make up 17% of the Inner Mongolia...

By Kelly Yue Young people in Thailand have long been disillusioned by years of military rule. They are now taking their frustration to the streets and demanding amendments to the constitution, a new election, the prime minister’s resignation, and an end to the harassment of activists. The movement has primarily been leaderless as protesters use Telegram as their means of communication, reminiscent of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protest that started last year. In fact, when asked about the intentions behind the leaderless movement, protesters often refer to the success of Hong Kong’s decentralized protests in maintaining momentum despite arrests. The protesters have found creative and whimsical means of protesting, such as turning the Japanese hamster character, Hamtaro, into a pro...