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Kuba Shand-Baptiste image

Kuba Shand-Baptiste

@kubared

Kuba Shand-Baptiste is the former deputy editor of The Independent’s Voices desk. As well as commissioning articles on news, politics, pop culture and social justice, she wrote a weekly opinion column

<p>Thousands of people have faced the traumatic upheaval of being deported to Jamaica from the UK in the past 20 years</p>
The Longer Read

What life is like after being deported from the UK

<p>Priti Patel seems to be getting away with breaking the ministerial code</p>
Editor’s letters

How the government’s bid to protect itself roused the British public

<p>UK artist and songwriter Stefflon Don is one of the celebrities featured in the new series of ‘MTV Cribs’</p>
Voices

MTV Cribs is back – but do we have the stomach for it anymore?

Boris Johnson leads a coronavirus press conference at 10 Downing Street
Editor’s letters

Why your views on the government are carrying so much more weight

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has ruled out incorporating CRT into the curriculum 
Voices

Government not tackling racism – it uses MPs of colour to defy critics

Our Black in Britain series will be varied and educational
Editor’s letters

How we’re giving Black History Month the coverage it deserves

NHS staff salute local heroes during a Clap for Carers event
Editor’s letters

On the Voices desk, the pandemic constantly made us re-evaluate

The UK government announced yesterday that pubs, restaurants and bars will have a 10pm curfew in an effort to curb coronavirus infection rates
Voices

Close the pubs now, there are more important things to save

Boris Johnson visits the Jenner Institute in Oxford
Voices

How opinion journalism will continue to challenge the government

The glamourous Beverly Hills spinoff came onto screens in 2010
Voices

Why I’m leaning into my obsession with The Real Housewives

Editors' letters

Why slower news is so appealing in a post-coronavirus world

Voices

The Million People March is a reminder of Carnival’s anti-racist roots

Students protest outside the Department for Education in London on Friday
Editor’s letters

Listen to students and teachers if you want to understand exams chaos

Editor’s letters

Listen to students and teachers if you want to understand exams chaos

Students protest outside the Department for Education in London on Friday
Video: Cardi B releases new 'WAP' music video featuring Megan Thee Stallion
Voices

Is it fair to punish Kylie Jenner for her cameo in Cardi B's video?

Will Smith as Will and Tyra Banks as Jackie Ames in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Voices

We all love television repeats, so where are the black shows?

'We're not used to seeing black women as fully realised human beings who are not solely defined by their race and gender'
Features

Chinonye Chukwu: ‘Society doesn’t care about black women’s humanity’

Voices

‘Cancel culture’ letter proves the privileged hate being challenged

Voices

‘Cancel culture’ letter proves the privileged hate being challenged

Related video: Keir Starmer says it’s 'nonsense' to call to ‘defund the police’ over black lives 'moment'
Voices

Starmer’s dismissal of defunding the police has lost him black support

Hass avocados are among the most popular, especially on Instagram
Voices

Gen Z are coming for us millennials, and it stings bad

A man kicks a barrier as activists from far-right-linked groups clash with police on Parliament Street, in London, on 13 June 2020
Voices

Say it with me: This is Britain, and it has a racism problem

Voices

Blackout Tuesday is over – now be prepared for the real hard work

Related video: Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol pull down statue of 17th century slave trader
Voices

Britain exported authority across the globe – we must answer for a lot

Demonstrations in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday
Editor’s letters

We are moving in the right direction over racism, but painfully slowly

Related video: Priti Patel says there will be ‘new norms’ for British society after lockdown
Voices

The Immigration Bill proves government is obsessed with border control

Related video: Trailer for Michelle Obama documentary ‘Becoming’
Voices

Michelle Obama is a reminder that we need to keep conversations going

Demonstrations in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday
Editor’s letters

We are moving in the right direction over racism, but painfully slowly

Related video: Priti Patel says there will be ‘new norms’ for British society after lockdown
Voices

The Immigration Bill proves government is obsessed with border control

Related video: Trailer for Michelle Obama documentary ‘Becoming’
Voices

Michelle Obama is a reminder that we need to keep conversations going

Adele’s latest photo on Instagram has become the subject of debate
Voices

Your excitement about Adele’s weight loss says more about you than her

Voices

Your excitement about Adele’s weight loss says more about you than her

Adele’s latest photo on Instagram has become the subject of debate
Cooking and family video chats have become a standard theme in adverts recently
Voices

I’ve had it with all these lockdown ads and their sentimental messages

A doctor reads a poem for the ‘You Clap for Me Now’ video
Voices

You clap for me now – but after coronavirus, it’ll be racism as usual

Karen has come to represent an entitled, usually racist, white woman with all the basic tendencies that come along with such traits, writes Kuba Shand-Baptiste
Voices

No, Karen is not the equivalent of the N-word for white women

Britney Spears spoke out about wealth redistribution
Editor’s letters

Coronavirus isn't the only thing worth having an opinion on right now

Britney Spears spoke out about wealth redistribution
Editor’s letters

Coronavirus isn't the only thing worth having an opinion on right now

Immigration has always enriched us all, including those who make the painstaking journeys to get here
Editor’s letters

How our Alien Nation series changes the narrative on UK immigration

100 per cent of the profits will be donated to Women for Women International
Voices

International Women’s Day reduces feminism to brunches and slogans

The young actor believes the show can spark overdue conversations on race and power
Features

Masali Baduza: ‘I think of what my ancestors have been through’

Voices

#BeKind – but don’t conflate criticism of Laurence Fox with bullying

Related video: Kit Malthouse says facial recognition will make the search for suspected criminals 'quicker and more effective'
Voices

Facial recognition doesn't work – you should worry about its use

Voices

The latest deportations show there is no end to ‘hostile environment’

Prince William speaks with Joaquin Phoenix at the Baftas
Voices

Joaquin Phoenix hit the nail on the head with his Baftas speech

Laurence Fox clashes with an audience member on ‘Question Time’
Voices

Journalists like me have stopped going on TV to save our sanity

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex
Voices

Meghan Markle doesn’t ‘owe’ her father a thing – despite what he says

Related video: Printing warnings on individual cigarettes 'may reduce smoking rates'
Voices

I'd quit smoking too for extra days of holiday – or so I'd pretend

Schools are unfairly punishing black students for their hairstyles, wearing bandanas and kissing teeth
Voices

A reckoning over racism against black kids in UK schools is overdue

Voices

A reckoning over racism against black kids in UK schools is overdue

Schools are unfairly punishing black students for their hairstyles, wearing bandanas and kissing teeth
Kylie Jenner attends the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Voices

Where were the celebrity pledges when the climate crisis hit Malawi?

Related video: Fyre Festival documentary star Andy King responds to internet memes people have made of him
Voices

The viral stars of Black Twitter are finally being recognised

Related video: Kevin Spacey posts another Christmas video as Frank Underwood
Voices

After years of strict family gatherings, I’m doing Christmas my way

(Getty Images
Voices

Male power and Harvey Weinstein’s reaction to his lost reputation

(Getty Images
Voices

Male power and Harvey Weinstein’s reaction to his lost reputation

Boris Johnson to Labour voters: 'We will never take your support for granted'
Voices

The Tories have won – and this is what you really voted for

Marchers mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire in June – but who else remembers?
Voices

Why isn’t Grenfell an election issue? Because politicians don’t care

Flowers are laid down for the victims of Friday’s attack
Editors' letters

How journalism helps us make sense of tragedies like London Bridge

Related video: The closing statements from the leaders' debate
Voices

Tory voters ‘don’t give a toss’ about the party’s lies

Voices

Children who accuse their teachers of racism should never be ignored

Editors' letters

Reading other opinions is a great way to make sense of politics

Voices

This election could be won by the dangerous power of deepfakes

Reviews

Warrior Women is not a neat tale of triumph over evil

Voices

Climate is a class and race issue. XR needs to grasp this quickly

The Windrush scandal has become an emblem of UK immigration policy
Voices

The UK’s immigration system is ideologically broken

The British teenager (covered) arrives at the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni in eastern Cyprus, to face charges of making a false allegation
Voices

Men are 230 times more likely to be raped than wrongly called a rapist

Voices

Men are 230 times more likely to be raped than wrongly called a rapist

The British teenager (covered) arrives at the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni in eastern Cyprus, to face charges of making a false allegation
Donald Trump mocked Greta Thunberg in a recent tweet
Voices

Greta Thunberg’s passion is being exploited by childish adults

Voices

Theresa May proved how pointless the honours system really is

It’s Chico time (again): Simon Cowell is running out of ideas
Voices

X Factor is dying, so why is it falling back on a discredited past?

Voices

Commercialisation is ruining Notting Hill Carnival

Voices

Commercialisation is ruining Notting Hill Carnival

Voices

Men shouldn’t stay silent when it comes to sexual harassment

The Straight Up Chik’n keeps it simple with lettuce, and a buttermilk and herb mayo
Voices

The Home Office thinks it can solve knife crime with chicken

Boris Johnson is flanked by Cressida Dick (left, Metropolitan Police commissioner) and Roy Sefa-Attakora (Youth Justice Board adviser) during a roundtable on the criminal justice system at 10 Downing Street
Voices

Johnson is whipping up white fear to enforce a racist policing agenda

Placeholder for missing image
Editors' letters

Why writing about the loss of icons like Toni Morrison is so difficult

Morrison’s ‘Beloved’ was one of the cultural landmarks of the 20th century (Gett
Voices

Toni Morrison's death is a blow in the fight against white supremacy

The video for Beyonce's 'Spirit' has faced accusations of plagiarism online
Voices

Why I'm taking accusations of plagiarism against Beyoncé seriously

Placeholder for missing image
Editors' letters

Why did it take Trump’s comments for the media to call out racism?

Related video: Georgetown University students vote to increase tuition fees to pay slavery reparations
Voices

Why won’t the UK even talk about reparations for slavery?

Serena Williams
Voices

Serena Williams’ honesty made me face my own prejudices

The report’s authors said the research sheds light on why different people have such a range of ability’s to fight infections and have a range of immune systems
Voices

Why are black babies more likely to be stillborn? Institutional racism

Related video: Campaigners say sex workers have been harassed, assaulted and illegally targeted for deportation amid a culture of xenophobia
Voices

Filming strippers without their consent is no heroic feminist act

Voices

Of course women outperform men when universities stop rigging exams

Placeholder for missing image
Editors' letters

How we’ve kept momentum going in the fight for a Final Say on Brexit

Voices

Will Zuckerberg blink in the battle of the internet deepfakes?

Placeholder for missing image
Editors' letters

Why going straight to the source matters when it comes to protests

STIs have increased by 26 per cent in the last two years
Voices

Sexual health clinics are dying on the austerity front line

Voices

Will Zuckerberg blink in the battle of the internet deepfakes?

Placeholder for missing image
Editors' letters

Why going straight to the source matters when it comes to protests

STIs have increased by 26 per cent in the last two years
Voices

Sexual health clinics are dying on the austerity front line

‘How could something be happening to your body and you don’t have any control over it? And specialists can’t help me?’
The Longer Read

Why the problem of afro alopecia needs research, not ridicule

Portman has accused the musician of mischaracterising their relationship to ‘sell his book’
Voices

Like Moby, did my older admirer also think we were dating?

Voices

The rise of ‘survival sex’ is a crushing legacy of austerity

Georgia, Alabama has effectively joined the war against abortion
Voices

Alabama’s new abortion law will destroy countless women’s lives

Placeholder for missing image
Editors' letters

How opinion articles keep us abreast of the stories Brexit buries

Voices

Danny Baker’s excuses don’t cut it – impact is inseparable from intent

Meghan Markle did not meet the US president on his state visit.
Voices

A royal baby with black heritage won't help black Britons like me

Netflix show was criticised for its graphic portrayal of Hannah Baker's suicide
Voices

Fears over 13 Reasons Why are correct, whatever the suicide stats say

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