Aston Davies: Humanitarian Weekly
Aston Davies (’24) is a a full-time junior at OHS from El Dorado Hills, California. Having always known that he wanted to start an organization or company, when the idea to start an online magazine came to mind in May of 2022, “Humanitarian Weekly” targeted at representing issues of minorities, immigrants, and refugees was born. He got straight to work and today it has published many impactful articles exploring issues related to minorities. On October 24th, 2022, Clubs Editor Fevroniya (’24) talked to Aston about Humanitarian Weekly and its goals.
Pixel Journal: What is Humanitarian Weekly?
Aston Davies: It's an online magazine targeted at representing issues of minorities, immigrants, and refugees. We write primarily on these sorts of issues, as well as accomplishments and news of people doing something to create an impact in these fields. We strive to give a voice to those that don't really have a platform to speak out.
PJ: Did a particular experience or event spark your idea or passion to pursue this project?
AD: I'd always wanted to start something, whether it was a company or an organization, and I actually came up with the idea in a math class. I was paying attention but I thought of the idea for this online magazine. I told my mom that night, started the website that day, and then I launched a few weeks ago. I don't think there's a certain event that struck me to start this platform; it's been an issue for a long time, and I know it should be more publicized, and that's what prompted the creation of it.
PJ: You talked about creating the website, but what has the process for starting Humanitarian Weekly been like so far? Have you faced any challenges and how have the first five, six weeks been?
AD: I have had a little help with website design, but everything else I've done by myself. I started the website in May, it took me maybe three months to four months to get the website up. Then I tried to accumulate more information. In my magazine, I call my articles “studies” and I wanted to have four or five of them to launch with the website. Since then, I have been interviewing everyone that I can to hear their story and hear their perspective. For example, I interviewed a refugee from Vietnam who fled during the Vietnam War. She came here when she was a young girl.
Something else I have been researching is the DACA policy in the USA: it's temporary residency in the US for child refugees and recently it has been cracking down, since people can't apply for it anymore. In that aspect, it's pretty scary for those that rely on it. For my research, I spoke with two people that were protected under DACA as well as a few attorneys.
Overall, the hardest part [about starting Humanitarian Weekly] is getting the publicity for my article[s]. [They’re] out there, but [they’re] not relatively well known right now. I hope that changes in the future. The other part is also getting in touch with people in order to hear their perspectives on things. It's very tough and it comes with a lack of publicity; when people don't know who you are, they're a little more skeptical. So those are the two biggest challenges I would say [I’m facing] right now.
PJ: Looking into the future, what's something that you're looking forward to working on?
AD: Something I am working on is I am trying to get my Google rankings up and just getting more articles out there. I have a list of articles I'm going to be publishing in the future, and I'm just going to work on those and try to reach people that are connected with these issues. Going forward, I just hope to speak with more people on these issues and get more articles published.
PJ: If there was one word that you wanted people to associate with Humanitarian Weekly, what would it be?
AD: Humanitarian.
To learn more about Humanitarian Weekly, visit Aston’s website here!