A perfect mix of humor, captivating stories, and detailed facts, South African comedian Trevor Noah’s book, Born a Crime, is a truly intriguing read. Throughout the autobiographical memoir, Noah expresses his opinions and experiences with being illegally biracial during apartheid in South Africa. With the support and assistance of his willful black mother, determined Trevor Noah perseveres through the challenging reality of racism, discrimination, domestic violence, and identity. Born to a white father and a black mother, Trevor struggled with segregation and racism even before he was born. Not being allowed outside, Trevor often compared himself with others, resulting in confusion about his identity and where he belonged. Even at school, there where distinct groups for each race and Noah really didn’t know where he fit in. From worshiping “magical devil poop”, to dealing with an abusive jerk of a stepfather, and dating a girl he couldn’t speak to, Noah creatively used intellect, comedy, and personal experience to address modern and historical issues, while writing such a meaningful, yet comical and amusing novel.

This infographic is a detailed, yet concise way to show what we learned about humanism during the Renaissance period in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s. These 3 main ideas were crucial to the development of humanism: Individuality, Secularism, and Education. While there are many more factors that play into humanism, these were the most prominent, as they show how this new idea and philosophy affect society as a whole, as well as one’s self. These ideas also showed how the Renaissance took a step forward from the Dark Ages,  and improved the quality of living. For example, Individuality described how the value of an individual became much more important and focused. Secularism showed how people put religion aside, to allow brighter and more creative ideas from one’s own mind to blossom. And lastly, Education depicted the shift in knowledge to help bring bigger and more intuitive ideas to our society by expanding it to be more accessible and broad. I believe that these reasons and aspects show that there is a humanist in all of us, and by living by this philosophy, we can not only respect and value one-another, but make way for curiosity and inventive thinking to bring our world and future forward.