German | Jamaican
I identify myself as mixed-race male, of German/Jamaican heritage. I don’t affiliate myself to any religion, but I believe in energy. My mum is from Kingston, Jamaica and my dad is from Berlin, Germany. I recognised I was mixed-race quite early on, around 7-8 years old. As my parents would have conversations with me about my heritage from both sides of the family. Although, if I’m honest, I did identify as Black, simply because my skin wasn’t ‘White’. I’ve never experienced external challenges in regards to my mixed identity, the fight has always been internal. I’ve always tried to find where I fit in, where I belong. It’s almost like being lost and trying to find your tribe, except your tribe doesn’t really exist, so the search is forever on going. So, in that respect it’s been challenging, however the older I’ve become, I’ve realised that I don’t need to belong, I can just be. I don’t need to identify as anything but myself. I can belong to something culturally, but my identity is mine alone. I feel being of a Black/White mix has benefited me greatly. Within my work, I stand out. How many mixed-race magicians do you know? Within my personal life, it’s cool. Sometimes you get the haters that think you're too nice, but on the flip-side, you get people who are just fascinated by your mixed heritage. I’m ethnically quite ambiguous. Growing up, because I lived with my dad, we would go to Berlin several times a year to see family, so I definitely felt a lot closer to my German side. Although, culturally I feel very British. When people ask where I’m from, I always say London, because technically that is where I am from. If they want to know background etc, it’s the wrong question. I think being mixed-race in today’s society is always going to be tricky, mainly because of how we have been conditioned as a society to think about race. (We still have to tick the ‘other’ box.) I personally think being mixed-race is an internal battle for a lot of mixed people, especially when you are younger and trying to figure yourself out as a person, let alone your race. If I were born again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
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