Ghanaian | English/Finnish
I am half Ghanaian, half English & Finnish (Half Black, half White), Agnostic & Bisexual. My Mum is Ghanaian (born in East London) and my Dad is half English, half Finnish by heritage but spent a fair bulk of his childhood living in South Africa. We were always so lucky to be brought up eating incredible, diverse food and being very aware and tolerant of diversity from a young age. We were certainly not brought up colour-blind. Both of my parents are British by nationality, so we mostly uphold English customs but do celebrate parts of our diverse culture around Christmas time. We celebrate traditional Finnish Christmas on Christmas Eve and English Christmas on Christmas day. I always remember times when I was younger when I was very aware I didn’t look like my parents. I would cringe a little if my Dad had to pick me up from anywhere because I knew there would be questions about why he was White. I only grew up in 1991 but mixed families weren’t prevalent in the media, so I knew some people would give my mum and I funny looks walking around town. Beauty products were always a challenge as well. I never knew how to look after my hair so when I was 12 I decided to ask my mum if I could relax my hair. Even now, when I shop around for a trim, the salon staff often look at me like a deer in headlights. YouTube has been my ultimate friend in the last 5 years I’ve been natural. There was one occasion where a man in his 50s tried to yank my hair off at a pub because he thought I was wearing ‘a clown wig’. As my career in fitness has developed and I’ve moved my work into central London, I have met and connected with so many different incredible people from all parts of the world and it’s given me a chance to get in touch with my Black side. In the past when I was the only ethnic face at work, I have always been ‘the Black girl’ or the mixed-race one’. I would always be treated as loud or defiant even though I was always very calm and collected. If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would return exactly the same way because this is where I’m supposed to be!
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