Nigerian/English | Ghanaian
I identify as straight & a Buddhist. My late mum was half Nigerian and half English. Her Nigerian side are Muslim’s from the north, a tribe called the Fulani. Dad is from Ghana. He is Hindu and follows the teachings of Sai Baba and even named my brother Vishnu! The union of my mother’s parents was somewhat unorthodox, my grandmother Adama came from a strict Muslim family. Patrick, my grandfather an indomitable English gentleman had left the country in search of fortune and adventure in Africa in the 30s. It was in Nigeria where he met my grandmother who he would eventually take for his wife. He was so resolute in his pursuit of her that he even pretended to be a Muslim so as to satisfy her austere father who was an Islamic cleric. I’m not sure of the exact age but I have known I am mixed since I was a child. My mum was very light skinned, dad was dark, I was brown – it made sense. I felt more in touch with the African culture, more Black than White - which technically I am. My mother spoke Hausa, Ga and a bit of Twi. Dad spoke Twi, even to this day my idea of comfort food is a solid bowl of fufu and peanut soup. Mixed-race is such a broad term, it’s not just mixing Black and White. However, what I will say, on a personal level, having both Black and White heritage, I feel I am categorised as a Black man in the U.K. I feel that people sometimes sense that mixed people are a bit unsure of who they are. I used to feel that way anyway, I once felt that I didn’t belong anywhere, like I had some sort of identity crisis. If I had the opportunity to be born again I would like to come back as a mixed-race Buddhist monk, an ascetic who attains enlightenment! I feel that eventually, some millennia down the line, a majority of people on earth will be mixed-race. Due to the internet, media and travel being easily accessible for people, we live in a more cosmopolitan world now. Although racism still exists, people’s attitudes towards race is changing, interracial marriages have increased, we are integrating a lot more now and this is only going to increase. I believe the future of the human race is mixed-race.
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