British | Jamaican
My Father is White British from Bethnal Green and my Mother was born in the U.K but her parents are of Jamaican heritage and came to the U.K in the early 1960’s. I think my parents always saw their love as the only tangible thing in their lives to fight for. It was something real that they had discovered in each other regardless of what others thought, said or did. I always pictured my parents being like the king and queen on a chess board from the opposite teams who came together and fought against the rest; back in those days race was territorial and those who crossed those lines would often get racism from both sides of the fence. They combined their different cultures by being true to themselves whilst being open minded out of respect for their love. Full respect.
I see being mixed as the personification for integration in the modern world. Its evidence of progression and changing attitudes. However in these divisive times where people can always find a way to identify different people as the ‘other’ it has left me in a position of limbo. Are we still going in the same cultural direction that led to my existence? Are we going backwards and if so what does that mean? If I’m being honest I don’t think progression can ever occur without intermittent regression as a reaction to constant change. I guess the challenge I’ve faced with this is the realisation that integration, although a reality in my world, is not the reality to many people who see the ‘other’ or the ‘enemy’ as a person who is different from them in ways they cannot control.
I work in television and I write scripted comedy TV pilots and series. I find it is the perfect space for inclusivity as when I write; brainstorming from a centrist place regardless of race, gender, social class, age or sexuality makes for better storytelling. The best script could be in any of these spaces. I’m actually working on a series idea based around the mixed-race experience in a comedic narrative which feels like the perfect job for me right now.
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