English | Nigerian
My Mum was born in Lagos, Nigeria. My Dad was born in South Shields and was brought up in Leeds and then Surrey. My Mum is culturally very British. She’s been to school here since the age of four and families were paid to look after her most school holidays. She didn’t go home very often so doesn’t have a strong connection with Nigerian culture and barely knew a lot of her younger siblings. She was disowned by her family for marrying my Dad because he was White and English, they withheld her passport and birth certificate from her so she nearly got deported back to Nigeria, a country she hadn’t visited since she was a child. My brother and I didn’t have any connection with my Mum’s family or Nigerian culture growing up. One of the biggest positives of being mixed-race has been travelling. I have more of my Dad’s English facial features and combined with my skin colour people can’t quite place me abroad, but they usually want me to be from somewhere near them. It meant I got less hassle then a lot of other travellers and it was lovely that people felt I belonged in some way. I’ve often described myself as a cultural chameleon, if I dress the right way in lots of countries I’ve been able to almost blend in with the locals. I am much more conscious about being mixed-race it as an adult over the past few years, I’ve done a lot of reading around identity and race in the UK from authors like Afra Hirsch, Reni Eddo-Lodge and Akala, as well as reading a lot more articles on the inherent prejudice we still have in this country in the news. I am definitely a lot more aware that racism is still a very real issue in the UK and that just because I personally don’t encounter it often doesn’t mean that’s everyone’s experience. Some of the experiences I’ve brushed off or laughed wryly about from my childhood or growing up I’ve realised were micro aggressions and just because they didn’t impact me hugely doesn’t mean it was okay that they happened. I’ve always been really happy with who I am and I wouldn’t be me if I was any different. Being mixedrace is an integral part of who I am so I’d never want to change that.
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